Toon

Scientology is Jacked Up

Last week's New Yorker has a very long - but very interesting story - about writer, Paul Haggis' resignation from Scientology. What a weird, but extremely corrosive and powerful, cult.

Halftime Adjustments

John Heilemann has a great profile in New York Magazine about all the shake-ups in Obama's white house, his readjustments, his boosted numbers, etc. ... including how Obama wrote the key (and most memorable) parts of the Tuscon speech.

Think You Know What the Founders Thought of Gov't Sponsored Health Care....

....Think again. Read this interesting post in Forbes about the bill John Adams signed in 1798 whereby the government mandated that certain citizens have health insurance. It's not exactly apples to apples, but it's enough to show that the original tea partiers weren't as crazy as the current tea partiers.

Lockheed Martin as Big Brother

Guernica has a good article about how Lockheed has its fingers in the entire gov't and is all over your private life.

As If I Needed Any More Reality Checks

This is old news to me (and a source of a continuing headache). Kids should think long and hard about whether law school is really worth the investment.

Hickenlooper Profiled in the NYT

"The John Hickenlooper Exception" runs in the NYT Magazine, profiling his unorthodox manner and rise to governor.

White House Year in Photos

White House photographer Pete Souza's favorites from this year. Some wonderful frames.

Landslide Harry

I've never really liked Harry Reid ... but maybe that's because I never (like most Americans) really knew anything about him. This Esquire piece is a great background on his life and demeanor.

The North Star President

Obama's press conference last week, announcing his much derived tax-cut deal with republicans ended on a massive note. This Daily Beast article sums it up. Essentially Obama took to task idealists on both sides and made the case for long view ("north star") goals that allow for short term concessions. And - brilliantly - he reminds us that our union was built on compromise .... and that he couldn't have "walked through the front door" at the nation's inception.

I was really moved, even though I thought that he should have made the GOP explicitly and publicly fight for the rich. But he reminded me I'm not President ...

Watch - starting at 26:00 - here.

If Productivity Has Been Rising - Who's Benefiting?

(via Syd O) Check out Charles Hugh Smith's post on Baumol's Disease and productivity. It's a tour de force describing how productivity over the last quarter century has actually increased the debt, rising cost of education and service sector salaries, rising health care costs, corporate profits, and income disparity. Check it out.

The Christian Argument for Vegetarianism

I found this Pauline argument for a meat taboo based on global warming to be very convincing (unfortunately, because I love meat). Take a read. The author was a friend's Ph.D adviser at Durham University, England.

Our Banana Republic

(via VH1) Nick Kristof's op-ed describes how the inequality found in the US rivals that of any 3rd world nation.

Mid-Term Wrap Up

(via Medium) Why are Steele and Palin not ok with anonymous quotes, but ok with anonymous donors?

(via VH1) Krugman destroys the myth that "Obama didn't focus enough on the economy."

Best concession speech wardrobe: Tancredo's western pearl-button.

Best concession speech closing: Feingold quoting obscure Dylan.

A under-commented on result of the elections: GOP wins at the local level will give them an advantage in redistricting and also may gum up the wheels of health care implementation.

William Saletan has a wonderful article in Slate describing how Democrats actually won - by enacting historic legislation. They actually used their power to pass laws ... and actually sacrificed some of their power for long-term accomplishments. Majorities come and go, but Obamacare is here to stay.

Take Aim

(via Meals) The NYT reports on a new type of hunting competition where hunters compete using video scopes that allow judges to watch the tape and determine who is the most accurate shot by the amount of "kill shots" a hunter would have had (shooting real bullets) during the event. The sponsors are hoping to spur interest in hunting by emphasizing the skill needed to take down an animal ethically and without killing a bunch of animals on TV. The event will be aired on the Outdoor Channel.

Live Free or Drown

Wired magazine has a short spot highlighting a group of Libertarians who are dead-set on creating floating communities out in the ocean where they'll be out of any Nation's reach. Sex, drugs, rock and roll ... and no taxes! Milton Friedman's grandson is one of the leaders - and the PayPal millionaire is a financier.

The Education of Barack Obama

NYT Mag has an exceptional article looking back on Obama's first 1/2 term and revealing some of the lessons learned - as Barry sees it.

As the World Burns

Ryan Lizza has an extraordinarily depressing article in the New Yorker about how the Kerry-Grahm-Lieberman climate change bill got scuttled. Read em and weep.

Roberts Court Magic

Slate has a good article on the ways in which the Roberts Court has put a right-wing stamp on the law without most people knowing.

Glenn Beck Profile

NYT Magazine has a great expose on Glenn Beck. Take a read.

New Woodward

The Post is running excerpts from Bob Woodward's "Obama's Wars" this week with great inside reporting on the decisions behind the Afghanistan strategy.

Part One.

Part Two.

Axe Man

Noam Scheiber has a wonderful profile on David Axelrod in the new TNR - wondering why/if he's leaving Washington. Great background on his career and how he and Obama conflict and agree.

Aquaculture

(via Meals) A great NYT article on urban farming - combining fish hatcheries and vegetable gardening!

Wild Graph

(via Mississippi) You can view it better here.

Education: Cost -Benefit Analysis in a Pre-Collapse Economy

(via Syd O) Coming out of law school with a lot of debt has opened my eyes to the cost-benefit educational analysis I never did. I've even encouraged several people not to go back to school. Obviously a temporary economic downturn wouldn't make it wise to forgo higher education, but what if it's not temporary and a new post-collapse economy is approaching? That's the gist of this article by ex-professor Carolyn Baker. Aside from describing the lackluster student ethic found at undergraduate universities, the piece does a good job of asking the question of whether "skills" for an infinite-growth, petroleum-based economy is something a youngster should invest $150,000 in. It's a question worth asking.