thought no. 89

Using Ayn Rand's works as a basis for government is like using Stephanie Meyers' works as a basis for relationships.

thought no. 88

Congress will not pass any real jobs legislation until Capital (i.e., those who own) feels it has gotten enough concessions from Labor (i.e., there is rioting in the streets).

thought no. 87

Here's an easy anti-rape campaign: Guys, when someone asks, "Would you fuck her?", respond "If she's willing".

See what I did there?

thought no. 86

We need a law that says if you see someone driving like an idiot, you can photograph it, send it to the cops, and they'll get a ticket, or at least a hassle of some sort. I had this thought after having a guy in front of me come to a complete halt in the HOV lane so he could squeeze out and get off at a non-authorized exit.

thought no. 85

As long as we're talking about "entitlements" for old people, sick people, and the poor, let's talk about corporations as well, who seem to believe that they are entitled to not only make the same profits as last year, but to better them.

thought no. 84

The reason that Republicans are having so many debates, when in the past you could barely get them to have more than a couple, is so that the MSM reports almost continuously on the GOP and their ideas about how things should be. This gives the illusion that they hold the mainstream opinion, however whacked out it may be, simply by being broadcast and printed almost 24/7.

thought no. 83

In any group, there is always a 1% who screw it up for the rest of us.

thought no. 82

Republicans are always talking about how "entitlements" need to be cut, which of course means money given to people they consider to be unworthy. How about someone talks about the way that corporations seem to feel entitled, even in hard economic times, to the same profits that they made in the good times? If workers are going to give up something, so should employers.

thought no. 81

Sometimes I wonder if the American obesity problem is a reaction to an instinctive feeling that lean times are a'coming. I mean, no one is going to be starving*, but I'd be interested to know if there's a connection/correlation between weight gain and economy downturns.


* one hopes

thought no. 80

The huge increase in the wealth of the top earners of the nation is reasonable only if you consider working Americans to be lazy and our current generation of "leaders" to have been extraordinary.

Any takers?

thought no. 79

Here's the problem with education in America:

It has gone from being thought of as something you achieve to being something you have done to you.

thought no. 78

Let's review this idea that government should be run like a business:

in a democracy, one person = one vote

in a corporation, one share = one vote

Beware of millionaires who want America run like a business, because guess who'll image they have a bigger say in how things are done.

thought no. 77

If churches want to strengthen marriage, they should try insisting that wedding bands be tatooed, rather than gold.

thought no. 77

An organization which has ceased to care what the public thinks is an organization with too much power.

thought no. 76

Nobody expects the world to end in a nuclear holocaust anymore, and yet the future doesnt look half so bright as it did back in the early 80s. If you grew up in the 70s or 80s, you know what I mean.

thought no. 75

Republicans act as if the middle class will grow stronger when the economy gets better. I suspect it's the other way around.

Look up the term "velocity" as it applies to money. When the poor and middle class have more money, they will spend almost all of it right away, usually in ways which generate jobs, and those employed folks will also spend most of their money right away.

Wealthy people tend to invest, which while that's a necessary thing, also has little velocity, meaning it passes thru fewer hands in a given amount of time.

See, what's important is not so much how much money there is within a given system, but how many hands it passes through in how short of a time.

A little money in the hands of the masses goes a lot farther than a lot of money tied up in stocks, bonds or bank vaults.

thought no. 74

Classical references are just pop references that have held up over time.

thought no. 73

Advice to teenage girls: there is no connection between him "liking" you, and you having sex with him. No connection at all.

thought no. 72

The phrase "loot whore" is in my head, but I think of the instrument when I hear it.

thought no. 71

Could right-wingers be deliberately sowing bad information on the internet in order to be able to sell the Web as being "unreliable"? That would help maintain (or slow the decline of) the mainstream media organizations and the influence they wield.

thought no. 70

Q: what does a zombie intellectual eat?

A: fish!

thought no. 69

How would a rich person play tic-tac-toe if it were a multinational company?

First of all, they own the board. Then they'll make the rules to assure that they win. Then they'll charge you for the privilege of playing with them. If you still somehow manage to win, they'll change the rules, because it's their board.

If you don't want to play, they'll find someone who will, and you can go hang.

The difference between tic-tac-toe and a job? You can live without tic-tac-toe.

thought no. 68

People need to stop conflating capitalism with democracy. They are not the same.

