Pundits wondered what the rise of the Tea Party, and especially the election of teabaggers to major offices, might mean. Now we know. In Missouri, it means an effort to eliminate child labor laws, that we might return to the blessed age when children could work 16-hour shifts in any industry, with no minimum wage. […]
About a week ago, the Washington Post printed a list of existing and proposed regulations businesses identified as having a negative impact on job growth. The identifications were solicited by a Republican congressman from California, who will no doubt use them as a target list. I cannot imagine that he will invite close scrutiny of […]
Watching the pro-democracy upheaval in the Middle East is an uplifting experience. When Tunisia alone was convulsed with populist protests, the story seemed quaint and remote. When the protestors succeeded in toppling the reigning despot, it was hard to suppress a little “Good for them!†cheer. When neighboring countries’ leaders, employing virtually identical systems for […]
I dunno; this is getting kinda sketchy. Just a few weeks ago, I voiced support for Wikileaks, when it helped release classified documents confirming that the US knowingly abetted torture of political prisoners in Iraq, with hints of active participation. At the time, I argued that somebody has to act as government watchdog. I would […]
I took gladly the news of Tom DeLay’s conviction for money laundering in violation of campaign finance laws. A friend points out that he was convicted under Texan law, not federal law, and so is likely to be pardoned by the governor, a product of the same corrupt system. We shall see. But at least […]
We had to drop in at the clinic today; Mom had what proved to be an ear infection. I watched television news while waiting in the lobby, and the station—CNN, I believe—reported that, despite bitter complaint over new search procedures and threats of protests, actual resistance in the airports was negligible, and everything was flowing […]
Today’s flight to visit my folks for Thanksgiving was surprisingly easy and comfortable. Rain at O’Hare delayed our take-off from Newark for an hour, but you can’t blame anyone for the weather; factors under human control went just fine. Security delays were minimal, largely because Newark doesn’t yet have the new scanners installed (and thus […]
Eileene quoted something, probably a tweet, to me this morning. I don’t remember it verbatim, but this is pretty close: “When right-wing bloggers start complaining about the TSA, you know it’s really gone overboard.†But, y’know, I don’t think that’s true at all. Not that the TSA isn’t going overboard. It went overboard in the […]
Boy, is this a neat little budget calculator. You can use it to find whether your ideas of how to eliminate the federal deficit would do the job, or even reduce it significantly. I found I could eliminate the projected 15-year projected shortfall without sacrificing anything I valued, and even generate hundreds of billions’ surplus. […]
The new airport body scanners are in place in time for the Thanksgiving ritual of flying to family dinners, and everybody is grousing again about increased security measures that don’t measurably increase actual security. Glancing in car trunk didn’t increase security. Nominally a search for weapons, I’ve driven through airports simply to have guards confirm […]