A dozen years or so ago I was complaining to my German friend, Marcus, about the dreadful loss of historic architecture in Portland and all across the country after WWII, and he said something that I found hilarious at the time but in retrospect, not so much. (Nazi accent) “After you destroyed our cities, you [...]
The reptilian and oleaginous Fox News “Democrat,” Doug Schoen, has taken to the Daily Beast fainting couch, and I for one couldn’t be more delighted. Deeply alarmed that some annoying facts might be seeping into the rhetoric if not the actions of the presidential candidates, Schoen hyperventilates that “Occupy Wall Street Has Seized Control of [...]
Now, I’ve read some dumb things in my life at the Atlantic (especially since Megan McArdle came along), but this is ridiculous. Wendy Kaminer, an “author, lawyer, and civil libertarian,” which in plain English means “wingnut welfare queen,” leapt into the fray with one of the silliest “slippery slope” arguments against OWS I’ve ever heard, [...]
In the aftermath of the of the rout of OccupyPortland yesterday afternoon, I decided to take a look at the oft-touted “damage” to the parks. Peering through the hastily installed cyclone fences at a crew of city workers, who had doffed the ever-so-telegenic masks worn by the earlier invaders, all I saw was what any [...]
Back in 1928 the Supreme Court, in Olmstead v. United States, upheld a decision that was not only a boneheaded travesty at the time, but has some pretty horrifying implications for today, in a time of social unrest against a corrupted and lawless government. In his sadly prescient dissenting opinion, Justice Brandeis wrote: (emphases mine) [...]
I’ve always had a particular loathing for Andrew Sullivan, at least partly because he reminded me, with everything he said, of all the self-hating gay Republicans (and they were shockingly and disappointingly numerous) I met and summarily dumped during my peak tart years. I’ve heard each such drearily unthinking arguments countless times before from someone [...]
Well, it seems that Goldman Sachs, whose stock has lost 43% of its value since 2010 and has reported its first-ever quarterly loss, still has its priorities; mainly, stealing from everybody so a few guys can stuff their pockets with millions. Granted, they did pay a $500 million fine for defrauding investors, lost money in [...]
Please call 212-NEW-YORK (212-639-9675), and tell Mayor Bloomberg not to interfere with Occupy Wall Street tomorrow. Residents of New York City can call 311. (H/T DailyKos) UPDATE: (Friday) Occupy Wall Street will remain in Zuccotti Park. Admittedly, it’s happened a little later than I expected, but it appears that over the next few days, the [...]
That didn’t take long. Perennial austerity advocate Robert J. Samuelson over at the WaPoo frets about the poor little feelings of America’s rich, in these troubled times: There are many theories about why inequality has increased, though no consensus: New technologies reward the highly skilled; globalization depresses factory wages; eroded union power does the same; [...]