How to argue, part 8
Yglesias' argument is emphatically about a practical,
politically feasible Democratic foreign policy, and not
about seizing the quasi-pacifist moral high ground.
-- CC@unfogged.
May 12, 2008
March 3, 2007
How to argue, Part : My view
You are doing what you accuse older feminists of doing
-- declaring your views unassailable simply because you
have them.
They say,"You weren't there,"
You say, "You aren't here."
Okay, but you still have to make your case -- plenty of
young women, including young feminists, don't share
your POV. Your real beef with Ariel Levy, for example,
is not that she's too old and out of it to understand
young women (she's only in her early thirties).
It's that you don't agree with her view that today's
sexual culture (girls gone wild, hooking up etc) is
basically exploitation and exhibitionism packaged
as feminism. I'm not saying she's right or wrong,
I'm just saying that "Female Chauvinist Pigs" presents
an actual argument, not a mindless ignorant diss
of young women by some old fussbudget who
knows little about them.
Katha Pollitt, in response to The Feminist Sorority.
February 22, 2007
WMTC
We moved to Canada, by former Americans.
February 1, 2007
The Tyee
thetyee.ca Vancouverite proleview culture zone cannot be elitist.
January 30, 2007
Deran Baker on economic news
Dean Baker: business reporting is not not leftish enough.
January 20, 2007
Atrios's bookshelf
Atrios's bookshelf.
A former economist, indeed.
December 5, 2006
Sex-positive ?
Do they need to be feminists who like porn or can
they be porny types who are also feminists?
-- MeFi
December 3, 2006
Stephane Dion takes Canada's Liberal leadership / Stéphane Dion - Parti libéral du Canada
Vision:
Science, research and education powerhouse
Fans and endorsers:
Rob Edger
Westmount Liberal
Calgary Grit
idealisticpragmatist
The Tyee - Laura
Accepted by:
Fuddle Duddle (formerly fuddle-duddle)
dynamiteonline (but Dion needs to learn to speak English)
Detractors:
Bob Rae-supporting RedTory says 'Dion was, um, clumsy at best and his English, quite atrocious and haphazard'.
November 4, 2006
Squabbling vs assessing the alternatives
We, we are assessing the alternatives. The other guys,
they are divided and squabbling.
Continue reading "Squabbling vs assessing the alternatives" »
October 8, 2006
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory
Glenn Greenwald, litigator, (vs W) passes the hat.
Unclaimed Territory on W, again. An appreciation.
September 24, 2006
Side Show UK
SideShow UK, left news summary and blog survey.
September 20, 2006
Credit Slips
CreditSlips covers consumer lending from an
aspiring consumer protectionist regulator perspective.
Generally well informed and level headed:
debt trading,
Consuming is where consumers feel in control
(compare to John Fiske, "Shopping for Pleasure: Malls, Power & Resistance").
Innumerate: one number represents the whole population ?
September 19, 2006
City on a Hill
On how Freedom became central to the Republican party's
campaign for word domination.
Nunberg notes there are lots of metaphors for the state
—a ship adrift, an actor on the world stage, a city on a
hill, a house with crumbling foundations—and there is
simply no reason to think one of them structures our
political thought. We should all thank Nunberg for
suggesting that there is no thread, metaphorical or
logical, that runs through the contingently evolving
packages of partisan commitment.
-- WW
August 10, 2006
What democrats must do
We must talk about good stuff to get elected.
Here is he good stuff we will do.
Now, when you preface your policy proposals by indicating that said
proposals are intended to win elections and unite your party, you have
already pretty much ended any chance that people will think you
making said proposals because you believe in those proposals.
This is because, well, you just said that the purpose of these
proposals was to win elections. Americans love it when politicians
admit in public that their legislative proposals are designed to win
elections.
Meme democratic leadership.
July 21, 2006
Jane and her poodles
Mickey and Mallory ?
