Monthly Archives: July 2011

Virginia Governor McDonnell has been crowing about the state’s budget “surplus” for the past two years.  The facts aren’t quite so simple, unfortunately. According to the Washington Post, Virginia has made massive spending cuts since the recession started during the … Continue reading →

The budget debate is bringing out the best in some of our politicians.  On Thursday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)  mocked members of the conservative grassroots movement as “tea-party hobbits.”  Not to be outdone, freshman Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters:  … Continue reading →

In an interview with National Geographic, former President George W. Bush explained that his non-reaction to news of the 9/11 attacks — and therefore his attention to “The Little Goat” — was a conscious decision to project an aura of … Continue reading →

The NYT reports:  “There’s a new doll entering the American toy market called the Breast Milk Baby. In addition to the doll, little girls (and boys) get a halter top that they can wear, with two flowers that symbolize breasts.  … Continue reading →

Don’t know if you can say the new census statistics are worse than lies and damn lies.  They are sobering to all who believe that opportunity and a ration of equality make our country great. Data analyzed by the Pew … Continue reading →

It would seem that the U.S. government’s inability to deal with the deficit and debt situation has already done us a lot of damage.  Credit depends on trust, and trust depends on maturity — which clearly hasn’t been shown during … Continue reading →

Fox commentator Juan Williams has revised his views about his former employer, NPR, in a way that’s sort of creepy.  In addition to saying that NPR is very “elitist” and a “white institution” — supposedly in comparison with Fox — … Continue reading →

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the people who have tormented us and confiscated our nailclippers since 9/11, have announced some good news: Airport scanners will no longer make an image of our naked bodies, and will instead “auto-detect items that … Continue reading →

Daily updates on the big showdown between Republicans (led by their Tea Party faction) and Democrats (who are, as often, disunited and reactive) would be a waste of time. Sorting through the theater on the one hand, and the serious … Continue reading →

The Washington Post has published a disturbing investigative piece about how private firms collect huge amounts of minutia about us — to calculate “credit scores” — and sell it to other companies.  (See full text of the article below.) This … Continue reading →