For proof: have you ever worked in a corporation were the leadership was elected? Where anyone in charge really gave a flying fuck what you thought about anything?

thought no. 67

What would tea-partiers do if an election were held, and a majority voted for socialism?

thought no. 66

Sorry football fans, but I just cannot get excited by a game played by a bunch of millionaires. I mean, I don't get excited about polo, either.

And, in the days of the Occupy Wall Street movement, here's something for all you fans to consider:

1. The millionaire owners of the teams are in the 1%.
2. The millionaire players (at least the Big Boys) are in the 1%.
3. Many of those millionaires have built new stadiums with taxpayer money.
4. Why new stadiums? For more luxury skyboxes, of course. Who gets those skyboxes? The 1%, of course.
5. The worst part of all this: The 1% write off those skyboxes as a "business expense". I don't have documentation, but I'd guess no less than 90% are written off. That will be in every sport, in every major league stadium and arena in America.

thought no. 65

Weird Al has totally messed up "Piano Man" for me.

thought no. 64

Have republicans considered how toll roads could aid in tracking people's movements?

thought no. 63

About thirty years from now, natural brick homes will be all the rage, painted brick will be considered tacky, and sandblasting companies are gonna be raking it in.

thought no. 62

Time is the one thing that everyone has in equal quantity (on a daily basis, anyway), and yet people happily sell it to the lowest bidder. People shouldn't be upset about about low wages, they should be upset with how little they value their own precious time. It can never be returned, or replayed.

thought no. 61

Okay, so I havent read Marx, but as I understand it Marx felt that unhindered Capitalism would eventually wreck the economy of any nation, eventually leading to Communism. Has it ever occurred to conservatives that by their support of the unregulated market, they fall into Marx's model of the creation of a communist state? Do you think they worry about that?

Huh. Do you think they worry about anything besides money?

thought no. 60

A trend I've noticed lately in conservative posturing: Talking about how many pages a bill has. Like somehow the bigger a bill is page-wise (even if it deals with a big, complicated problem), the worse it is. Which makes the Republican Party a living embodiment of TLDR.

thought no. 59

You know all those people who are the "job creators" who it is said will lose motivation if taxes are raised? If their only motivation for their actions is money, then maybe it would be better if they did lose interest.

Related to this idea, are the people suggesting that the minimum wage be reduced or eliminated the same people who claim that the reason the USSR failed is because the workers had no motive to work absent the profit motive?

thought no. 58

You know all those assholes who respond to calls for higher taxes with the suggestion that if you're so worried about the government having enough money, you should go ahead and pay more taxes? When those same people bitch about social security, when they are so concerned and think that people shouldnt have that option/fallback, suggest that they should forgo their own collection of benefits.

thought no. 57

I also find myself wondering how many more times we'll allow Republicans to be put in power before we finally realize that they are destroying the America we were taught to love.

And just how much too late it will be by then.

Remember I said this when Rick Perry wins in 2012.

thought no. 56

So, I find myself wondering if perhaps the Republican Party isn't some sort of giant psychological experiment* designed to see just how much idiotic behavior people are willing to accept before they finally turn away in disgust?

I mean, was he not paying attention last week to Michelle Bachmann?





* run by our alien overloards, of course

thought no. 55

I saw this, and my first thought was, "I would sooooo name this cat 'Manson'!"

thought no. 54

Here's a thought - Bacevich posits that the history of America is a history of expansion. This makes sense. Anyone familiar with American business knows that being a company that maintains its level of sales, production, etc, is to be a company considered in many ways to be a failure.
We are always searching for something new; new products, new markets, new niches, new demographics. Expansion is the watchword of any business. I've often speculated (without any kind of proof) that one of the reasons for this obsession was that bank loans were made based on expansion, rather than whatever the current situation of a business was; in other words, people get loans (and banks make them) with a payback schedule based on projected (expanded) future sales. If I'm right, then this kind of thinking may go a long way towards making the adjustable rate mortgage problem more understandable. Actually, I suspect a lot of those with adjustable rate mortgages were people that bought their home with every intention of selling it a higher price before the rates jumped up, but were caught by the (inevitable*) collapse.

Anyway, here was my thought (the preceding was set-up): The last time that Americans had to deal with an age of robber barons was about the same time as the U.S. ran out of frontier. We were left with nowhere to expand, so those in power set about expanding within our borders. As Wal-Mart shows, we don't care how we get more, as much as we care that we do get more. The time of the robber barons was also the time that led to the labor unions and workers rights because of the abuses of those barons in the pursuit of more wealth.
Now we find ourselves running out of room to expand again, not because we've run out of room, but because we're being hemmed in by the expanding economic might of Asia, and of our short-sighted planning which put our manufacturing capability into their hands. And so, once again, we have our leaders of industry, unwilling to settle for less (this is America, after all), looking inwards to expand their wealth, looking at us. And so now, as before, we have exploitation of immigrant workers, diminishing workers rights and benefits, and a growing disparity between the incomes of those who "direct" the production and those who actually do the producing.

