No, You Fix It...

by: Mike Hoefer

Sun Nov 14, 2010 at 15:49:22 PM EST

Interesting Data Visualization tool at the NYT work your way down their list to turn programs on and off and see their effect on the deficit.

What struck me was the minimal impact things like earmark and malpractice reform actually have.

IMHO until we are willing to take a hard look at Military spending, we are not going to be able to solve our issues, at least not in a way any of us would be proud of. Give it a try.

And, who can sponsor the building of a tool like this for NH?

(Had this out on the BH Facebook and Twitter stream earlier today. Are you following us yet?

Obama Family Values

by: JonnyBBad

Mon Mar 29, 2010 at 18:45:13 PM EDT

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03...

WASHINGTON - One evening in April 2008, three low-level staff members from the Obama presidential campaign - a baggage handler, a videographer and an advance man - gathered in the windowless basement of a Pennsylvania hotel for an improvised Passover  Seder.

The day had been long, the hour was late, and the young men had not been home in months. So they had cadged some matzo and Manischewitz wine, hoping to create some semblance of the holiday.

Suddenly they heard a familiar voice. "Hey, is this the Seder?" Barack Obama asked, entering the room.

So begins the story of the Obama Seder, now one of the newest, most intimate and least likely of White House traditions. When Passover begins at sunset on Monday evening, Mr. Obama and about 20 others will gather for a ritual that neither the rabbinic sages nor the founding fathers would recognize.

I think Barack Obama is the best friend Isarel and Jewish Amercians have had in the White House in ages.  
Next year in Jerusalem!

New York Times calls McCain campaign 'appalling'

by: JonnyBBad

Wed Oct 08, 2008 at 15:09:30 PM EDT

http://politicalticker.blogs.c...

Posted: 01:02 PM ET
From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

(CNN) - The New York Times issued a renewed scolding of John McCain in a sharply-worded editorial Wednesday morning, the latest salvo in the ongoing back-and-forth between the paper of record and the Arizona senator's White House bid.

"Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been running one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember," the Tuesday editorial said. "They have gone far beyond the usual fare of quotes taken out of context and distortions of an opponent's record - into the dark territory of race-baiting and xenophobia. Senator Barack Obama has taken some cheap shots at Mr. McCain, but there is no comparison."

full editorial
Politics of Attack
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10...

nuff said ?

Madness and Shame: "The worst of the worst"

by: JonnyBBad

Wed Jul 23, 2008 at 07:13:49 AM EDT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07...
Op-Ed Columnist
Madness and Shame
By BOB HERBERT
Published: July 22, 2008

snip

When the constraints of the law are unlocked by the men and women in suits at the pinnacle of power, terrible things happen in the real world. You end up with detainees being physically and psychologically tormented day after day, month after month, until they beg to be allowed to commit suicide. You have prisoners beaten until they are on the verge of death, or hooked to overhead manacles like something out of the Inquisition , or forced to defecate on themselves, or sexually humiliated, or driven crazy by days on end of sleep deprivation and blinding lights and blaring noises, or water-boarded.

To get a sense of the heights of madness scaled in this anything-goes atmosphere, consider a brainstorming meeting held by military officials at Guantánamo. Ms. Mayer said the meeting was called to come up with ways to crack through the resistance of detainees.

"One source of ideas," she wrote, "was the popular television show '24.' On that show as Ms. Mayer noted, "torture always worked. It saved America on a weekly basis."

I felt as if I was in Never-Never Land as I read: "In conversation with British human rights lawyer Philippe Sands, the top military lawyer in Guantánamo, Diane Beaver, said quite earnestly that Jack Bauer 'gave people lots of ideas' as they sought for interrogation models."

Donald Rumsfeld described the detainees at Guantánamo as "the worst of the worst." A more sober assessment has since been reached by many respected observers. Ms. Mayer mentioned a study conducted by attorneys and law students at the Seton Hall University Law School.

Vote American: A Supreme Court on the brink.

by: JonnyBBad

Thu Jul 03, 2008 at 07:16:25 AM EDT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07...
Editorial
Published: July 3, 2008
A Supreme Court on the Brink

In some ways, the Supreme Court term that just ended seems muddled: disturbing, highly conservative rulings on subjects like voting rights and gun control, along with important defenses of basic liberties in other areas, including the rights of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The key to understanding the term lies in the fragility of the court's center. Some of the most important decisions came on 5-to-4 votes - a stark reminder that the court is just one justice away from solidifying a far-right majority that would do great damage to the Constitution and the rights of ordinary Americans

Governor Peterson in the NYT last Sunday (and a question)

by: Mike Caulfield

Tue Nov 28, 2006 at 19:43:48 PM EST

Walter Peterson, a former New Hampshire governor and lifelong Republican, this year became the co-chairman of Republicans for John Lynch, the incumbent Democratic governor.

"What the people want is basically to feel like the candidates of a political party are working for the people, not just following some niche issues," Mr. Peterson said. "The old traditional Republican Party was conservative on small government, efficient government; believed in supporting people to give them a chance at life but not having people on the dole; wanted a balanced budget; and on social issues they were moderate, tolerant, live and let live. They didn't dislike somebody from other religious viewpoints."

He continued, "That was the old-fashioned conservative, but the word conservative today has been bastardized."

Interesting question from Graniteprof:

Back in the day, did New Hampshire Republicans such as Gov. Peterson and his predecessors actually call themselves "conservatives" before politicians like Barry Goldwater and Mel Thomson "bastardized" the term? 

If anyone equipped with more local history than I can shed some light on this, please drop me a line at dscala@anselm.edu.

Second possibility: Peterson is not grumbling about Goldwater/Reagan, but much more recent trends. I.e., perhaps he benefitted from the rehabilitation of the term "conservative" in the 60's as much as anyone, and the Goldwater Republicans were weirdos to him, but basically still on the reservation (unlike say Pat Robertson)?

Or is the use of the term "conservative" here really just anachronism for Peterson?

There's a dozen other possibilities I suppose, but I'll stop there....Let me know what you think of the article as a whole and if you have info on Peterson, that's gravy...