October 5th, 2011 → 6:24 am
“Our country sinks beneath the yoke;
It weeps, it bleeds; and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds.” – Macbeth
I’ve been reading how the Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than initial models predicted. It’s really rather frightening to contemplate. Along with unemployment, the debt, and presidential primary jockeying, we also need to worry about global climate change. No wonder it’s too hard to focus action on any one thing – there’s too much to contemplate!
Filed under: Blog & Other & Politics/Politicians
October 3rd, 2011 → 7:59 am
“A stirring dwarf we do allowance give before a sleeping giant.” – Troilus and Cressida
Why is it that we seem more concerned about Demi and Ashton’s breakup, then about the threat of global warming? About non-existent inflation, then the very real high unemployment rate? About Chaz Bono on Dancing with the Stars, rather than death and the war in Afghanistan? I’m not blaming anybody because it seems to be a universal, nonpartisan phenomenon, but why is it that we get so distracted by stirring dwarfs when there are so many larger sleeping giants about?
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Other & Politics/Politicians & Stupid/Evil People
September 25th, 2011 → 7:41 am
“O Hamlet, what a falling off was there.” – Hamlet
I keep reading about how the star of Rick Perry is falling fast, especially since the debate in Florida last Thursday night. It’s still too early to write him off, of course, but I’m not surprised people are beginning to lose their unrealistic admiration of him.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
September 17th, 2011 → 7:43 am
“…have we eaten on the insane root
That takes the reason prisoner?” – Macbeth
Michele Bachmann has been repeating the claim that vaccines cause mental retardation, despite the fact that there is no scientific evidence for this whatsoever. Her stance is based simply on the fact that somebody told her so. Uh…huh?
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
September 13th, 2011 → 5:13 am
“A great reckoning in a little room.” – As You Like It
It appears that the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination, Rick Perry, was attacked on all sides last night. It’s about time he answer for his views on social security, women’s rights, money in politics, and more.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
September 7th, 2011 → 7:54 am
“Oftentimes excusing of a fault
Doth make the fault the worse by th’excuse.” – King John
Mitt Romney now believes that his earlier support of things like universal health care, action on climate change, and Roe v. Wade are wrong. His excuses and flip-flops, however, are worse than the initial positions! Take a stand, own your faults (if they are faults), and show some strength in what you believe.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
August 31st, 2011 → 4:59 am
“The foot, That leaves the print of blood where’er it walks.” – King John
Colonel Qaddafi was an awful leader – treacherous, sadistic, his steps trailed by blood and murder. It appears that his reign is really just about finally over. Praise God. I wish the people of Libya strength in putting their country back together.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
August 29th, 2011 → 6:17 am
“And in his brain,
Which is as dry as the remainder biscuit
After a voyage, he hath strange places crammed
With observation, the which he vents
In mangled forms.” – As You Like It
Rick Perry doesn’t believe in climate change, nor in the separation of church and state, and he has expressed a wish for Texas to secede from the Union. This is the Republican’s political savior?
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians & Stupid/Evil People
August 14th, 2011 → 7:05 am
“They laugh that win.” – Othello
Congratulations to Michele Bachmann for winning the Iowa Straw Poll, I guess.
Filed under: Blog & Politics/Politicians
August 6th, 2011 → 7:09 am
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” – Hamlet
I’m afraid the time has come for me to disagree with Shakespeare. The notion that a person, or even a government, should never borrow or lend is financially ludicrous. Smoothing consumption patterns over time (through borrowing and lending) is much more optimal than living paycheck to paycheck, with unpredictable booms and busts always chasing your heels. The same is true for governments; they should spend more in recessions to prop up living standards, and less in good times to cool the economy and save up for future recessionary spending. The balanced budget amendment Republicans in Congress are proposing is just bad economics, plain and simple.
(Note that if you read the rest of Shakespeare’s quote, it begins to have more validity. The full quote is: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.” This human component of personal relationships and productive incentives holds more truth than the simplified borrowing/lending quote you usually hear bandied about.)
Filed under: Blog & Economics/Money & Politics/Politicians