Will things be allowed to get as bad as they did at the turn of the 20th century? Hard to say, but for those who complain of abuses in the workplace, I say, read your Jacob Riis and Upton Sinclair. Then buckle down, because the ride could get a lot bumpier.

(what goes up, must come down)

Watch the stock markets: a stock's price will often fall upon the news that it didn't make profits as high as expected.

It is no longer enough for us to start a business and be our own boss, to have a company, store or service that provides a comfortable living for you and your family. Now, we want to start a business that does one of two things: a) goes on to greater business glory, destroying the competition and making you very, very rich in the process; or b) doesn't quite do the above, but does well enough that the competition buys you out, making you very, very rich in the process.

thought no. 53

Maybe "trickle-down" economics would work better with a bit of wringing.

thought no. 51

Here's a thought: maybe the reason liberals have allowed Republicans to have such control for so long is not because they're ineffective pussies, but because they just don't care as much. I mean, if your self worth is all wrapped up in money and power, then the loss of either of those things will be something you'll fight very hard against. But a Liberal's sense of self-worth is generally wrapped up in something else, maybe work, maybe community, maybe service, maybe art. The loss of power, the cost of money is annoying, but not devastating.

Am I suggesting that Republicans are less evolved?

Yes. Yes I am.

thought no. 50

America is like a giant Union created to protect its workers from the Aristocracy Company. Unfortunately, like so many unions, it's been corrupted, and taken over by people who do not have the best interest of the members at heart. Question is, do we let this union collapse and hope that eventually a better one arises, or do we work to get rid of the rot at the top? And how messy will that work turn out to be?

thought no. 48

An artist's job is to see the world. Once upon a time, life was hard, and mere survival was utmost, so the seeing was simple - hunting, animals, people. As life got easier and more varied, so did the art. People today complain about the decadence of art, but it merely goes hand in hand with the ease of life. The more varied life becomes, the more the artist(s) needs to see, and then tell us about. If you wish to make art less decadent, then you must make life harder, and less rich with knowledge and experience. Eliminate the ease of survival and the quality and quantity of knowledge, and you will achieve a tighter focus in art.

thought no. 47

Do Republicans start out assuming that people are basically bad? Do Democrats assume that people are basically good? Because it kind of seems that way to me.

thought no. 46

Imagine if no one cared about whether someone was gay or not, but instead left-handedness was considered an abomination before God.

Both are about 10% of the population.

thought no. 45

I am Man! I use tools!

Seriously, think about it. We use tools for everything. There is almost nothing we actually do with our hands anymore, except manipulate tools.

thought no. 44

There's a difference between thinking you're qualified for a job and thinking you deserve it.

thought no. 43

I thought of yet another reason not to buy an electronic book, such as the Kindle and such: At some point in the future, those books will receive advertising on them. At some slightly further point in the future, you will have to wait while those ads play out.
Not if. When.

thought no. 42

Republicans identify generally as Christians. Lately I've been wondering just what they intend to tell God when it comes time for them to be Judged: "I was denying health care for old people and children for their own good, God. Especially the children, who learned an important lesson in the value of hard work". I wonder how well that'll go over?

thought no. 41

Power comes from somewhere, and the Tea Party's is outsized compared to its popularity. So who, or what, adds to its power?

thought no. 40

Here's a thought: Conservatives like to describe America in terms of a business. Well, if your business lowers the price (i.e., taxes) on the product (i.e., America) it sells to (way) below the actual cost of the product, one of two things will happen: either that company will go deep in debt, perhaps leading to bankruptcy, or that company will have to slash costs resulting in a cheaper, crappier product.

Guess we're gonna get both.

thought no. 39

The above cars are three of the classic European automobiles for the masses. The were cheap cars built for the working class. All three have been revived in recent years, and all three revisions have been larger and, more importantly, more expensive. Now I realize that there is big money to be made in nostalgia, but a paranoid part of me cant help but wonder if there is also some sort of desire there to take an iconic thing belonging to the People, and turn it into an overpriced toy.

