Columnist Ron Hart looks at President Obama's actions in office and on vacation and writes:
If we have been reminded of anything with the ascension of Barack Obama, it is that manners and style can take a person a long way in this world. We have also learned that it is not imperative to understand a complex matter in order to defend it, which explains his universal health care debacle. As the German writer von Goethe said, "When ideas fail, words come in very handy."
Judging by these articles from Dutch and German newspapers we posted during the weekend, it doesn’t look like Europeans have much sympathy for Dick Cheney’s view of the virtues of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques,’ or dire Republican warnings about ’socialized medicine.’
The first, an editorial from Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland, counsels President Obama that it’s more than high time to ditch bipartisanship and gives him a road map for how toSource: The Moderate Voice RSS Feed
TheAustralian | EXXONMOBIL Australia chairman John Dashwood has expressed scepticism at federal laws requiring 20 per cent of electricity be sourced from renewable sources by 2020, saying such a transformation was likely to take 100 years.
Mr Dashwood said the transformation would take "a mammoth effort".
"Renewable energy growth is unlikely to even match the forecast growth for the overall electricity market," Mr Dashwood told an American Chamber of Commerce in Australia business Source: subrealism RSS Feed
From the NY Times:
Less than two weeks before the start of school, about 1,800 teaching jobs in New York City remain open as principals appear to be resisting orders to fill vacancies with teachers whose previous positions were eliminated.
Facing steep budget cuts, the Education Department enacted a hiring freeze in the spring, requiring principals with openings to hire teachers who are already on the city’s payroll but who have no permanent position, often because their schools Source: Queens Crap RSS Feed
- Apple reached a deal with China Unicom-- China's second largest cell phone operator-- to sell the iPhone in China. Seems like a good move for China Unicom-- they have less than a third the number of customers as China Mobile (the biggest mobile operator in the world, by that metric), but offer a faster, more mature 3G network better suited to the data-intensive iPhone. This should help China Unicom solidify and grow their market share among China's urban elites, letting China Mobile keepSource: NDN RSS Feed
The Huffington Post has major news -- with maps and everything -- on which parts of the country will be hardest hit by climate change just 100 years from now. Ryan Grim reports "Small Midwestern States To Be Hit Hardest By Climate Change" per a study from the Nature Conservancy (it's the ignorant, anti-science, climate deniers in flyover country who are in such grave danger, you see, and our noble, liberal, coastal elite is just trying to save these backwards gun-clingers from theSource: Michael Goldfarb - The Blog RSS Feed
Yesterday was a terrible day for state government. Governor O’Malley announced $454 million in spending cuts, which included layoffs affecting 202 positions and 3-10 unpaid furlough days for state employees. But at the very time the cuts were announced, one of the Governor’s Cabinet Members proposed a golf outing for senior staff during working hours, followed by drinks.
That Cabinet Member is none other than Tom Perez, Secretary of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
Tom Perez is Source: Maryland Politics Watch RSS Feed
The Washington Post, alas, gets this editorial wrong in the very first sentence:
NO ONE LIKES to be the bearer of bad news — especially when it could threaten your multibillion-dollar health-care reform bill.
Come, I will conceal nothing from you: considering the amount of time that the Right’s bloggers, pundits, and legislators have spent explaining why the Democrats in Congress needed to institute a Stop spending money we don’t have, you idiots policy,Source: Red State RSS Feed
Michelle and I were heartbroken to learn this morning of the death of our dear friend, Senator Ted Kennedy.
For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts.
I valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for Source: 2008 Democratic Convention Watch RSS Feed
What? You weren't able to make it to the beach last week?
Toooooo baaaaad.
That's Chase, by the way, reeling in the line (at sunset). He caught a 16" shark the evening before this photo was taken. It was carefully released back into the ocean.
Photo taken at Topsail Island, North Carolina, August 20, 2009
The WaPo has a hard-hitting editorial condemning Scotland’s release of Al Megrahi as well as Libya’s hero’s welcome for him.
