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December 29, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Tuesday's Links
Activism
SWARM The MinuteMen. You might be aware of the so-called Minuteman Project, which consists of groups of civilians trying to prevent illegal immigration by patrolling the borders. Honestly, it doesn't sound like such a terrible idea if it wasn't born out of such hatred and fear. It claims to operate within the bounds of the law, but is really just a front for racist vigilantes. As Dave Neiwert points out here, the SWARM project may not be nice, but there's no use in playing nice with Nazis.
News
Panel: Interagency Confusion Hampers Intelligence Reform. You know, this is really getting ridiculous. If intelligence is going to be the backbone of the war on terror, then we're not going to get very far with our broken back. Last Monday, a group of panelists from the 9/11 commission took a look at the changes that have been implemented at the CIA and FBI since the attacks. And, not surprisingly, they've found that there's still a gigantic communications problem. Wasn't the PATRIOT Act supposed to fix all of this? It's been almost four years now since 9/11, but we still can't get things straight. We have intelligence czars and commissions and a house-cleaning at the CIA, but apparently we're still vulnerable. Maybe the only reason we haven't been attacked in the U.S. recently is because our soldiers in Iraq are more convenient targets. Brilliant strategy.
Envoy Says Canada Can't Fix U.S. Med Woes. When we talk about the question of prescription drug prices, a lot of us tend to think of Canada's system as a good answer. And why not? Canadian drugs are cheaper and more regulated, thus making them safer. But importing drugs from Canada will not solve the problem. It's not a question of the safety of the drugs - Canada's regulatory system is far stricter than that of the U.S. Instead, by turning our eyes northward, we are ignoring the problem of the rising costs of prescription drugs in this country. Democrats are, at least in part, trying to fix this problem with the health care agenda that they released last month. This agenda would allow prescription drugs to be imported from Canada and other countries, and it would give Medicare authority to negotiate lower prices with drug manufacturers in this country. Still, even though we're a long ways away from solving the problem of health care in this country, this is a start.
Military Brass Doubt Fighting Will Cure Iraq. No kidding. Military journeymen are coming to the conclusion that many of us with common sense have been saying for months now - fighting will not stop the insurgency. These same military folks say that diplomacy is the only way to solve what's going on in Iraq. We thought that that's what we're paying Karen Hughes for? Oh right - she hasn't been confirmed yet. Look, it's obvious that the fighting isn't solving the problem, and it's only causing more deaths. Hell, let's send Henry Kissinger and Jimmy Carter in there and see what happens - it couldn't be any worse than the current state of affairs.
Editorials
They Won't Go. Bob Herbert of the New York Times is increasingly becoming a must-read columnist. At times his moral indignation can still seem a little over-the-top, but as the cause for outrage grows, his disgust with the direction this country is going becomes more and more appropriate. In this editorial, he talks about how more and more people are refusing to fight in Iraq, and as a result, the military is turning to drastic measures to try and meet their quotas. They're upping enlistment bonuses, sugar-coating the risks, and lowering their standards. But if you want an explicit reason why we're growing more fond of Herbert, it's dead-on sentences like the following: "There's something frankly embarrassing about a government offering trinkets to children to persuade them to go off and fight - and perhaps die - in a war that their nation should never have started in the first place."
An Immodest Proposal. Mark Shields on why corporations might benefit from using military leadership as a guideline for running themselves (you know, without that whole "You're fired because you're gay thing."). For example, the 121,000 United Airlines past and present employees, who have had their pensions cut in half. Think that they are happy with United? Then they find out that, right after this news (due to brankruptcy hearings that have led to this), United CEO Glenn Tilton received a $4.5 million pension. Why do we tolerate this? Maybe we should join the military...
Losing Our Country. Paul Krugman on how the middle class in America has simply dissolved. The America we knew in the 1960s is gone, replaced by a much more polarized America. It's no surprise that the U.S.'s domestic economic policies have helped the upper class greatly, at the expense of the working classes, particularily since 1980. But why is the middle class a thing of the past? As Krugman writes, "To suggest that sustaining programs like Social Security, which protects working Americans from economic risk, should have priority over tax cuts for the rich is to practice 'class warfare.'" It's all about removing that social safety net, and making life better for the top 1%, isn't it?
|
December 29, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Tuesday's Links
Activism
SWARM The MinuteMen. You might be aware of the so-called Minuteman Project, which consists of groups of civilians trying to prevent illegal immigration by patrolling the borders. Honestly, it doesn't sound like such a terrible idea if it wasn't born out of such hatred and fear. It claims to operate within the bounds of the law, but is really just a front for racist vigilantes. As Dave Neiwert points out here, the SWARM project may not be nice, but there's no use in playing nice with Nazis.
