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08 Aug 2011 04:51

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World: Arab League, Saudi King denounce Syrian violence

  • 200 Syrian tanks rolled into the city of Deir el-Zour on Sunday, accompanied by soldiers and armored cars
  • 50+ people were killed in the assault, which took place during the dawn call to prayer  source
  • » For the first time, the Arab League has condemned the al-Assad regime’s violent assaults on the protesters, and Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its ambassador to Syria. Saudi King Abdullah strongly denounced the violence, calling for “an end to the death machine and bloodshed.”
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jul 2011 23:23

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Politics: An update on the debt ceiling shenanigans

  • boehner’s bill falls short: After a chaotic day of vote-whipping, vote-delaying, and vote-switching, John Boehner has decided to postpone the vote on his debt ceiling bill. Despite multiple assurances that it would be brought to a vote before tomorrow, at the end of the day, Boehner didn’t have enough votes to ensure the bill’s passage (and he wasn’t going to embarrass himself by introducing a bill that was sure to fail). In an unusual alignment, conservative Tea Partiers and House Democrats all pledged to vote against the bill, albiet for different reasons. While the legislation has virtually no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, Boehner’s ability to shepherd it through the House is seen by many as the first real test of his leadership abilities. If he doesn’t eventually pass it, there’s a good chance he’ll (eventually) be deposed as Speaker. But it’s not over yet–sources say Republicans plan to tweak the bill a bit, and re-introduce it tomorrow.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jul 2011 23:52

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Politics: McCain invokes “Lord of the Rings” in debt ceiling tirade

  • The Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced-budget amendment and reform entitlements, and the tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor.
  • John McCain • Ripping the Republican Party on the Senate floor. He later derided House Republicans’ approach to the debt-ceiling discussions as “the kind of crack political thinking that turned Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell into GOP Senate nominees.” source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jul 2011 22:53

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Culture: Massachusetts politicians cut “It Gets Better” clip

  • If you thought this was the last time you’d get to see United States lawmakers in an “It Gets Better” video, think again! John Kerry, who was absent from the previous effort, has made up for it by posting an IGB clip of his own, where he appears alongside a bunch of other Massachusetts politicians to help comfort LGBT youth. The gang’s all here—and by “gang,” we mean “Massachusetts congressional delegation”—except for Scott Brown, who’s afraid of getting primaried from the right in his re-election campaign busy focusing on jobs and the economy. Regardless, it’s nice to see more lawmakers stepping up to the plate here.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jul 2011 21:57

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Tech: Laptop broken? Enroll in an Owensboro, KY public school

  • FREE Macbooks for kids in Kentucky! source
  • » We were generally supportive of the 2009 stimulus package, but aspects of it are starting to seem a bit questionable, to say the least. Case in point: 2,200 students and staff in the town of Owensboro, Kentucky will soon be enjoying a free Macbook Air, courtesy of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. While we’re all for providing students with the technical competency needed to compete in the 21st-century global economy, you don’t really need to give everyone a Macbook Air to do that. The cheapest Air is $999; if we assume, for the sake of argument, that Apple gave Owensboro a 50% bulk discount, that’s still over a million dollars of federal money being spent so kids can have free laptops. Opponents of “wasteful government spending,” your Exhibit A is right here.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jul 2011 23:33

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World: Iran to pull the plug on the Internet in two years’ time

  • 2 years until Iranians get their Internet revoked source
  • » Although only 11% of Iran’s citizens use the Internet, Iranian officials have nonetheless decided that within the next two years, all Internet access in the country will be restricted to a state-controlled intranet. Which is to say there will be no Internet access in Iran. (Note from editor: This story is a little old. So as not to be giving you completely outdated information, we’ll point out that officials plan to roll out tests of their “National Internet” starting next month.)
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jul 2011 23:09

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Politics: A little perspective on this whole deficit mess

  • This graph, courtesy of the New York Times, has been making the rounds today, and it’s worth examining. Note that health care reform, much-maligned by the right as deficit-killer, cost less than even the most inexpensive of George W. Bush’s policies (that policy being Medicare Part D). Note also that the Bush tax cuts alone added more to the deficit than all of President Obama’s new policies combined — and that’s including projected spending over the course of a theoretical second term.  source
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25 Jul 2011 22:58

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Politics: Nate sets us straight

  • A very good point. We tend to forget that, as crazy as it sounds, some people’s idea of fun doesn’t involve reading about the debt limit, America’s credit rating, or parliamentary procedure in the United States Senate. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jul 2011 22:02

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Politics: Obama speech light on policy, heavy on politics

  • We were planning on live-blogging the President’s primetime speech on the debt ceiling, but there wasn’t much to live-blog about. He didn’t support or reject any new policies, or endorse a specific strategy for raising the debt limit. Rather, the President doubled-down on the importance of avoiding default, reinforced hard distinctions between him and House Republicans, and make slight adjustments to his political positioning. He warned, in his most explicit language yet, of the consequences default would have for average Americans. He came out hard for progressive taxation, hammering the Republicans for refusing to consider raising taxes on the rich, and explicitly asked constituents to call their representatives in Congress and voice support for the White House’s “balanced.” In general, as was the case in his press conference last Friday, the President ended up sounding a whole lot more partisan than normal, but didn’t deliver any game-changers. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2011 00:31

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Politics: Democrat survives recall attempt in Wisconsin

  • Wisconsin Republicans’ quixotic attempt to recall Democratic state senators has gotten off to a bad start: State Sen. David Hansen was easily re-elected in today’s recall election, defeating his opponent by a 2:1 margin. Hansen is the first of nine WI State Senators facing recall attempts (three Democrats, six Republicans).The recalls were first initiated by Democrats hoping to punish Republicans for supporting Scott Walker’s anti-union bill last Spring. Republicans, out of a combination of boredom and petulance, responded by launching their own recall petitions against Democrats who opposed the bill. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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