February 2010
I love breakfast for dinner
January 2010
Avatar again number 1 →
For the seventh weekend in a row, Avatar was the top movie at the box office. To put that into perspective, since 1982 12 movies have spent at least 12 consecutive weeks at number 1. Only 1 of those (Titanic) has been released since 1991. The consecutive number 1 list: Titanic (15 weekends 1997), Beverly Hills Cop (13/1984), Tootsie (13/1982), Home Alone (12, 1990), Crocodile Dundee (9, 1986),...
Justice Department may look at BCS →
Of all the problems and all the possible anti-trust violations out there, the BCS is not a problem that the Justice Dept. should be looking at. I’ve aired my views that the BCS is better than a playoff, but my real objection comes from the anti-trust argument. There are so many more egregious anti-trust problems that the BCS (Ticketmaster, even before the Live Nation merger, is one...
Gaming the luggage system →
The New York Times takes a look at how people avoid paying the check baggage fees.
Israel Photos →
Here is the link to my photos from the trip to Israel.
“After a referee made a call that went against Georgetown, an obscene chant was...”
– It’s good to see that Georgetown students have some class. SI.com
NYC estimates Terror trial costs at $200M/year →
Yeah, I think those costs are overblown. I call bullshit.
The Holy Land →
My trip with my sister to Egypt.
“I’m sorry. You were saying, “Twitter was fascinating.” ...”
– Jon Stewart, on CNN’s coverage of the State of the Union.
“It’s AT&T, not AT&Steve”
– John Oliver, on why corporations can merge, but gay people can’t marry.
I'm headed to Israel - see you in a week
Something I hadn't thought about
I’ve been saying for two years that the 2010 election is very important on the STATE level because it will be these legislatures that re-draw the congressional district maps. Typically, state legislature elections have very low amounts of money put into them. There aren’t usually commercials or anything on TV.
Now, after the Supreme Court’s ruling, corporations can put money...
Putting things in perspective
So, everyone is crowing about how Obama’s approval ratings are dropping and that his approval numbers are hovering around 50%. Why is no one putting these numbers in perspective? Bush went over 3 years without reaching 50% job approval ratings. (According to http://www.pollingreport.com/BushJob.htm, only one poll after September 2005 had Bush at 50% approval)
“Ultimately, I think the free speech rights burdened by campaign finance laws are...”
– Glenn Greenwald (via azspot) (via think4yourself)
Glenn Greenwald might be right if the campaign finance laws were actually as he saw them. They weren’t. The laws required a corporation to create a PAC with segregated funds if it wanted to do these things. And corporations, as well as the...
Anonymous asked: A few days ago you had a trivia question about Supreme Court appointees. Did you ever answer it?
Can you say that?
Can a corporation put out an ad with a pro-drug message (say, ZigZags wants to promote legalizing marijuana)? Can they put this ad on Channel One (the news program for middle and high school students, which launched the careers of Anderson Cooper and Lisa Ling)? Can they include the phrase, “Bong hits 4 Jesus?”
Can Trojan put out (get, “put out” haha) an ad advocating...
The problem with fixing the Supreme Court ruling
Plenty of politicians have been talking about the way to curb the Supreme Courts ruling yesterday, but I don’t know if they can. The Court specifically ruled on Constitutional rather than statutory grounds. Congress and the States could pass an Amendment but that ain’t ever gonna happen.
Any law that Congress passes will be subject to an immediate challenge. The Court ruled that...
Stocks tumble after Brown wins →
Ever since Scott Brown won the special election in Massachusetts, stocks have tumbled over 5% in three days.
I’m just sayin’
Senate questioning Bernake appointment →
Several Senators have come out against the confirmation of Ben Bernake for a second term as Chairman of the Fed. I can see both sides of this. I agree with those who think that the Fed helped cause the crisis and has done little or nothing to prevent a future crisis (even the exact same one). I also agree with those who recognize that Bernake and the Fed did much to prevent the complete and...
You Can Call Me Al →
I am starting a second blog for posts specifically about my new career in the Foreign Service. I will likely link any posts I do there to this blog, but feel free to bookmark the new site.
Congratulations to blogonthe who came up with the name for the new blog, “You Can Call Me Al.”
“Either there are two completely different Barack Obamas, OR in his first year in...”
– Stephen Colbert
“You see folks, Barack Obama is both an iron-fisted autocrat and a laughably...”
– Stephen Colbert
Obama Administration to still hold detainees... →
This decision to hold detainees without a trial because they are too dangerous disturbs me. I understand the necessity of holding people we believe to be dangerous even if we can’t prove in a court of law that they have committed a crime. The rules of evidence and the standard of law may be too high a burden on prosecutors in some circumstances. But, I am bothered by the executive...
