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Tag Archives: politics

The Face of American Exceptionalism

I’d do it again in a minute.

24 nov 2014

Lawrence Lessig / Berlin Family Lectures

A remarkable series of lectures at the University of Chicago by Lawrence Lessig on the notion of legal, institutional corruption and how it relates to the problems and pathologies of today’s American political system. Long-form video to be sure but well worth the investment, IMHO. From the closing remarks to lecture one (in which he […]

In The Vanguard

You saw him, didn’t you? Governor Poindexter up there on the stage looking serious, speaking to the cameras, taking charge of the epidemic that’s gripped the nation, posing in front of that Texas hospital that was in the vanguard.  Except that the hospital didn’t manage things quite like they would have liked. Not quite as […]

As It Was, So It Is

He sat on the other side of the bookshelf. He had red hair and shining eyes. He was fit and tall and walked with confidence and certainty as he came and went. There was a poster on the wall above his desk. It had an F-16 fighter in some kind of banking turn or attack […]

It Depends

Maybe it’s cause for hope that notable politicians and tech experts are starting to speak out about our government’s surveillance policies. Bruce Schneier is one. A top computer security expert with a knack for communicating, he writes books, he blogs online and recently he has been publicly … shall we say … skeptical of what the […]

Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas died yesterday. If you were around during her long tenure, you might still hear her voice in the scrum of the White House press room during those things called press conferences that presidents used to have. She was fearless. And in her later years, she lamented the decline of the fourth estate: … Did […]

A Trillion Dollar Coin?

Are you kidding me? A one trillion dollar platinum coin? There are pundits seriously talking this thru!? At least I’m not the only one shaking his head: The fancy of a $1 trillion platinum coin is so tantalising in part because it puts a monetary option in play. The larger attraction, though, is that it does […]

I Have Some Suspiscions

Bobby Jindal quoted in The National Review carrying the water for the haters: I suspect that many in the Obama administration really don’t believe in private enterprise. At best, they see business as something to be endured so that that it can provide tax money for government programs. [Jindal, TNR] Really. Is that so? And […]

Banks

Ever notice this? I only say this as full disclosure. You see, I am not unbiased. With that said, here are some tools I’m using to understand the foreclosure fraud settlement deal… 1. The administration’s MO In keeping with my disclaimer above, here’s Scarecrow at Firedog lake articulating a cynical view on how the administration approaches […]