News
Panel: Interagency Confusion Hampers Intelligence Reform. You know, this is really getting ridiculous. If intelligence is going to be the backbone of the war on terror, then we're not going to get very far with our broken back. Last Monday, a group of panelists from the 9/11 commission took a look at the changes that have been implemented at the CIA and FBI since the attacks. And, not surprisingly, they've found that there's still a gigantic communications problem. Wasn't the PATRIOT Act supposed to fix all of this? It's been almost four years now since 9/11, but we still can't get things straight. We have intelligence czars and commissions and a house-cleaning at the CIA, but apparently we're still vulnerable. Maybe the only reason we haven't been attacked in the U.S. recently is because our soldiers in Iraq are more convenient targets. Brilliant strategy.
Envoy Says Canada Can't Fix U.S. Med Woes. When we talk about the question of prescription drug prices, a lot of us tend to think of Canada's system as a good answer. And why not? Canadian drugs are cheaper and more regulated, thus making them safer. But importing drugs from Canada will not solve the problem. It's not a question of the safety of the drugs - Canada's regulatory system is far stricter than that of the U.S. Instead, by turning our eyes northward, we are ignoring the problem of the rising costs of prescription drugs in this country. Democrats are, at least in part, trying to fix this problem with the health care agenda that they released last month. This agenda would allow prescription drugs to be imported from Canada and other countries, and it would give Medicare authority to negotiate lower prices with drug manufacturers in this country. Still, even though we're a long ways away from solving the problem of health care in this country, this is a start.
Military Brass Doubt Fighting Will Cure Iraq. No kidding. Military journeymen are coming to the conclusion that many of us with common sense have been saying for months now - fighting will not stop the insurgency. These same military folks say that diplomacy is the only way to solve what's going on in Iraq. We thought that that's what we're paying Karen Hughes for? Oh right - she hasn't been confirmed yet. Look, it's obvious that the fighting isn't solving the problem, and it's only causing more deaths. Hell, let's send Henry Kissinger and Jimmy Carter in there and see what happens - it couldn't be any worse than the current state of affairs.
Editorials
They Won't Go. Bob Herbert of the New York Times is increasingly becoming a must-read columnist. At times his moral indignation can still seem a little over-the-top, but as the cause for outrage grows, his disgust with the direction this country is going becomes more and more appropriate. In this editorial, he talks about how more and more people are refusing to fight in Iraq, and as a result, the military is turning to drastic measures to try and meet their quotas. They're upping enlistment bonuses, sugar-coating the risks, and lowering their standards. But if you want an explicit reason why we're growing more fond of Herbert, it's dead-on sentences like the following: "There's something frankly embarrassing about a government offering trinkets to children to persuade them to go off and fight - and perhaps die - in a war that their nation should never have started in the first place."
An Immodest Proposal. Mark Shields on why corporations might benefit from using military leadership as a guideline for running themselves (you know, without that whole "You're fired because you're gay thing."). For example, the 121,000 United Airlines past and present employees, who have had their pensions cut in half. Think that they are happy with United? Then they find out that, right after this news (due to brankruptcy hearings that have led to this), United CEO Glenn Tilton received a $4.5 million pension. Why do we tolerate this? Maybe we should join the military...
Losing Our Country. Paul Krugman on how the middle class in America has simply dissolved. The America we knew in the 1960s is gone, replaced by a much more polarized America. It's no surprise that the U.S.'s domestic economic policies have helped the upper class greatly, at the expense of the working classes, particularily since 1980. But why is the middle class a thing of the past? As Krugman writes, "To suggest that sustaining programs like Social Security, which protects working Americans from economic risk, should have priority over tax cuts for the rich is to practice 'class warfare.'" It's all about removing that social safety net, and making life better for the top 1%, isn't it?
|
December 29, 2005
SWARM The MinuteMen. You might be aware of the so-called Minuteman Project, which consists of groups of civilians trying to prevent illegal immigration by patrolling the borders. Honestly, it doesn't sound like such a terrible idea if it wasn't born out of such hatred and fear. It claims to operate within the bounds of the law, but is really just a front for racist vigilantes. As Dave Neiwert points out here, the SWARM project may not be nice, but there's no use in playing nice with Nazis.