The editors use words like “sickening” and “travesty of justice” and “breathtaking abuse of power.” They state that the only way Al Megrahi should have come home was “in a box.” In addition, they argue (as I did) that it was compassion enough to have allowed him to live all these years in prison and get visits from hisSource: neo-neocon RSS Feed
Blue Dog Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) has long been viewed by many progressives as a “uniquely pernicious” opponent of health care reform. Now, a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll has found that 60 percent of his constituents disapprove of his handling of the health care issue:
The poll also goes on to find that 61 percent of his constituents support the creation of a new public insurance plan that anyone can purchase. Cooper will be appearing with Karl Rove and otherSource: Think Progress RSS Feed
Longtime readers may perhaps recall that Sweetness & Light began operation on this day, August 15, 2005.
As it turns out, a recent article noted that more websites were launched in 2005 than any other year in history.
And yet in the four ensuing years, S&L has somehow emerged to become one of the most popular and influential sites on the internet.
Of course a large part of that is directly attributable to having luminaries such as AnnSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed
The following is a legislative alert from the National Guard Association of the United States. I do recommend you contact your Congressional representatives regarding this issue.
The Issue: Activation of Federal Reserve Forces for Disasters
Immediate Action Required: Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose the DoD legislative efforts for activation of Federal Reserve forces, and to engage a Council of Governors to establish command and control policies of federal activeSource: Why Mommy is a Republican RSS Feed
Passed what? Her driver's test, which was as much a victory for me as it was for her. I've finally gotten both kids through the process. The boy got his license last October and now she's got hers. Good thing too, because in about 9 days she leaves for college and will be taking a car with her. Not this one, but one with a similar color:
I have to tell you that if you're looking for some cheap entertainment, try going down to the DMV and sitting where you can watch the driver testSource: HolyCoast.com RSS Feed
From an understanding Associated Press:
Fla. doc fired over ‘doughnuts equal death’ sign
By Melissa Nelson, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 13
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Dr. Jason Newsom railed against burgers, french fries, fried chicken and sweet tea in his campaign to promote better eating in a part of the country known as the Redneck Riviera. He might still be leading the charge if he had only left the doughnuts alone.
A 38-year-old former ArmySource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed
Howzit
I have recently heard some disturbing news - and it has nothing to do with Zimbabwe. There is a green paper in existence which wants the care component of Disability Living Allowance in England scrapped. What the paper suggests is that the money that the State pays to people with care component needs should be paid to the local Social Service authority, who, in turn, should assess the needs of the disabled person and then they would supply those needs.
Now - the care that ISource: The Bearded Man RSS Feed
Anybody notice around the world Muslims demand we all change our policies to accomodate them as opposed to the assimilating into the cultures of which they are invading from all corners of the globe?
It's footbath's in Dearborn, it's public calls to prayer in this city and town, then it's building the largest, and most obnoxious Mosques in the middle of London, England, and on and on it goes.
Yet they do nothing to endear themselves again to all the western cultures they can now be Source: Chicagoray RSS Feed
About 10 years ago I did work exchange at the beautiful Hostel in the Forest in Georgia. The agreement was room and board in exchange for various tasks required to keep the community functioning. I built a floating raft for the lake, removed the snakes from the chicken coop in the morning, cooked in the kitchen, cleaned the tree houses and worked in the garden.
My forte, however, turned out to be toilet duty.
The toilets at the hostel are compostSource: Donklephant RSS Feed
The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has announced the floor mark of 13 for A-group (mathematics, physics and chemistry) and D-group (mathematics, literature and foreign language) university entrance exams, and 14 for B-group (mathematics, chemistry, biology) and C group (literature, history and geography) exams. Some 500,000 students will not be able to attend university this year.
The floor mark is the minimum mark takers of university entrance exams must have to beSource: Chao-Vietnam RSS Feed
From the Times Ledger:
Neighbors living near a vacant Oakland Gardens home said they believe the site has been attracting unwanted critters into their community, including a skunk that has sprayed several neighborhood pets.
The home, at 218-51 Hartland Ave. in Oakland Gardens, has been sitting empty for a number of years following the death of the owner, neighbors said. A car with four flat tires in the driveway has a 2001 inspection sticker in the window, a porch in the back ofSource: Queens Crap RSS Feed
We took note of a China bubble when the Shanghai market hit 4000 a couple of years ago. We watched bank IPO’s clear the market at p/e’s of 40x and above! We followed the market to its giddy Roaring Twenties level of 6000.
Then the slide began — through the commodities bust of last year, and finally to its bottoming out under 2000. Now it’s heading back to Shanghai 4000 again, and probably much higher. But then again, China is in some ways a moreSource: Dinocrat RSS Feed