Jane Hamsher of Fire Dog Lake in New Haven, feeling the Joementum.
July 9, 2006
Inconvienient for free
June 7, 2006
Fire Dog Lake / Jane Hamsher
Fire Dog Lake / Jane Hamsher. Example . With Christy Hardin Smith.
May 13, 2006
Governance: Gore 2008 ?
Governance could be worse. Draft Gore 2008.
Also: Ozone Man's Climate Crisis and SNL address
-- YouTube (Flash), C & L (QuickTime).
As for immigration, solving that came at a heavy cost, and I
personally regret the loss of California.
Previously: Al Gore's heart and soul, protecting our children
from the dangers of smoking.
May 8, 2006
For money
Dilbert's war for money.
April 17, 2006
Bull Moose / Marshall Wittman
Bull Moose aka Marshall Wittman is a fair handed Democrat.
April 1, 2006
Love Makes a Family in Connecticut
Love Makes a Family's cable guy Ned Lamont (opponent of legitimate
Vice-President Joe Leiberman) events in Connecticut.
March 30, 2006
Danbury, hatcityblog
Hatcityblog watches Danbury, CT.
March 12, 2006
Bang me silly, Claude Allen
When all else fails, the Administration has simply preached:
In February, a hundred CDC researchers on sexually transmitted
diseases were summoned to Washington by HHS deputy secretary
Claude Allen for a daylong affair consisting entirely of speakers
extolling abstinence until marriage. There were no panels or
workshops, just endless testimonials, including one by a
young woman calling herself "a born-again virgin."
March 4, 2006
George W Bush, comforter.
George W Bush, comforter.
BUSH: When I saw TV reporters interviewing people
who were screaming for help. It looked the scenes
looked chaotic and desperate. And I realized that our
government was could have done a better job of
comforting people.
Americans should find comfort in knowing that millions
of their fellow citizens are working every day to ensure
our security at every level -- federal, state, county, municipal.
The more people learn about the port deal and the
government's scrutiny of it, the more they'll be comforted.
February 7, 2006
genx40 / Alan McLeod
Generation X at 40 attracts civil thoughtful comments.
How Canadian.
Highlights: Friday chat.
Down with pervasive remote-sensing automated computerized
biometric surveillance - Up With Hats !
February 2, 2006
Blue Grit / Ryan Ringer
bluegrit epitomizes level headed Liberals. Example:
western civilization. There were many leftists during the Cold War
who empathized with the Soviet Union. In the same vein, today,
there are many who try to make excuses for the Islamists.
-- 2006 Feb.
January 2, 2006
D-Squared digest
d-squared digest; jump into threads late.
Lefty English snark.
December 28, 2005
Traditional values
For all their crowing about traditional values, it's the right that
has embraced decadence, sadism, vice and corruption.
A very revealing portrait of what's happening in America explains
some things about why the right is so successful. And it's the
opposite of what everybody says it is. It isn't because they've
become more moral and religious. It's because they've fostered
and exploited extremism, nihilism and cruelty.
After all, if it was the libertine culture of "Brokeback Mountain" or
"unwed motherhood" or (gasp) abortion that was creating this
shift, you'd think we would have benefitted, not them. For all
their crowing about traditional values, it's the right that has
embraced decadence, sadism, vice and corruption.
December 14, 2005
Feel like a player, be a Republican supporter
The Republican Party doesn't offer to validate your identity.
It offers to give you an identity....The identity it offers you
is that of a player.
-- Garret Keizer,
Crap Shoot: Everyone Loses When Politics Is a Game,
Harper's.
December 7, 2005
Upscale Feminism in NY
Shorter NYT. Feminism as upscale as our advertizers.
December 1, 2005
log base 2
October 30, 2005
Who needs Prop 79 for drugs in California ?
Proposition 79 would use the purchasing power of the State of
California to negotiate the best price for up to ten million
Californians, who now pay more than anybody else in the world
for prescription drugs.