News
Panel: Interagency Confusion Hampers Intelligence Reform. You know, this is really getting ridiculous. If intelligence is going to be the backbone of the war on terror, then we're not going to get very far with our broken back. Last Monday, a group of panelists from the 9/11 commission took a look at the changes that have been implemented at the CIA and FBI since the attacks. And, not surprisingly, they've found that there's still a gigantic communications problem. Wasn't the PATRIOT Act supposed to fix all of this? It's been almost four years now since 9/11, but we still can't get things straight. We have intelligence czars and commissions and a house-cleaning at the CIA, but apparently we're still vulnerable. Maybe the only reason we haven't been attacked in the U.S. recently is because our soldiers in Iraq are more convenient targets. Brilliant strategy.
Envoy Says Canada Can't Fix U.S. Med Woes. When we talk about the question of prescription drug prices, a lot of us tend to think of Canada's system as a good answer. And why not? Canadian drugs are cheaper and more regulated, thus making them safer. But importing drugs from Canada will not solve the problem. It's not a question of the safety of the drugs - Canada's regulatory system is far stricter than that of the U.S. Instead, by turning our eyes northward, we are ignoring the problem of the rising costs of prescription drugs in this country. Democrats are, at least in part, trying to fix this problem with the health care agenda that they released last month. This agenda would allow prescription drugs to be imported from Canada and other countries, and it would give Medicare authority to negotiate lower prices with drug manufacturers in this country. Still, even though we're a long ways away from solving the problem of health care in this country, this is a start.
Military Brass Doubt Fighting Will Cure Iraq. No kidding. Military journeymen are coming to the conclusion that many of us with common sense have been saying for months now - fighting will not stop the insurgency. These same military folks say that diplomacy is the only way to solve what's going on in Iraq. We thought that that's what we're paying Karen Hughes for? Oh right - she hasn't been confirmed yet. Look, it's obvious that the fighting isn't solving the problem, and it's only causing more deaths. Hell, let's send Henry Kissinger and Jimmy Carter in there and see what happens - it couldn't be any worse than the current state of affairs.
Editorials
They Won't Go. Bob Herbert of the New York Times is increasingly becoming a must-read columnist. At times his moral indignation can still seem a little over-the-top, but as the cause for outrage grows, his disgust with the direction this country is going becomes more and more appropriate. In this editorial, he talks about how more and more people are refusing to fight in Iraq, and as a result, the military is turning to drastic measures to try and meet their quotas. They're upping enlistment bonuses, sugar-coating the risks, and lowering their standards. But if you want an explicit reason why we're growing more fond of Herbert, it's dead-on sentences like the following: "There's something frankly embarrassing about a government offering trinkets to children to persuade them to go off and fight - and perhaps die - in a war that their nation should never have started in the first place."
An Immodest Proposal. Mark Shields on why corporations might benefit from using military leadership as a guideline for running themselves (you know, without that whole "You're fired because you're gay thing."). For example, the 121,000 United Airlines past and present employees, who have had their pensions cut in half. Think that they are happy with United? Then they find out that, right after this news (due to brankruptcy hearings that have led to this), United CEO Glenn Tilton received a $4.5 million pension. Why do we tolerate this? Maybe we should join the military...
Losing Our Country. Paul Krugman on how the middle class in America has simply dissolved. The America we knew in the 1960s is gone, replaced by a much more polarized America. It's no surprise that the U.S.'s domestic economic policies have helped the upper class greatly, at the expense of the working classes, particularily since 1980. But why is the middle class a thing of the past? As Krugman writes, "To suggest that sustaining programs like Social Security, which protects working Americans from economic risk, should have priority over tax cuts for the rich is to practice 'class warfare.'" It's all about removing that social safety net, and making life better for the top 1%, isn't it?
