The Best Thing Progressives Can Do: Educate the Public on How Marginal Tax...
A couple of good recent diaries have highlighted a subject that has been near to my heart for years now. Through no real fault of their own, many (most) people on both the right and the left have a...
View ArticleGrover Norquist: The Man That Hath No Music in Himself
Q: Would you rather live without music or live without TV? A: Pass on music. Must have History Channel and “Monk.”Politico interview with Grover Norquist, April 3, 2009http://www.politico.com/...The...
View ArticleDidn't White House tours resume under Obama?
With all the teeth gnashing over cancelled WH tours, I think people are forgetting that there were no tours whatsoever for several years after 9/11/2001.I'm hoping some people can help refresh my...
View ArticleGarrison Keillor hits the mark on gun madness
I haven't listened to Garrison Keilllor's Prairie Home Companion much in recent years, since I sort of feel he's already said everything he could say to me. However, I did catch parts of Saturday's...
View Article"Can't choose your own doctor" - What the heck does that mean, anyway? (updated)
[UPDATE] See update after foldThe Obamacare haters are in the last gasp of trying to shoot down the ACA before people realize what a great thing they’re getting. To that end, they have resurrected...
View ArticleVA Gov: Want to know why Cuccinelli's behind? - He's too soft on abortion!
An opinion piece in this morning's Washington Post gave me a chuckle. Maggie Gallagher, described as a senior fellow at the American Principles Project and co-founder of the National Organization for...
View ArticleMachiavelli on Obamacare
I was reading Machiavelli’s The Prince and came across a passage so relevant to ACA implementation that I had to share it with you:It must be realized that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more...
View Article"Psychic" Sylvia Browne is dead
This happened a week ago (Nov 20) but I just this morning saw the obit on Sylvia Browne, the fraudulent so-called "psychic." She had previously predicted that she would live to 88, but died at age 77,...
View ArticleACA: Terrible WaPo piece on Obamacare "losers"
I’ve been very disappointed by Sarah Kliff’s ACA reporting in the Washington Post, as she seems determined to milk the “Obamacare losers” meme for all it’s worth. In a piece this morning, she...
View ArticleGood WaPo editorial on "Keep Your Own Doctor"
I’ve been critical of a lot of the Washington Post’s coverage of ACA implementation, but sometimes they get it right, and they did in the Dec 26 editorial titled “Health Care Economics 101.” The piece...
View ArticleACA: Positive frontpage article in Washington Post
Another sign that the tenor of ACA media coverage may be shifting as Jan 1 approaches. The Washington Post, which a little over two weeks ago frontpaged a thoroughly dishonest piece about "Obamacare...
View ArticleHow to Lie With Statistics - Gallup edition
One of the main chapters in Darrell Huff's 1954 book "How to Lie With Statistics" concerns how graphs and charts are ready-made tools for inflating or downplaying a political point. A textbook...
View ArticleA scary number from Harper's Index: Will half our jobs disappear?
From Harper's Index Apr 2014:Portion of US jobs held by humans today that are at high risk of being automated by 2024: ½ Harper’s cites The Oxford Martin School at Oxford University. Harold Myerson...
View ArticleHow to Lie With Statistics: Fox News on ACA enrollments
In a previous diary, I referenced that wonderful 1954 book How to Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff. A short fun read, and every technique Huff described 60 years ago is in regular use today. One...
View ArticleRedskins a term of honor? - a short video could shoot that one down for good
As a resident of the Washington, D.C. area since the 1970s, I have been consistently dismayed that so much of the civic culture of my adopted hometown is built around a sports franchise whose nickname...
View ArticleNews Flash from DC - Bikers fail to rescue Operation American Spring
Well, Rolling Thunder came and went yesterday and the bikers streamed out of town. Seems they decided not to join up with the Operation American Spring folks to storm the White House and arrest the...
View ArticleVirginia 8th District: Who are you voting for in tomorrow's primary?
Tomorrow, June 10, will see the Democratic Primary for Virginia’s eighth Congressional district, to choose the successor to retiring Rep James L. Moran. This district, which snakes through the...