Irony of the demise of health care →
So, it looks like health care reform (in its current form) is dead. Health insurance companies and medical providers are rejoicing about the demise of the reform. But, in many, many ways, health care reform was GREAT for the insurance companies. They were going to get millions of new customers with billions of subsidies from the government.
The Deep End
I don’t know what is more unbelievable about this show. Is it that a firm allows first year associates do all sorts of interesting things (on their own), including taking cases to hearings on the second day (with no briefing, etc) and soliciting clients.
Or is the numerous ethical violations each of which would be enough to get them disbarred. I think my favorite was the attorney throwing...
Free Speech
think4yourself:
soupsoup:
jeffmiller:
I’ve never heard a corporation speak.
I’ve heard employees of a corporation speak. I’ve heard shareholders speak. Officers, sure. Executives, of course. Board members, yes. But every time I’ve heard speech, it’s been people that were speaking.
Now, people often speak through a corporation, that’s true. The newspapers I read are all published by...
Judicial Activism
In its ruling today, the Supreme Court has substituted its judgment for that of Congress. This is the true definition of judicial activism. So, I expect to hear Fox News and the other conservative pundits advocating against the ruling as an example of judicial activism. (I really don’t expect to hear this, but it just shows ideologically inconsistent they are).
“Today’s decision is backwards in many senses. It elevates the...”
– Justice Stevens, dissenting in Citizens United v. FEC
“If individuals in our society had infinite free time to listen to and...”
– Justice Stevens, dissenting in Citizens United v. FEC.
This is my biggest complaint about the opinion. Corporations will not just participate in broadcasting political ads, they will dominate the market. They will drown the voices of those less wealthy.
I'm going to Israel
My sister got the time off
“[C]orporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no...”
– Justice Stevens, dissenting in Citizens United v. FEC
Do you realize that a corporation can now spend...
2010 sucks
First Haiti
Then, the Mass. Special Election
Now, the Supreme Court delivers a huge blow to free elections.
At least in 2009, we had the Miracle on the Hudson, and the Inauguartion to warm our hearts.
“All contributions by corporations to any political committee or for any...”
– President Teddy Roosevelt, when Congress passed the Tillman Act in 1907
“I hope weshall … crush in [its] birth the aristocracy of our monied...”
– Thomas Jefferson, on corporations.
“The only relevant thing that has changed since Austin and McConnell is the...”
– Justice Stevens dissenting in Citizens United v. FEC
“By this novel logic, virtually anysubmission could be reconceptualized as “a...”
– Justice Stevens, dissenting in Citizens United v. FEC
“Essentially,five Justices were unhappy with the limited nature of the case...”
– Justice Stevens, pointing out that the appellants did not raise the arguments ruled on by the Supreme Court at any stage of the proceedings.
“Well, you know what, what Massachusetts tells us is that we haven’t done a...”
– What democrats should be saying after Mass. by Nate Silver
“The basic premise underlying the Court’s ruling is itsiteration, and constant...”
– Justice Stevens, in his dissent in Citizens United vs. FEC
Campaign Finance laws vs. free speech
The crux of today’s Supreme Court decision on campaign finance law comes down to two simple propositions: (1) does restricting the right to pay for television, print, and radio advertisements impinge free speech, and (2) do corporations and unions have a right to free speech. In my view, the answer to both questions is no.
First, when we decide that money = free speech, we are not...
Fucking Kennedy
Let me say, once again, that I despise Anthony Kennedy. As much as I disagree with the four conservative Justices, I respect them. They have clear and easy to decipher judicial views. Their views are logical and coherent. But Kennedy doesn’t. He is all over the place.
And his tendancy to write controversial majority opinions is no accident. You never see Kennedy writing scathing...
Supreme Court rejects Campaign finance laws →
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court struck down limits to campaign spending by corporations and unions. The 5-4 decision broke along normal lines with Anthony Kennedy writing the opinion (he tends to write all the controversial 5-4 decisions).
The decision does not affect direct contributions to candidates, which are still limited. But, ads which advocate a position or support for a...
“It’s a year to the day since President Obama took office. If he had half...”
– Stephen Colbert
Thoughts on college football, coaches, and...
College football has just been through one of the oddest coaching carousel seasons in history. Two coaches (Mike Leach and Jim Leavitt) were fired for cause for allegedly abusing players. A third coach (Mark Mangino) was fired for the same reason and reached a settlement of his buyout agreement. Then, there are coaches like Pete Carroll, Lane Kiffin, and Brian Kelly (and others) who left their...