* Prop. 78 is completely voluntary for drug companies: they
are free to choose whether or not to offer discounts.
* Prop. 79 has an enforcement mechanism. If a drug company
refuses to provide discounts, the state can shift business away
from that company and buy more from other drug companies that
offer discounts.
Above is from the so-called Better California campaign site for
Prop 79 *.
Klingian Question of the Day:
What is preventing buyers from comparison shopping
between drug companies, either now or under Prop 78 ?
October 25, 2005
Legislating from the bench
* Any judicial ruling overturning a law is in wrong, that judges
can only decide what a law means not whether or not it is
Constitutional, so that any ruling overturning a previous ruling
that made new law is simply restoring order to the land. That
negating something doesn't bring anything else into existence.
* State legislatures and Congress are the only ones with the
authority to intepret the Constitution and that they also have the
power to change it whenever they choose, without having to resort
to a Constitutional amedment.
[*]
October 20, 2005
Daily Howler
Daily Howler chronicles the errors and omissions of beat reporters.
It should run as as series of footnotes below the broad pages of
the main stream media, as law review footnotes run below the
simplified article text, or better, as mash up with a Joel, Tom,
and Crow providing counter-commentary below the official
broadcast.
Example: Chief Justice Robert's proletarian roots vs Vice-President
Gore's agrarian roots.
October 7, 2005
Decembrist: fear of a coherent vision
Decembrist (Mark Schmitt) offers essay-length laments.
Examples: The confessional, Fear of a coherent Democrat vision;
video game paradigm and no fan of Italian beastiality.
September 24, 2005
Chief Justice Roberts
Roberts purports to rock: offers lawyer jokes
and doubts Michael Jackson.
August 12, 2005
Matthew Yglesias
August 9, 2005
bitchphd
Without parental consent, BitchPhD overcomes depression.
July 5, 2005
Don't Need Your Gheto Scenes
May 30, 2005
British Columbia election roundup
The Liberals will form the next government after this month's
provincial election (2005 May 17) in British Columbia. Exactly who
will be sitting in the House isn't certain yet in at least two
ridings after initial counts ended in razor-thin margins.
Roundup:
Right: Fraser Institute
The Liberals have almost nothing to gain by placating the demands of
union leaders. They may further recognize that introducing flexible
and balanced labour laws would result in a better functioning labour
market for B.C. workers, one characterized by higher rates of job
creation, lower unemployment, and higher wages. Finally, they may also
realize that, by introducing measures of flexibility into the
province’s labour laws, they will indirectly weaken the powers
afforded union leaders.
Contrary to the posturing of many union leaders, B.C. still maintains
relatively rigid and biased labour laws. A recent evaluation of
provincial and state labour relations laws found that B.C. ranked 57th
out of the 60 jurisdictions in terms of flexibility and balance.
Left:
Even bear604 is no fan of Jenny Kwan
May 23, 2005
The Washington Note
The Washington Note: opposition viewpoint from close up on Capitol Hill,
by Steve Clemons.
April 12, 2005
Germans poke their eyes out and see America
April 11, 2005
Bibamus: left democrat but fair
Bibamus' economic punditry is left democrat partisan but fair. A notch less shrill than
Economist's View.
April 8, 2005
Economist's View / Mark Thoma
Economistsview offers leftist hardcore partisan commentary, often Oregon-centric, posing as
economic analysis. (archives).
Update 2006 May: value added.
Update 2005 October: Offers pointers to academic papers and Fed speeches.
April 1, 2005
Busy Busy Busy
busybusybusy is a great leftish summary the
day's talking heads' punditry.
December 10, 2004
Political Animal / Kevin Drum
Kevin Drum is Political Animal, the in-house blogger of
The Washington Monthly and something of a clearinghouse
for smart liberals.
November 26, 2004
Liberal Oasis
Liberal Oasis is a hand-edited (not an RSS automaton) portal of what's hot and
recent in the liberal - left - democrat websphere.
