Along with the requests on jobs, I’m being queried about my thoughts on the stimulus;  my position is that all parties are involved in varieties of Jedi Mind Trick.  The most angrifying (sic) ones are the Republicans, frankly, and I thought I’d seen stupid mixed with power-hungry mendacity before, but this just takes the cake,  It’s hard to watch ( Read more... )

The South Dakotans in my family are big Tom Daschle fans; I’ve never warmed to him, personally. Maybe it’s because I’m not the ”organization-Democrat” sort. Twice in my life I’ve been personally involved with such people, and I’ve found that I’m more the independent hell-raiser sort. Yes, I understand the intricacies of politics; I didn’t get ( Read more... )

from Salon:

“If the mood and the speeches at the winter meeting are any guide, Republicans are seeking refuge from electoral defeat in an alternate reality, one where the public still loves them - or would if they could only improve their sales pitch. And where going along with President Obama’s agenda just isn’t in the cards.” If any further ( Read more... )

Russian factories are idling or out of work due to a crash in Russia; their economy depended on high oil prices to go on forever.    The natives are getting restless…

ABC is cutting the price on their Oscars Show advertising time.  Nobody’s watching.  At the same time, movie attendance went up.  After going off to see BOLT with Mere this weekend, I ( Read more... )

• There’s now a monument in Iraq to the shoe-throwing seen round the world.
• Paul Krugman is a fan of Charles Stross, which makes sense to me.   I’ll just wait for Krubman’s first AH novel…
• How many ways can you force-stuff the Roman Empire into science-fiction?  At least a dozen.

Especially after Rolando Cruz:


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Not-Surprise: Democratic leaders (such as Sen. Reid) reportedly pushed Blago not to pick a candidate for Senate (this was before the phone calls came out) that couldn’t win downstate, which included pretty much any of the main black players in Illinois Democratic politics.    Obama suggested others, including two of the same group: Illinois ( Read more... )

From Dick Meyer at NPR on Blago and Made-off:

As audacious as Blagojevich’s political gluttony is, it is easy to find far worse political corruption, much of it perfectly legal: Distorting intelligence to invade Iraq, torturing prisoners, failure to regulate Wall Street, and systematic pork-barrel boondoggling come quickly to mind. If you’re ( Read more... )

Well, if you’d never heard of our Governor before, you have now.    My reflections on this inside.
( Read the rest of this entry » )

From the Daily Kos, in regard to who Blago would pick to fill Obama’s now vacant Senate seat:

The list of possible names is a mile long: Reps. Jesse Jackson, Jan Schakowsky, Danny Davis and Luis Gutierrez, VA Secretary Tammy Duckworth, Congressional candidate Dan Seals, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Lieutenant Governor Pat ( Read more... )