Crazy? Yeah, probably. Still, the originals were workaday, barebones automobiles, built cheap to be sold cheap to people who probably couldn't afford much else (they certainly couldn't afford the new versions). We have lots of these still, of course, but none so beloved. At least not yet. Perhaps someday, we'll see the return of the "classic" Aveo or Versa. Bigger of course. And unaffordable to working people, but still back.
Right now, I'm waiting for the new 2-CV...

oh crap.

thought no. 38

Have you got a major sports team in your town? No doubt, the stadium (built with public money) has a lot of luxury skyboxes. Most of those boxes will be corporate owned. All of those corporate owned boxes will be tax-deductible.
Forget private jets, how about we go after those? How many billions of tax revenue are lost so that corporate guys can sports in isolated luxury? If it's more than ten bucks, it's too much.

thought no. 37

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

George Santayana

As far as I can tell, a lot of those who do remember (or study or whatever) think they are smart enough to to it right this time.

But aren't.

thought no. 36

Proposal: a new clothing line for men; "John Galt for Men".
Tagline: "Watch the Nation burn."

thought no. 35

The sad thing about the whole debt ceiling debacle (and indeed about pretty much everything since Obama took office) is that the public (at least according to polls) knows what it wants and that ain't what the Republicans are offering. But in the chest-thumping branch-waving milieu that is politics, no one is interested in the Left's cowering submission, and so keep voting for the stronger GOP silverbacks despite the fact that they have nothing to offer but more pain.

As rational as we'd like to believe we are, at the center we're just stupid primates, impressed by feats of strength and shows of teeth.

thought no. 34

We probably should have known that the banking industry and the congress was in collusion and out of control when regulations made it possible to raise interest rates on things already purchased. I mean, how much sense does this make: you are obviously having trouble paying off the money we lent you, so we will raise the interest rate making it that much harder for you to pay off. It strikes me a bit like debtors prison, but with bars made of paper statements rather than iron.

thought no. 33

I was just party to one of those discussions where some conservative countered complaints about rich guys like the Koch Brothers with the usual garbage about Union and their money influencing political races, too.
Bullshit.
Equating the Koch Brothers to Unions is a bit like saying that a fight between two armored guys with automatic weapons and rocket launchers based in an M1 tank against 1000 naked men with sticks is a fair one. Sure, the thousand guys might win, but at what cost even if they do?

thought no. 32

So, people like to describe taxing the very wealthy as "punishing success". Honestly, when it comes to some of our very wealthiest citizens, I'm not sure that their successes have been particularly good for the nation. Maybe they ought to be "punished". Perhaps had someone "punished" hedge fund managers, sub-prime loan officers, and derivative bond dealers into pursuing their businesses less vigorously, we could have avoid our current financial clusterfuck.

thought no. 31

Man, I wish I had thought of this one, but I didn't, so I've got to give credit to Ed, while the only credit I can give myself is the ability to recognize the validity of the thought (which, considering American politics these days, is actually still at a much higher intellectual level than most of my fellow citizens).
Here's the thought: basically, ask most people, including conservatives, why the Soviet Union fell and, after singing the praises of Saint Ronnie for a while, will eventually tell you that it was because our arms race bankrupted Russia*. Huzzah!
Then we turn to the U.S. where one quarter of our nation's budget goes towards the military and we're cutting money for infrastructure, services and health and welfare for the sick and old, all in an effort to let our wealthiest citizens maintain private jets and multiple homes to fly those jets between**.
Anyway, I just love the irony of us destroying ourselves in the same manner which our old enemies did, right down to a costly and soul-destroying war in Afghanistan. It'd be funnier if I didn't have children.



* Oh, and because capitalism rawks, dude, and socialism blows, doncha know.
** very handily encapsulating soviet history both before and after the collapse of the Union.

thought no. 30

I'm thinking I should move to Canada or Europe or South America or Iran or somewhere, because I'd like to see what it's like living in a country with an opposition party.

thought no. 29

As long as Republicans, and a significant segment of the American voting population, continue to act like the rich deserve to be rich and the poor deserve to be poor, America will continue its decline.

thought no. 28

Hedge Fund guys make all their money by betting on the failure of some venture or another, right? And, lately at least, they have been doing pretty darn well. Like any American, it is their right, perhaps even their duty to contribute towards the election campaigns of the candidate of their choice.
But I had a thought: When they choose a candidate, do they choose one who'll make things better, which will help the nation, or one who will make things worse, which will help their bets on failure pan out profitably?

thought no. 27

Until someone figures out a way combat the "taxes punish success" meme, the GOP will continue to hold legislatures hostage and budgets will continue to starve.

thought no. 26

"Guns don't kill people. People kill people."
"But guns make it so much easier".

