The lead editorial in last week’s Economist concludes with the following moan re U.S. politics: “In America the Republicans are guilty of outrageous obstructionism and misleading simplification, while Mr Obama has favoured class warfare over fiscal leadership.” Yes, the Republicans would have blown up the U.S. economy unless President Obama agreed to egregiously counter-productive spending…
PayPal/Facebook Money Guy Peter Thiel, between two plinths
Is this what happens when you have too much money? Over at the National Review, PayPal founder/FaceBook funder Peter Thiel offers a major think piece, which starts off with a quotation from the Book of Revelations and goes on to talk about plinths. We already know, from Dave and Charlie Koch, that right-wing libertarian billionaires…
Jon Hendricks—“In Walked Bud”
John Hendricks & Co (sorry, I don’t know who the “Co” are), with Charlie Rouse (ts), Ben Riley (d), Larry Gales (b), Walter Davis, Jr.(p), circa 1983. Posted by dadazee.
Still totally not the New Yorker
Want award-winning New Yorker-style humor? Go here. If you’re lazy, read this: “Oh, I like Ramblin’ Mondays. It’s Flamenco Tuesdays I can’t stand.” “‘Dylanesque’? ‘Dylany’ would be more than generous.” “Well, I’m screwed. There’s no way I can handle ‘Melancholy Baby’ in b flat.” “He should have left this one entirely to Beyoncé.” “Yes, his…
What if they gave a demonstration and nobody came?
Well, they are coming, slowly and fitfully, to the “Wall Street Sucks” campaign currently underway in lower Manhattan. Even if, like me, you probably disagree with 99 percent of what the “99%” demonstrators have to say, it’s nice to hear someone bitching out loud about Wall Street. For true-blue liberals, of course, the continuing mystery…
Ronald Kessler, totally bending over forwards to be fair
In his book, The Bureau, The Secret History of the FBI, which is not terribly secret, Ronald Kessler tussles with the vexing issue of whether FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and FBI Associate Director Clyde Tolson were, you know, doing it. Tolson, “ruggedly handsome,” according to Ron, joined the FBI in 1928 and was assigned…
Ronald Kessler, totally bending over forwards to be fair
In his book, The Bureau, The Secret History of the FBI, which is not terribly secret, Ronald Kessler tussles with the vexing issue of whether FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and FBI Associate Director Clyde Tolson were, you know, doing it. Tolson, “ruggedly handsome,” according to Ron, joined the FBI in 1928 and was assigned…
What went wrong? Possible causes
Well, now that all the fuss over Confidence Men, Ron Suskind’s “did not/did too” exposé of the furious infighting for influence among President Obama’s economic policy advisors has died down, we can review the matter without having to decide whether Larry Summers is a complete asshole 24/7 or if he occasionally has some downtime. So…
Slate Magazine: America’s Kill Zone
Slate Magazine, supposedly a liberal spot on the web, has gone all medieval on our asses. Will Saletan, whom I’ve praised in the past, gets more than hysterical on the subject of Anwar al-Awlaki. “Don’t cry for Awlaki,” Will tells us. “He got what he deserved. He left this country to wage war against it….