Monthly Archives: April 2012

Even Jimmy Carter

Posted on April 30, 2012 by nickgb

Not only is Mitt Romney trying to retroactively claim credit for personally killing Osama Bin Laden, he’s maligning former presidents in order to do so. James Fallows, who worked for Jimmy Carter, takes issue: But here’s the main point about … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events | 4 Comments

Paul Ryan Homoerotic

Posted on April 30, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

So far today, we have two hits from searches for the phrase in this post’s title. No idea what they’re finding, much less looking for… maybe they’re getting to our post “Paul Ryan, Setting Right-Wing Hearts A-Flutter And Toes A-Tapping”?

Posted in Fun, News and Current Events, Politics | 1 Comment

Deeply and Profoundly and Consistently Wrong

Posted on April 30, 2012 by dedc79

Arianna Huffington thinks it’s despicable to make a campaign issue out of killing Bin Laden: “I think it’s one thing to celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. It’s one thing to have an NBC special from … Continue reading →

Posted in 2012 | 4 Comments

Old Time Religion

Posted on April 30, 2012 by nickgb

The Warren Jeffs trial didn’t garner nearly as much attention as it should have, in my opinion. Jeffs was the leader of a fundamentalist sect of LDS, practicing what I can only call “extreme polygamy” along with a heaping dose … Continue reading →

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Through The Years

Posted on April 30, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

John Cole watches 60 Minutes, and reports: But the demeanor of these two is what I find horrifying. Both [US torturer Jose] Rodriguez and [Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael] Oren are so convinced what they are doing is right, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, News and Current Events, Politics | 1 Comment

Knock him out the box

Posted on April 30, 2012 by nickgb

I’m lucky that I don’t have to watch the morning circlejerks that we’re supposed to consider “news”. But apparently there’s occasionally some amazing stuff. I hate watching videos when I can read the transcript, but this one is worth it. … Continue reading →

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Principles Change, Talking Points Don’t

Posted on April 30, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

A few weeks ago, Ezra Klein noted that Paul Ryan’s latest budget contradicts Ryan’s stated views on how government affects social mobility: Ryan went on to endorse the “the growing bipartisan consensus to target corporate welfare, to income-adjust entitlement programs … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Politics | 1 Comment

Of Green-Eyeshade and Austerity

Posted on April 30, 2012 by dedc79

I hereby declare today to be “Paul Ryan (aka Ayn Rand, Thomas Aquinas) Day”.  RE got the party started this morning (actually, he’s been blasting Ryan pretty consistently since PYM’s inception).  For my contribution, I will defer to the great Jonathan Chait, writing over … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Health Care, Taxes | Tagged | Leave a comment

XKCD on Rand

Posted on April 30, 2012 by nickgb

In case you didn’t see it, XKCD nails the essence of why Ayn Rand is a great substitute for the sociopath test. In case you’re unfamiliar with XKCD, there’s always an additional punchline or comment displayed if you hover your … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The GOP Vs. America

Posted on April 30, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

Mark Thoma makes the obvious point: GDP growth for the first quarter, as noted in the post below this one, is estimated to be 2.2%. That is not as high as it needs to be to recover in a decent … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Politics | 1 Comment

One Of Our Political Parties Is Insane. And We All Know Which One It Is

Posted on April 27, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

So, David Frum was famously purged from the vast right-wing conspiracy for apostasy. Specifically, Frum was fired by AEI within days of writing that Republicans should have considered discussing policy during the health insurance reform debate, instead of barking and raving … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Politics | 4 Comments

Babies

Posted on April 27, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

We have met the enemy, and he is us: Somehow a baby going through security at Newark’s Liberty International Airport didn’t get screened properly on Friday. Surely this kind of thing must happen from time to time, right? Better hope it … Continue reading →

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This Should be Required Reading for the GOP

Posted on April 27, 2012 by dedc79

If they’d all just put down their copies of Atlas Shrugged and/or Thomas Aquinas for a moment, they might learn something: WHY are political and religious figures who campaign against gay rights so often implicated in sexual encounters with same-sex … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 2 Comments

Getting From Here To There In Israel And The West Bank

Posted on April 27, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

An excerpt from a measured and thoughtful post on the Israeli-Palestinian situation from Jeffrey Goldberg: ICYMI, here are a couple of excerpts from a very important op-ed by Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher, and Orni Petruschka and what Goldblog thinks of as “modified unilateralism,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, News and Current Events | 3 Comments

Maybe we’ll call this Free Thinking Friday

Posted on April 27, 2012 by nickgb

Boing boing highlighted a neat little study: If a baseball and bat cost $110, and the bat costs $100 more than the ball, how much does the ball cost? If you answered $10 you are inclined to believe in religion. … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

This week is crazy news

Posted on April 27, 2012 by nickgb

The Catholic Church has figured out that the real threat is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!!! The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has ordered the largest leadership organization for U.S. women religious to reform its statutes, programs … Continue reading →

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Costly Bureaucratic Regulations

Posted on April 27, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

Mark Thoma links to this EurekAlert article, and points out that government isn’t always the problem: First evaluation of the Clean Water Act’s effects on coastal waters reveals major successes, EurekAlert: Levels of copper, cadmium, lead and other metals in … Continue reading →

Posted in History, News and Current Events | Leave a comment

Just Wondering

Posted on April 26, 2012 by reflectionephemeral

So all Israeli citizens are required to have health insurance. And abortion is generally legal in Israel. When will the Republican Party demand that we stop sending (fungible!) aid money to this socialist, abortion-crazed regime?

Posted in News and Current Events | 1 Comment