Jonathan L. Howard, from Johannes Cabal The Detective


Not my thought, but I plan to keep this one in my head for future use.

thought no. 25

Republicans are always going on about how they need to shrink the government. They often imagine doing this through the process of privatizing government services. But one of the primary requirements for a successful capitalist venture, at least in the modern world, is growth. So what that means is that conservatives want to shrink government by giving its duties over to organizations who by their very nature require becoming larger.

Imagine the implications of that for something like privatizations of prisons.

We already know the effects of it in war, don't we?

thought no. 24

American Conservatives are always going on about how "untrustworthy" and "incapable" government is. Now, setting aside that these people say these things while attempting to become part of that same government, I'd like to know why Republicans and their loony Tea-Party cousins think that the least trustworthy institution in the U.S. is the one institution where the America People get to choose who runs it?

thought no. 23

If you ask a Christian about God, he will tell you that God is both omnipotent and omniscient. He will then tell you that in order to please this all-encompassing God, you must walk a path that is straight and narrow and that you must walk that path without any deviation.
He will also tell you that, amazingly enough, he walks that exact correct path out of all the myriad of paths the world has to offer. (Lucky him!)

If there is any reason to mock Christians*, it is not the sentiments or morals contained in their basic religion. It is instead the astonishing idea that they have of placing an all-powerful, all-seeing superbeing into a tiny, narrow box made of belief, then having the gall to try and force others to "believe" the same way.

* Or, for that matter, any religious folk

thought no. 22

So, right now, Beauty and the Beast is on in the living room, and it occurs to me that if Belle had simply pretended to fawn over Gaston a bit, he would have completely ignored her, because she is, after all, a nerd girl. Look at her, and look at Gaston, who's a classic jock. Does anyone really think that a muscle-head like him would be choosing bookish Belle over the various push-ups who were in the tavern unless it was because she was the one girl who wouldn't have him?
No, the only reason Gaston wanted Belle was because she rejected him. If she had acted, even a little, like she was interested, Gaston would have blown her off for someone sporting more unbound hair and cleavage.
Hell, throw in a little shyness and she wouldn't even have to pay much attention. Yes, you could say that it's "compromising her integrity", but no one's asking her to sleep with him, now are they? A little false flattery seems a small price to pay for keeping an idiot away.

thought no. 21

Women: can't live with'em, can't sell'em in the marketplace anymore*.


* Well, not any marketplaces that I'd care to venture into

thought no. 20

thought no. 19

So, let me see if I've got this straight. Raising taxes to pay off the debt is bad (as the lockstep Republicans say), but allowing the default to happen (as some of the Republican Teapartiers are apparently wishing for), thereby raising interest rates, and so thereby making any future borrowing cost more money, that's okay?

Addendum: Confirmed! (via)

thought no. 18

Does this look familiar? I felt my gut clench when I saw it. Guess who it turns out to be. Again. That's right, another right-wing extremist. It doesn't matter if it's a Muslim or a Christian (except to the other Muslim and Christian right-wing extremists), they are both reprehensible, and I wish both of them a great and unpleasant surprise upon their deaths. May it come before they kill anyone else.

thought no. 17

I think this is freakin' awesome. I also think maybe someone watched a lot of My Little Pony to get the mouth movements matched up as well as they are.

thought no. 16

Just read this:

"The Four Ignoble Truths:
* Touch the military/espionage/security-industrial complex and you're dead.
* Touch Social Security and you're dead.
* Raise taxes and you're dead.
* Touch Medicare and you're dead."

If this is true, and I dont doubt that it is, then we are basically fucked, because we have no where to go but to cut everything else that makes life good here for most Americans.

thought no. 15

Is it possible that the people who are behind the drive to cause the U.S. to default are people who are interested in purchasing U.S. treasury bonds (in other words, loaning money to the U.S.) at a much higher rate of interest? We are, I believe, the world's biggest borrower. There are a few people (or corporations), both here and abroad, who have a lot of cash just hanging around looking for a good return, who also just happen to be heavily involved in political contributing. Aren't there?

thought no. 14

I'm beginning to think that the only way to save the village is to destroy the village. So perhaps it would be best if the GOP sweeps the election in 2012, so that when the country continues its downward spiral, it will be crystal clear who is to blame... to everyone.

