Attack of the Brain-Eating Facebook

Oh, scare-mongering media, what will you terrify us with next? Well, what more can one say about that?  Really.  Brain-eating ameobae.  I’ll never put anything up my nose again.  Not even a finger. More current news, as seen on Facebook: Anent the Dear Leader’s demise, I couldn’t help making a few jokes, but I’m saddened […]

Holiday Grab Bag

When I grew up merchants and advertisers respected non-Christian customers by using Xmas instead of Christmas. Today, Xmas has been replaced by “the holidays.” That’s the spirit in which I use the word, to acknowledge the fact that, in the words of President Obama, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus […]

What a World We Live In

We try to keep the world from intruding on our happy lives, but sometimes all defenses fail.  I don’t mean to make light of what happened at UC Davis, and god knows the photo itself is horrifying, but this photoshop somehow makes the latest pepper spraying incident all the more Orwellian: What a world we […]

But Will Social Security Pay for My Cadillac?

The payroll tax — not the income tax, but the entirely separate payroll tax on workers and employers — is what funds Social Security.  When the program’s defenders say Social Security is paid for and does not contribute to the national deficit, they speak the truth.  Social Security is fully funded through 2037, and a […]

The Villagers and Their Narrative

Just heard NPR Morning Edition correspondent Steve Inskeep cut Rep. Barney Frank off in mid-sentence (audio link here). Inskeep says (at 4:13 on the tape) “the biggest part of the federal budget is entitlements.”  Frank says “No, wrong, I’m sorry, the defense budget is bigger than Medicare, and Social Security is in fact self-financing, and […]

Church Ladies & AOL Uncles

The church ladies are restless. I’m sure this has something to do with NBC’s silly decision to edit out the words “under God” from an airing of the pledge of allegiance during a golf tournament last week.  Reaction on the right was immediate and harsh, and now the AOL uncles are forwarding shit like this. […]

Oh, that Annie Jacobsen

So there’s a new book out: Area 51: an Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base, by Annie Jacobsen. On Tuesday, May 17, Annie discussed her book with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Naturally, I watched. You can watch too, if you wish: Most of what Annie had to say about Area 51 […]

Responding to Friendly Criticism

I’m getting some hits over two previous posts (Gabrielle Giffords and Political Violence).  As is often the case, the criticisms were emailed directly to me rather than left here as blog comments.  Which ordinarily would mean you wouldn’t get to see them.  It seems a bit like censorship to me, getting reasoned criticism from friends, […]