View ArticleStephen Gaskin dies - founder of Tennessee commune "The Farm"
My Sunday newspaper contained an obituary that awakened some long-dormant memories. Stephen Gaskin, the founder and guru of “The Farm,” one of the longest-lived and most successful communes to emerge...
View ArticleP.D. James, Crime Fiction Giant, Dies at 94
The contingent of mystery fans here on Kos will be sad to learn that one of the giants of the field, P.D. James, has passed away at age 94 today (Nov 27) in...
View ArticleTwo-year old kills mom at Wal-Mart - what is happening to our country?
There was a previous diary on this incident, but it seems to be flying a bit under the holiday radar, so it’s worth reading this updated account in the Washington Post....
View ArticleThe Dark Soul of Conservatism: "End Obamacare, and people could die. That’s...
For an unvarnished look into the dark, dreary soul of American conservatism circa 2015, it would hard to top this opinion piece that was given a prominent place in the Washington Post's Sunday Outlook...
View ArticleWhat that flag stands for: South Carolina's 1860 Secession Declaration
For today's history lesson, let's delve into what that Confederate flag at the South Carolina capitol building actually represents.Here is the key portion of S.C.'s declaration of secession, adopted by...
View ArticleStrangest "separated at birth" story ever: one twin a Jew, the other a Nazi
Sunday’s Washington Post carried a fascinating obituary of Jack Yufe, 82, the surviving member of the most amazing story of separated twins ever. Born in Trinidad in 1933 to a Jewish father and a...
View ArticleRead this story: How Trump acquired his Virginia winery
I call your attention to a fascinating piece of journalism that appeared in the November 2015 issue of Washingtonian magazine. (Link to story)The piece describes how Donald Trump came to be the owner...
View ArticleThe Reason Rally is today in Washington - Lincoln Memorial
Atheists, secularists, freethinkers, supporters of separation of church and state:If you are in the Washington area, be sure to make it down to the Lincoln Memorial for the second Reason Rally — today,...
View ArticleThis is weird: Chandra Levy case takes a bizarre turn
In the midst of the amazing political events going on, there comes a truly bizarre turn in the much-publicized Chandra Levy murder case that dominated the news media fifteen years ago, in the summer of...
View ArticleSucky political column of the week: Charles Lane on Sanders
My opinion of Charles Lane, not that high to begin with, dropped several notches after reading this truly lame column in this morning’s Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com/…Leaving aside the...
View Article60 Reasons to vote FOR Hillary Clinton
The estimable Kevin Drum of Mother Jones recently posted a list of reasons progressives and liberals should be supporting Clinton enthusiastically. It’s a fine response to all those folk who say they...
View ArticleThe man is insane. He attacked Machado - AGAIN!
I truly can’t believe this. Donald Snake went on O’Reilly tonight and again gratuitously attacked a Latina woman. He just can’t help himself. talkingpointsmemo.com/…TRUMP: No, not much. I hardly...
View ArticleI voted for Hillary in Virginia today
Today was the first day of early absentee voting at the satellite offices located throughout Fairfax County, Virginia. My spouse and I voted at the McLean location at the government center on Balls...
View ArticleHilarious Dutch satire: Don and Hillary croon together on "Time of My Life"
Some Dutch friends pointed me to this video from Lucky TV, a popular comedy website in the Netherlands associated with the VARA television network.It’s fall-out-of-your-chair hilarious. Don and...
View ArticleAmerican Exceptionalism is Dead - thanks to Trump
We can thank Donald Trump for one thing — that hoary conservative cliche, American Exceptionalism, is now dead, dead, dead.The world, and history, have seen the truth. There’s nothing special about...
View ArticleObama MUST pardon Clinton for her Secstate tenure.
Republicans like Chaffetz have said that they will continue to harass Hillary Clinton with more investigations in the next Congress, and of course Donald Trump has famously promised to appoint a...
View ArticleHillary's biggest mistake: Accepting the job of Secretary of State
Everything becomes clear in hindsight, right? Well, one thing that is crystal clear is that Hillary Clinton made the biggest mistake of her life and career when she accepted Barack Obama’s offer of...
