"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
In the news
I never thought I’d thank a member of the GOP for anything, but I owe House Republicans* a high five for shooting down the Wall Street Welfare Bill this morning. Oh, thanks also to the 95 House Democrats who voted no with them. Of course this leaves us in a “now what?” situation. Maybe now […]
I was fascinated by this exchange during Katie Couric’s interview of Sarah Palin the other night: Couric: Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians? Palin: We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears […]
A proposal (which I have CC’d to my congressmen) for paying back the American taxpayer for bailing out Wall Street: Impose, as some have already suggested, a .25 per cent trading fee on all future stock transactions. But better yet, put the money collected into an interest-earning fund, then return all, or a substantial portion […]
Listened to Nice Polite Republicans most of the day, and all I heard was scare talk. We’re going to lose our savings, our 401Ks, our IRAs. Putting the money in the mattress won’t work because that’ll cause hyperinflation and a cup of Starbucks’ll cost 6.5 million. Unless we do something quick. Unless we give this […]
About this proposed 700 billion dollar bailout: considering the people this administration has put in charge of every other huge mess it’s made for us . . . the L. Paul Bremers, Monica Goodlings, Donald Rumsfelds, Michael Browns, Alberto Gonzaleses, Paul Wolfowitzes, Scooter Libbys . . . how can we possibly expect anyone associated with George […]
Well. Say what you will about the Olympics, the Chinese sure put on an opening ceremony. For a moment there, I almost understood how a people might willingly, even happily, surrender their individuality to the grand goals of a powerful state. At the same time, though, I couldn’t help thinking about the North Koreans and […]
We are meant to think, apparently, that Bruce Ivins, the civilian US Army scientist who committed suicide after becoming the FBI’s main suspect in the 2001 anthrax killings, was guilty. He was an insider, he had access to anthrax, he was brilliant but troubled, he had a long history of making homicidal threats, he exhibited […]
Some maniac went on a cross-town cop-shooting rampage today. From what I see on the news, he shot a policeman on the west side of Tucson, then shot two additional pursuing policemen as he headed east. They caught him somewhere in my neighborhood. One policeman is on life support and not expected to live. I’m not […]