Dec 29 2011
Our regular featured content-
These featured articles-
This is an Open Thread
Dec 29 2011
This goes beyond stopped clock into “Man Bites Dog” territory.
Midlife Crisis Economics
By DAVID BROOKS, The New York Times
Published: December 26, 2011
The United States spends far more on education than any other nation, with paltry results. It spends far more on health care, again, with paltry results. It spends so much on poverty programs that if we just took that money and handed poor people checks, we would virtually eliminate poverty overnight.
So, uhh…, why don’t we do that?
Dec 29 2011
DSCC Wastes $1 Million in Ads on Retiring Ben Nelson
By: David Dayen, Firedog Lake
Tuesday December 27, 2011 12:00 pm
Ben Nelson, Nebraska’s Democratic senator, will retire from the Senate next year, despite benefiting from a million dollars in early-cycle advertising funded by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
…
I understand that the ad money was meant to entice Nelson into running for re-election by showing him the support he would receive from national Democrats. I don’t understand why you would spend that money. Nelson has spent the last couple years voting in lockstep with the Republican minority on dozens of key issues, particularly around spending and debt. His vote to keep Harry Reid in the majority obviously meant more to the leadership than any of his votes on substantive issues.What’s more, Nelson was going to lose next year. Polling showed him consistently under 40% in Nebraska, and unlike in some other states, increased turnout from the Presidential race would not help him. Senate observers were writing this one off all ready, and any money the DSCC sunk into this race would have been as wasted as money put toward re-electing Blanche Lincoln or Rick Santorum or any other doomed incumbent.
I once again put forth the proposition that I could vaporize money much more efficiently than any of our current banksters, political consultants, or pundits.
You know where to find me.
Dec 29 2011
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
Find the past “On This Day in History” here.
December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are two days remaining until the end of the year.
On this day in 1890, the Wounded Knee Massacre took place near Wounded Knee Creek (Lakota: Cankpe Opi Wakpala) on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
In the years prior to the Massacre, the U.S. Government continued to coerce the Lakota into signing away more of their lands. The large bison herds, as well as other staple species of the Sioux diet, had been driven nearly to extinction. Congress failed to keep its treaty promises to feed, house, clothe and protect reservation lands from encroachment by settlers and gold miners; as well as failing to properly oversee the Indian Agents. As a result there was unrest on the reservations.
On December 28, the day before the massacre, , a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M. Whitside intercepted Spotted Elk’s (Big Foot) band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them 5 miles westward (8 km) to Wounded Knee Creek where they made camp.
The rest of the 7th Cavalry Regiment arrived led by Colonel James Forsyth and surrounded the encampment supported by four Hotchkiss guns.
On the morning of December 29, the troops went into the camp to disarm the Lakota. One version of events claims that during the process of disarming the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle claiming he had paid a lot for it. A scuffle over Black Coyote’s rifle escalated and a shot was fired which resulted in the 7th Cavalry opening firing indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow troopers. Those few Lakota warriors who still had weapons began shooting back at the attacking troopers, who quickly suppressed the Lakota fire. The surviving Lakota fled, but U.S. cavalrymen pursued and killed many who were unarmed.
By the time it was over, at least 150 men, women, and children of the Lakota Sioux had been killed and 51 wounded (4 men, 47 women and children, some of whom died later); some estimates placed the number of dead at 300. Twenty-five troopers also died, and thirty-nine were wounded (6 of the wounded would also die). It is believed that many were the victims of friendly fire, as the shooting took place at close range in chaotic conditions.
More than 80 years after the massacre, beginning on February 27, 1973, Wounded Knee was the site of the Wounded Knee incident, a 71-day standoff between federal authorities and militants of the American Indian Movement.
The site has been designated a National Historic Landmark.
Dec 29 2011
 Muse in the Morning |
Time for a break from poetry…in order to create some art.
| Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself.
–Michel de Montaigne |
 Unfold |
Dec 29 2011
Those of you that read this regular series know that I am from Hackett, Arkansas, just a mile or so from the Oklahoma border, and just about 10 miles south of the Arkansas River. It was a redneck sort of place, and just zoom onto my previous posts to understand a bit about it.
One of the things that has really changed from when I was little is how telephone calls are made. When I was little, the Bell System (AT&T) virtually controlled all telephone traffic. It DID control all long distance traffic, and many local exchanges. Where it did not care to run lines, AT&T would contract with local or regional carriers.
Some of the local exchanges were part of the Bell System, owned by AT&T, whilst others were independent and operated under contract. The one in Hackett was a Bell System one, but in some even more rural locations independents ruled, and they often chose not to provide service to isolated areas because of the expense of running lines and maintaining them. Remember, back in those days modern multiplex calls on a single line were just getting started, and in those analogue days were not all that good.
Dec 29 2011
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is one of the few times that you will hear me advocate for the death penalty but we need to kill SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act). Our friend Gaius Publius at AMERICAblog has a list of companies, organization and wayward Democrats who have supported these Internet killing bills. There is still time for us to get the message to them that we are not pleased and what happened to Go-Daddy can happen to them.
I have already communicated to Sen Gillibrand that so long as she supports either bill, she would not be getting any contributions from me or my family members.
Here is GP’s list of companies:
Estée Lauder Companies: (212) 572-4200
Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)
Go Daddy: (480) 505-8800
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW): (202) 833-7000
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
International Union of Police Associations
L’Oreal: (212) 818-1500
Marvel Entertainment: (212) 576-4000
MasterCard Worldwide: (800) 622-7747
Minor League Baseball (MiLB)
National Center for Victims of Crime
National Crime Justice Association
National District Attorneys Association: (703) 549-9222
National Domestic Preparedness Coalition
National Governors Association, Economic Development and Commerce Committee
National Narcotics Offers’ Associations’ Coalition
National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA)
The United States Conference of Mayors: [email protected]
A lot of these folks have IP “content” – the NFL, for example – but also fan vulnerability.
And what about the unions (IBEW, Fraternal Order of Police)? Also, why do organizations like the Sheriff’s Association care about IP law? A little something extra in the retirement-fund Christmas basket? Or maybe groups like these just haven’t heard from the rest of us.
Given who’s on this list, I’m kind of waiting for the Catholic Bishops to weigh in.
Also these are the so called “progressive” Democratic Senators who have a foolishly co-sponsored the bills:
Sherrod Brown [OH] – (202) 224-2315
Al Franken [D-MN] – (202) 224-5641
Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] – (202) 224-4451
Amy Klobuchar [D-MN] – (202) 224-3244
Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI] – (202) 224-2921
Pick a few of your favorites and send them a message. Be polite. 😉