View ArticleThe Wall: Anyone ever think about who owns the land?
I was delighted to pick up my Washington Post this morning and see, for the first time, a piece that homes in on the elephant in the room, re: the border wall. Who owns the land and how does the...
View ArticleDC Climate March: Be aware of Metro disruptions
Just a quick tip for those in the D.C area who may be planning to attend the climate march today, April 29. As DC area residents know well, the metro system has been undergoing a disruptive series of...
View ArticleTrump's Charlottesville Winery: He got it by Mafia tactics
In his jaw-dropping presser Tuesday, Trump bagged about his winery near Charlottesville. I call your attention to a fascinating piece of journalism that appeared in the November 2015 issue of...
View ArticleTrump's Charlottesville Winery: He obtained it by Mafia-style extortion.
In the wake of Trump’s Armageddon of a press conference on Tuesday, in which he seemed to think he was A-OK on that Charlottesville thing since he owns a winery right nearby, I am reposting a link to a...
View ArticleFairfax County, Virginia Voters: Be sure to VOTE tomorrow, Tuesday, August 29.
The election for an at-large member of the Fairfax County school board has taken on national implications. Special elections held at odd times like this one are the best chances of the right to sneak...
View ArticleBig rally day in DC
For readers in the Washington, DC area: Today, Saturday, September 16, will see at least three planned rallies in downtown DC.--The so-called “Mother-of-All-Rallies”— for alt-right and Trump...
View ArticleWhite guy kills three in Colorado Wal-Mart. Trump and media yawn.
After days of headlines over the New York tragedy, followed by the expected anti-immigrant and anti-Democrat rants from the White House, I pick up my Washington post this morning and, on page three,...
View ArticleWatch Baby Rose Marie, six-year old torch singer, in this amazing early sound...
Most anyone alive today knows Rose Marie Mazetta (who died yesterday at 94) mainly from her television years on the Dick Van Dyke Show, Hollywood Squares, etc. But she had a long and storied career as...
View ArticleSurprise! - North Korea "deal" starts to fall apart
I just want to quickly call everyone’s attention to this morning’s lead article in the Washington Post. Seems that North Korea isn’t so anxious denuclearize after all! Better put that Nobel Prize on...
View Article"Abolish ICE" is a terrible slogan - a loser for us both substantively and...
Sorry folks, but I have to throw this one out at you.The slogan “Abolish ICE” seems to be popping up all over the progressive left in the wake of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’s victory in the New York...
View ArticleEpoch Times: Midterm Election Wins Bolster Trump’s Mandate
One of the ubiquitous giveaway papers in the DC area is something called The Epoch Times. I’ve pretty much ignored it for year except when I need something to start fires or line pet cages. The...
View ArticleYemen - A short fact sheet for understanding the conflict
For some holiday homework, I am trying to put together a simple fact sheet for understanding the Yemen war. I have a feeling we are going to be hearing a lot more about it in the months ahead, and it...
View ArticleFantastic, inspiring Apollo 11 presentation on Washington, D.C. mall
Last night my spouse and I had the truly memorable experience of attending the Apollo 11 50th anniversary on the Washington D.C. mall, focused on projections on the Washington monument. We were at the...
View ArticleDisgrace: GM, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler side with Trump on rolling back...
With impeachment and betrayal of our allies sucking up most of the news coverage, it’s easy to forget what happens when you hand power to pieces of filth and give them licence to crap all over you on a...
View ArticleAs Ukraine crisis unfolds, don't forget that Trump planned to withdraw U.S....
However, the Putin/Ukraine crisis plays out over the coming weeks, one thing you can bet on is that the right-wing noise machine, abetted by the corps of “serious” journalists, will do their best to...
View ArticleIs Megan McArdle a dope?
Not sure whether it’s just me, but Megan McArdle sure seems like an enormous dope. Yet she occupies valuable real estate on the op-ed page of the Washington Post. Take, for example, her latest WaPo...
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