There must be Rum in the Rum River … Only possible explanation

I lived in Minnesota for awhile in the mid 1990s. Thankfully, not this part of Minnesota represented by Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. Sesame’s Street’s Elmo needs to send some tapes over there to improve the educational results in Lake Elmo and some of her other communities, I fear. I’ve watched committee hearings with [...]

On Redefining Illiteracy and Innumeracy

I’ve been highly frustrated recently by the appalling level 0f uncivil discourse at town hall meetings. Here’s the latest experience for Howard Dean as reported by the Hill. Yesterday, I watched Senator John McCain’s meeting and his was booed several times for making statements that were true by definition. The hatred in the [...]

Enough is Enough!

Left Blogistan is alive with the sounds of open dissent. I can only say, it’s about time. Here’s a good example from TheHill.com aptly headed Obama picks fight with left on Health Reform. The news, however, is this fact. A public option is not a liberal option. It’s the option that [...]

What’s that, Lassie? Little Timmy fell down the well?

I’m not sure what Secretary Tim Geithner is smoking these days, but I’m sure there’s a huge market for it.  Maybe we could tax it then pay off the national debt.   The news of the Treasury Secretary’s trip to China is just developing enough of a surreal feel that I felt like Photoshopping a [...]

The “Incompetence Crisis”

All last year,  ALL  I heard was how experience didn’t matter.  I heard that being ‘ready on day one’  was a meaningless campaign slogan.  I was told that what mattered was perceived good judgment, intelligence, and speaking skills.  I remember watching the first Democratic Debates and thinking, this guy isn’t ready to be dogcatcher, let [...]

A quick breath up from the global economy for me and …

back home … here.
To this headline at Politico:  Obama Losing Stimulus Message War
and to this quote:
At this crucial juncture in the push to pass an economic recovery package, President Barack Obama finds himself in the most unlikely of places: He is losing the message war.
Despite Obama’s sky-high personal approval ratings, polls show support has declined [...]

Krugman Gets It Right Again

Two things stuck out in my mind when I finally read the inaugural speech written by Jon “the groper” Favreau. The first was didn’t some one get a fact checker for this kid or at the very least get him a calculator? (Turns out I wasn’t the only one that noticed this one, it [...]

The Dakini’s Office Pool

 

It’s almost the New Year.  Having once dated a New Yorker for an extended period of time, I got used to William Safire (whose column I miss a lot) and his end of the year Office Pool.  He always had a list of predictions that challenged you to beat the pundit.  Some of my favorite [...]

When Inclusion is Really Exclusion

When I heard that Rick Warren was invited by PE Obama to say a prayer at the inauguration,  my first thought was that Obama’s pandering to the religious right was more than just electioneering.  Obama seems intent on including them in his administration.  To me, this  bodes poorly for science, rational thought, and civil rights.   I was [...]

A message from PEER

As a public employee, I found myself frequently in the position of watching higher-ups do things that were not ethical, responsible or mindful of the public welfare.  I have less problems with that now that I work for a University as a prof endowed with intellectual freedom.  Other agency employees don’t have that same protection.  I [...]