December 2009 Archives

Those of you that recall the 1992 election well remember the famous line from James Carville. In many ways, that line is true and always will be true. For the Democrats in 2010, that line holds more importance than they could ever guess. People focus on health care reform and they should. The Senate removed the public option, but it doesn't mean that it's dead. Consider the public option as the knee replacement you've needed...

Well known for selling books she didn't write, Sarah Palin's name appeared on an opinion piece in the Washington Post this morning that she also probably didn't write.  Why do I say that?  Because it was in complete sentences with subjects, verbs, and everything.  Does it express her opinions?  Absolutely.  Why do I say that?  Because the piece is simple minded, full of mischaracterizations, distortions, and outright lies, pushing politicized, knee jerk, "conservative" talking points. ...

Although the details of the "compromise" (aka sellout) on the public option reached by the Senate yesterday have yet to be released, here's my take on what I've seen so far. This is what we get when we have a malfunctioning body known as the United States Senate which is in reality a wholly-owned subsidiary of the big insurance companies.  We get a Medicare buy-in that's not really Medicare and not really a buy-in, is...

This is a difficult time of year for many, and my family is no exception.A time of year that should be filled with peace, love and joy instead brings feelings of anguish, despair and loneliness to some. Family dysfunction is elevated to exponential highs. Some overindulge, over imbibe, or overcompensate as a result. My family certainly isn't immune from dysfunction, and we've managed our varying "toxicity" levels in different ways. Some withdraw ... sometimes...

With the Copenhagen conference and "Climategate," the Internet and the media are abuzz with climate change.  I think more rational voices are being drowned out, though, by the bickering between those that have become polarized in the political debate.  (Gee, does that sound familiar?)  The lines between good science, good problem solving, and good policy have been blurred to everyone's detriment.  Let's try to unravel this Gordian knot a bit.First, the science.I was a climate...

It's been awhile folks and today's entry is not going to be very long. See, I'm drowning in paperwork and have about ten things to do and enough time to do five. Somehow writing a daily blog suddenly goes down to the bottom. Since education is on the mind I will talk about one simple thing we have talked about before, but I will say it in simpler terms and dispense with the flowery language....

Note the man in the NRA cap: "It's basically to embarrass America, which is what this administration's all about. Let's embarrass America...embarrass Western civilization, embarrass the white race." 　 More of those happy Republicans non-partisan patriots....

COP 15, the UNFCCC meeting on climate change, opened in Copenhagen yesterday.  Here's the video from the opening session:...

Yesterday, the EPA finally announced that CO2 in the atmosphere is a hazard to health, taking authority over regulating this and other greenhouse gases.  Lisa Jackson, under President Obama's directives, kick-started the regulation process after the Bush administration had stonewalled, and even buried evidence after the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA indeed had authority to regulate greenhouse gases.Here's a clip of Jackson's press conference yesterday:The serious scientific community is in consensus that...

Everyone is sick of the White House dinner crasher story, but, If you didn't watch SNL last night, you just have to see this:...