Or maybe not.

thought no. 13

For an organization that touts the private sector and its effectiveness, the RNC sure does seem to need a lot of public sector money. Why do you suppose that is?

(props)

thought no. 12

Well, more of a question, really: how many conservative voters living in the area which is served by the Tennessee Valley Authority can be found protesting against "socialist" government programs and interference?

thought no. 11

this is from Wikipedia:

"Socialists generally argue that capitalism concentrates power and wealth within a small segment of society that controls the means of production and derives its wealth through a system of exploitation. This creates a stratified society based on unequal social relations that fails to provide equal opportunities for every individual to maximize their potential, and does not utilise available technology and resources to their maximum potential in the interests of the public, and focuses on satisfying market-induced wants as opposed to human needs".

Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like the last 30 years since the Reagan "Revolution", with the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few growing steadily. If opposition to that concentration makes me a socialist, then so be it.

thought no. 10

While I can think of plenty of countries that have both happy, prosperous citizens and a high level of government "intervention", I cannot think of a single one that has both happy, prosperous citizens and little to no government intervention.

Not one.

thought no. 9

crazy conspiracy idea: the religious extremism that has been rearing it's head in America and abroad is not the result of theocrats and Authoritarians, but is the result of a worldwide conspiracy of artists, who, concerned that they will run out of new ways to be avant-garde, are attempting to narrow the world's definition of "art" so that future artists can have "edgy" careers re-expanding. More than likely, future historians will uncover documentation calling all this a "performance" piece.

bonus crazy: you know most artists are gay, right?

thought no. 8

Democrats are not unworthy to lead because they are liberals. Democrats are unworthy to lead because they are a bunch of pussies so scared of Republican name-calling that they are totally incapacitated. And before any Republicans out there get to thinking that they're a bunch of heroes, your reaction to 9/11 and terrorism in general is the classic cowardice of the bully.

thought no. 7

"Everybody Wang Chung tonight"?
Seriously?
I can't decide if that was ego or an early experiment in branding.

I realize this song's, like, ancient, but it struck me while it played on my iPod.

thought no. 6

Tactically, perhaps Libertarians would do better joining forces with Democrats rather than Republicans. I mean, Libertarians want to do things like keep the government out of their personal lives, yet Republicans seem to be fascinated with regulating people (especially in the bedroom). Libertarians want less regulation, yet so far the only ones who seem to have benefited from deregulation have been the very large and the very rich, rather than the very ordinary.
Granted, Democrats like to regulate things, but they are also open to discussion, preferring a general progressive drift rather than a specific one (of course there are exceptions, but aren't there always). More importantly, the Democratic Party is not dominated by Authoritarians, which means that they may actually be open for a give and take, that there are no egos riding on a specific plan, just on making things better in a way that can be determined at a later date. Republicans allow no such deviations.

thought no. 5

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised when punk musicians start playing folk; they're both music of the people, after all.

More about Hanggai.



Addendum: Further proof in Mariachi el Bronx (7-29)

thought no. 4

I find myself wondering if the crumbling of conservative opposition to gambling (i.e., the acceptance of state lotteries) has any connection with the increase in the acceptance of the prosperity gospel among the same.

Addendum: 11 states receive more in lottery revenues than they do in corporate taxes.
(h/t to Gerry Canavan)

thought no. 3

In any human society, there will be injustice. We are lucky enough in America to have our injustice be as a result of democracy, rather than tyranny.

thought no. 2

Privatization is to government services as mountaintop removal is to coal mining.
The job gets done, but it makes a godawful mess, meaning the cost benefit ratio is pretty terrible, except for a few people who do very nicely, indeed.

thought no. 1

I've decided that I'm just going to post whatever pops into my mind here. Many will be via text. I suppose that Twitter would be the way to go with this kind of thing, but really, I'm not much of a joiner.

political links

Andrew Sullivan
Balloon Juice
Clusterfuck Nation
Contrary Brin
Corrente
Crooks and Liars
Daily Kos
Donkeyliscious
Driftglass
Duly Noted (Lindsey Beyerstein)
Gerry Canavan
Gin and Tacos
Greg Sargent's The Plum Line
Margaret and Helen
Matt Taibi's blog at Rolling Stone
Matt Yglesias
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
Nate Silver's Five Thirty-eight
"Niceguy" Eddie's In My Humble Opinion...
Ochlocracy In Action
Pandagon
Paul Krugman
Politicus
The Rant by Tom Degan
Robert Reich
The Rude Pundit
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
Slavoj Žižek
Southern Beale
The Swash Zone
The Onion