NC-2: Confrontational Video Drives Up Etheridge’s Negatives. Gee, ya think?
Archive for 2010
June 18, 2010
IF TODAY’S BUREAUCRACY EXISTED IN THE PAST: Dunkirk Evacuation Delayed For Safety.
DR. WES on what’s happening with Medicare.
IN THE MAIL: From Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain: A Novel.
LOOKING FOR WAR ON TERROR NEWS? Check out Fred Pruitt’s Rantburg. And if you like his work, consider hitting his tipjar. I have.
BYRON YORK: Who told Obama drilling is ‘absolutely safe’?
AN INTERNET ACTIVIST’S war against police brutality. “Miller was one of the only ones to initially report on an absurd case in which a photographer was arrested for taking photographs of Amtrak trains — for an Amtrak photograph contest. As one can probably guess, many of Miller’s blog posts are based on similarly bizarre Kafkaesque situations. After he highlighted the story, the photographer in question appeared on the Colbert Report and the charges were swiftly dropped. Newspaper editors have repeatedly claimed that the loss of editorial jobs will lead to a less watchful press, one in which government institutions will be able to get away with more unscrupulous activities with little independent oversight. But Miller arguably highlights more police abuse than a single reporter would have even in the heyday of newspapers.”
Plus this: “Now that video can go on the internet, they know they can be embarrassed, but they end up embarrassing themselves more and going after the photographer and acting like a total ass. Just ignore the guy and do your job.”
VOTERS: MORE DISCERNING THAN THE WASHINGTON POST. Yeah, but how hard is that, these days?
GEORGE KUNEY on the Chrysler vacation.
BATTERED SPOUSES? Environmentalists and Obama.
JAMES BENNETT: The PIIGs Who Fell To Earth.
ONE DAY ONLY: Friends: The Complete Series for 99 bucks.
FINANCIAL TIMES: Reality of America’s fiscal mess starting to bite.
Investors would do well to take note. In recent months, America’s fiscal mess has assumed a rather surreal air. On paper, the country’s federal-level deficit and debt numbers certainly look very scary. But in practical terms, the impact of those ever-swelling zeroes still seems distinctly abstract.
After all, so far the federal government has not been slashing spending; on the contrary, there was a stimulus bill last year. And, as my colleague John Plender pointed out this week, Treasury bond yields have been falling as investors flee the eurozone woes. As a result, those scary numbers still seem to be a problem primarily concocted in the world of cyber finance.
But there is one place where reality is already starting to bite in America and that is in terms of state finances.
That’s because states can’t print money, and thus can’t live in a cloud of denial, as our leaders in Washington, D.C. still do.
UPDATE: Coming next: $7 a gallon gas?
MEDIA REACTIONS: Katrina vs. the oil spill. “In the aftermath of Katrina, media restrictions dealt chiefly with recovering the dead. But that didn’t stop them. They promptly went to court and gained access. Most of us likely remember how poorly they did, as with the bizarre reporting from the Superdome that didn’t match reality. Also, via Real Clear Politics, there was much potentially positive coverage they neglected, or simply missed. In any event, why are they sitting around on their hands complaining about access, now? Why haven’t they gone to court?”
WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Internet ‘kill switch’ would give President power to shut down the web. If they shut down the Internet, I’m getting out my gun. And I think everyone should take it as a signal to do the same — because one way or the other, it means the country’s under attack.
On the other hand, Stewart Baker says it’s malarkey.
ALAN GREENSPAN: U.S. May Soon Reach Borrowing Limit.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. may soon face higher borrowing costs on its swelling debt and called for a “tectonic shift” in fiscal policy to contain borrowing.
“Perceptions of a large U.S. borrowing capacity are misleading,” and current long-term bond yields are masking America’s debt challenge, Greenspan wrote in an opinion piece posted on the Wall Street Journal’s website. “Long-term rate increases can emerge with unexpected suddenness,” such as the 4 percentage point surge over four months in 1979-80, he said.
Indeed. Related: Gold hits record high.
LIGHTBULB TIME: David Brooks discovers the importance of federalism.
THE ETHERIDGE PRECEDENT: Giannoulias Campaign Aide Manhandles Videographer.
It smells of desperation.
EIGHT PRESIDENTS on an energy-independence mission.
ACCESS DENIED: Still Keeping The Press Out Of The Spill Zone. “Despite repeated promises to improve transparency, BP, the United States government, and their contractors are still inhibiting the media’s ability to cover the largest oil spill in the country’s history, which began April 20 with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.”