November 19, 2004
The American Prospect & Matthew Yglesias's Tapped.
The American Prospect (mostly Matthew Yglesias)'s Tapped.
Leftish news and mostly logical commentary.
November 18, 2004
The Left Coaster
The Left Coaster. A liberal blog
with more thinking than linking.
November 17, 2004
Blue state Sprocketers dream of seceding.
When not dreaming of fleeing to Canada, Blue State Sprocketers dream of seceding.
November 2, 2004
Averaged Poll predicts undecideds for Kerry
election.princeton by Sam Wang averages all polls, fits a trend, and
predicts Kerry will win.
Monday, 2004 November 01, 12:00PM noon Eastern time
Median outcome, decided voters:
Kerry 252 EV, Bush 286 EV (±40 EV MoE)
Popular Meta-Margin among decided voters:
Bush leads Kerry by 0.9%
Predicted median with undecideds:
Kerry 280 EV, Bush 258 EV
Electoral prediction with undecideds and turnout:
Kerry 323 EV, Bush 215 EV
Popular vote prediction with undecideds and turnout:
Kerry 50%, Bush 48%, Nader/other 2%
October 26, 2004
Newdonkey
Newdonkey, well produced and reasonable democrats.
October 22, 2004
Atrios Eschaton / Duncan Black
Atrios Eschaton, aka Duncan Black's late breaking partisan
democrat news and spite, punctuated by occasional thoughful commentary
about Ricardian equivalence. ('Eschatology' is a long word
for end game.)
On ABC's The Note:
I've been reading the Note since the middle of the 2004
presidential campaign, and I must say it's one of the funniest
things I've ever encountered. It's the perfect parody of the
insular, snobbish, in-crowd mindset of Washington journalism.
You've captured everything: the craven subservience to power,
the swooning over empty Republican chest-beating, the total
ignorance of issues that matter to non-millionaires, the snide
sidelong shots at people who understand those issues, and -
particularly when you talk about Howard Dean - the pissiness of
people who believe themselves elite and can't quite understand
why nobody else is listening to their pearls of wisdom.
It's like a transcript of a cocktail party attended exclusively
by ultra-rich child molesters and whores. Congratulations on
the brilliant work, and remember the words of satirist Michael
O'Donoghue: "Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy."
More like this: Archives.
Unaffiliated with Immanentize the eschaton.
October 21, 2004
Dailykos
Dailykos, frequently updated democrat group blog.
Also publishes Dkosopedia, WiKi for lefty democrats.
October 19, 2004
James Wolcott
James Wolcott, well written punditry and spinsterism.
October 4, 2004
Talking Points Memo / Joshua Micah Marshall
Talking Points Memo, Joshua Micah Marshall.
Update: On the presentation skills of George W. Bush, 43.
Update 2007 Sept.: Fawning CJR profile.
October 3, 2004
MyDD :: Due Diligence of Politics / Chris Bowers
MyDD :: Due Diligence of Politics -- Chris Bowers.
April 18, 2003
Speak no evil
One Sunday I was driving through Missouri on Interstate 70, letting the
radio scan through the frequencies, and pausing on each station for a
minute. I heard a country station, a news talk station, another country
station, and a religious service. The commentator on the news talk station
was horrified that a grant for AIDS awareness was being used to
talk about sex (in San Francisco). His view now enjoys national influnece.
Scientists who study AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases say they
have been warned by federal health officials that their research may come
under unusual scrutiny by the Department of Health and Human Services or by
members of Congress, because the topics are politically controversial.
The scientists, who spoke on condition they not be identified, say they have
been advised they can avoid unfavorable attention by keeping certain "key
words" out of their applications for grants from the National Institutes of Health
or the Centers for Disease Control and Prion. Those words include sex
workers, men who sleep with men, anal sex and needle exchange, the
scientists said.
[Full story below]