September 2010
42 posts
(
The White House) As part of the White House’s new “White Board,” Austan Goolsbee — Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors — explains President Obama’s plan middle-class for tax cuts, and shows how the high-income tax cuts would affect the deficit. — Jamelle Bouie
20 Ways Social Media Can Change the World That I...
bajillionhits:
This week everyone’s been abuzz/ablog/aTwitter about the Mashable & 92Y Social Good Summit, in which leading Thought Leaders (I couldn’t make it, was too busy with ABH.biz launch stuff) did digital lounges and Livetweetstreaming panels to discuss ways in which social media can also be used for “helping the world” outside of just being the most powerful tool for selling,...
What is your favorite first line from a novel?
“You’re sure she doesn’t know?” said Georgie.
“Antonia? About us? Certain.”
Georgie was silent for a moment and then said, “Good.” That curt “Good” was characteristic of her, typical of a toughness which had, to my mind, more to do with honesty than with ruthlessness. I like the dry way in which she accepted our relationship. Only with a person so eminently sensible could I have deceived my...
The above sculpture was erected today in front of the Italian Stock Exchange as part of a retrospective dedicated to Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It will remain there until Oct. 3.
I guess in Italy the bankers come right out and say what America’s financial sector only thinks. — Tim Fernholz
“When you have a front-page story. everyone is like, ‘Wow, great story!’ I’d like...”
– Jill Abramson in New York magazine. (via thedeadline)
Barry Estabrook Tests His Chickens For Salmonella
And they come out clean. So what, then makes some chickens so susceptible?
Another reason might be that raising chickens under a free-range system makes them less susceptible to salmonella. “I don’t think there is any doubt about it that healthy chickens living in decent surroundings are just going to be a lot more resistant to salmonella,” said John L. Ingraham, emeritus professor of...
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
President Obama alienated yet another key constituency this morning when he appeared on NBC and said that students should go to school longer. Yet even as children rued the day this Kenyan Socialist appointed himself president — right? — the rest of us should applaud. Basing education policy on outdated agriculture calendars is not the best idea, especially when kids the rest of the...
The Shame Game
Monica Potts on the “No Wedding, No Womb” campaign:
Like most stories about the African American community picked up by the national media this is a story about something that’s “wrong.” Certainly, there are real social problems plaguing the African American community. Black women are more likely to experience an unplanned pregnancy (69 percent of pregnancies are...
In Which We Welcome The Week
markcoatney:
theweekmagazine.tumblr.com is up, running, and looking good. Welcome!
(Flickr/Mike Browne) Comedian Stephen Colbert, who testified before Congress today about illegal immigration. “America’s farms are presently far too dependent on immigrant labor to pick our fruits and vegetables,” Colbert said. “Now the obvious answer is for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables, and if you look at the recent obesity statistics, you’ll see...
Money Turns Out To Be a Snoozer
Tim Fernholz saw Money Never Sleeps. His take? Not good:
Unfortunately, much of the film is devoted to the careful recitation of crisis buzzwords, usually out of context and with little explanation. Sample dialog:
Banker 1: We can’t let the government step in, what about moral hazard?
Banker 2: Damnit, we’re Too Big To Fail!
Banker 1: These assets are toxic!
Read
(Flickr/speakerpelosi) President Obama signing the health-care reform bill earlier this year. Today, major provisions of the bill begin to take effect.
(Flickr/VJnet) Lady Gaga in front of the Capitol for the National Equality March. Today, the pop star confronted Sen. John McCain on twitter: “@senjohnmccain the language in the defense bill says it will not enforce DADT repeal until pentagon review + president signs. Why block debate?”
(Flickr/World Economic Forum) Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Today’s Senate vote to break a Republican filibuster of the yearly defense-authorization bill, which included the DREAM Act and a repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” failed by a 54 to 43 vote. Collins, who ultimately voted “no,” was viewed as a crucial moderate who could help break the filibuster.
(Flickr/Stephen Masker) Justice Antonin Scalia. On Friday, Scalia told a group at U.C. Hastings Law School that the Constitution does not bar discrimination based on sex or sexual orientation.
The Real Loser In D.C.
Adam Serwer on the last gasp of the anti-marriage equality movement in Washington, D.C.:
Last night’s primary election was the time to make good on Jackson’s threat. But in the nine months since, there’s been a lot of cash spent with little blood spilled. According to filings with D.C.’s Office of Campaign Finance, NOM has spent around $140,000 opposing pro-equality...
Will We Need to Fight for Health Care Again?
Paul Waldman:
To see how the health-care reform that was passed earlier this year is talked about, you might think we’ve entered into a condition of permanent legislating, when even after a bill is signed into law, the battle goes on.
That’s because there are now people and organizations on the right that have made it their mission to destroy the Affordable Care Act. Fortunately...
“Overall, Republican ideas appear to do best among white male voters.”
—New National Journal Poll shows tepid support for much of the Republican Party’s domestic agenda
Uh oh.
Adam Serwer already won the internet for the week:
This is birtherism with big words. This is the witchdoctor sign without photoshop, WorldNetDaily without the exclamation points. D’Souza doesn’t need to stare at Obama’s birth certificate for hours to come to the same conclusion as the birthers, which is that the president is a foreigner. But neither is “Kenyan...
Can Money Save the World?
Dayo Olopade considers the Gates Foundation:
Just six years after its creation in 1994, the Gates Foundation became the largest philanthropic organization in history. Since 2000, its assets have exploded from $21.5 billion to $34 billion, triple the current holdings of the Ford Foundation, the second-wealthiest philanthropy. At a time when nearly half of all U.S. foundations surveyed have...
Dana Goldstein reviews the first crop of books on the 2008 election:
Now, just in time for Democrats’ likely midterm drubbing, two new books by liberal journalists have arrived to indulge the impulse to relive the presidential election and perhaps even learn something from it. Rebecca Traister and Ari Berman both covered the 2008 campaign and have spent the past two years putting it in...
"The Republican brand is not helped by not being...
TAP Talks To Rep. Earl Blumenauer:
Do you think there’s a chance that, with Republicans likely to gain more seats in the fall, we’ll see more them take more responsibility for bipartisan legislating?
I’m hopeful, but I’m not counting on it. One example of how bizarre it’s gotten? At the same time that the [American Automobile Association], the truckers [and the...
Why Does Our Web Editor Hate America?
Paul Waldman: Looks like I’m going to be on Olbermann tonight, talking about last week’s column on anti-intellectualism. Phoebe Connelly: Excellent!
I would watch it, but I’m, er without a television like the snotty liberal elite I am. Paul Waldman: Pathetic.
One question:
Why do you hate America?
(It’s on at 8 p.m. tonight; we’ll post the clip tomorrow.)
