Rosa Brooks' article in The LA Times is inspired! It takes Bolton and casts him back into the cave from which he wandered.
Now, I'm sure that even Bu$hCo could do better than a radical conservative version of Encino Man.
Posted by pessimist at June 14, 2005 02:02 AMBush's Social Security Scam - bye bye
Bush's pre/post war Iraq plans - none
Condi Rice - nice to have known ya
Bush Economy - dead
Bush Enviornment/Global Warming plan - nada
Bush Intel Reforms - not so far
Bush Homeland Security preparations - uh, no
Afghanistan a safe democracy - no
Iraq a cakewalk - you fill it in
Bush money grab for the very rich - fine, thanks
A local issue - a rural church near Des Moines was shot up by an unknonwn person(s) the night before Sunday services. The church had been the victim of arson 3 years ago and had just completed reconstruction. The pastor is also a local artist and has a reputation for speaking truth to power.
The local rag and the Metro newspapers, both Gannett newspapers, have both failed to carry the story.
Posted by idiosynchronic at June 14, 2005 06:58 AMThanks for the link from the Cincinnati Enquirer
It does not bode well for the Ohio GOP that one of the most conservative newspapers (Cincinnati Enquirer) from one of the most conservative cities in America (Cincinnati) is calling for their ouster.
Got a feeling Democratic Columbus mayor Michael Coleman should start formulating decorating ideas for the Governor's mansion. Along with measuring his desk for when they move it from Columbus City Hall over to the Statehouse.
Posted by Jason at June 14, 2005 07:33 AMGM pays 93% of health care for its workers. This is a company that is losing $2331 for every car rolling off the assembly line, and $1500 of that is for benefits.
Horrible management basically negotiated sweetheart deals for UAW members, but these same deals may drive the company out of business. The managers got huge compensation, and they're off on the beaches drinking rum runners and don't have a care in the world at this point.
Current GM retirees and workers are basically threatened with having the PBGC take over the pension plan, which would subject them to caps and benefit reductions.
The PBGC is already running in the red because they haven't collected enough premiums to handle the pension bailouts. Imagine if GM unloads their pensions on PBGC, and then down the road, Ford does the same. The PBGC will go under, and the only thing to save it will be a taxpayer bailout.
Combine this with what's going on in the public sector, where pension benefits are running amok, and the next great crisis in America will be bailing out failing retirement plans. Just as the baby boomers want to retire!
Posted by muckdog at June 14, 2005 09:45 AMHere's an interesting thought going around the geek world at the moment - Is Piracy The Road to Apple Profit?
Scuttlebutt has it that Apple is going to make the next generation of it's OS work on Intel processors. If that's the case, computer users tired of Windows could run Apple OSX. Posts in the thread are speculating that Windows computers became so popular in the past because MS made it easy for users to copy Windows to other computers not running the same flavor of Windows. (or DOS, for that matter) To gain market dominance, Apple could try the same technique.
The theory is riddled with holes but it's fun & interesting nonetheless.
Posted by idiosynchronic at June 14, 2005 10:04 AMmuckdog,
Forget your wet dream of boomer pensions being gutted. Most echo boom couples won't want their parents living with them. A compromise solution will be found that both generations can live with.
Posted by rlprather at June 14, 2005 10:17 AMHooray for Kinsley! You may recall Brooks as the guest who tied O'Reilly in knots a few weeks back oer the human rights issues in Gitmo and other of our notorious prisons. This is a beautifully written and mercifully short missive directed right at Bolton.
Great.
Posted by calguy at June 14, 2005 10:34 AMYeah, rl, it's called "taxpayer bailout."
Posted by muckdog at June 14, 2005 11:29 AMYeah, rl, it's called "taxpayer bailout."
And the party that figures out the most painless way to do this will capture the votes of America's two biggest generations for a long time.
Posted by rlprather at June 14, 2005 11:38 AMAnd the party that figures out the most painless way to do this will capture the votes of America's two biggest generations for a long time.
Yeah, it's called capping benefits and rationing health care.
Posted by muckdog at June 14, 2005 01:45 PMYeah, it's called capping benefits and rationing health care.
We'll have to see who's trusted to go to the negoiating table and what they bring. It will be interesting.
Posted by rlprather at June 14, 2005 02:48 PM