http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sat, 18 May 2013 09:01:56 Sat, 18 May 2013 09:01:56 The Occupy Movement is about fairness. Economics, justice, health care, wars, living standards, etc., and if I could throw in just one more thing into the pot, it would be to end the war on drugs.

The only people who should be unfamiliar with the arguments against prohibition are people who have... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/165 Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:28:14 Okay Mr. Eric Erickson, I’ll give you points for eschewing logic and being devoid of facts, and even give extra points for misrepresenting the other side - but that is not nearly enough in today’s wacky world. It’s fine to lie… no, it’s a requirement to lie in Teabag-land, but the types of lies matt... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/164 Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:45:55 …and forget the personal attacks. At least be honest about it. What are you members of the right-wing attack machine really saying, anyway? That attacking Iraq for imaginary reasons was a good thing? Robbing the Treasury and adding trillions of debt was the patriotic thing to do? That the problem wi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/163 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:57:23 A statement like that covers a lot of moronic ground, so it’s not easy to out-dumb it. Have there been statements made that were more idiotic than this one, sometime in history? Most definitely. Even heard some myself -- just can’t think of any at the moment. It was made about a year ago by an acqua... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/162 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:35:26 Seemingly spontaneous protests against the media erupted today in front of CNN and other news outlets in both New York and Los Angeles stations. Celebrities whose private lives are falling apart insisted that the media refocus their attention on one person’s plight, alone. Nice looking people on tr... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/161 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:09:48 who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." The Peter Principle (1969)

The quote, which is sometimes misattributed to Mark Twain, is witty; and what can be inferred from it is true. Some of the people in charge are imbeciles, true believers in their cause, and some are smart peo... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/160 Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:19:32 Fifteen or twenty years ago I was friends with two men who were completely different on their outlooks and politics. But whether we were at work or drinking at a bar afterwards, we could talk about politics with no tension or strain on the friendships. One of those men was generally on the left whos... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/158 Mon, 23 May 2011 19:25:34 A couple of things have happened this year in Oklahoma that should have every person of conscience more than a little perturbed. I’m not talking about the things the Christian Right is so proud of, like the ‘Ten Commandment Law’ or the ‘Ultrasound and Monitor Viewing Law’ or even the “Tenth Amendmen... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/157 Thu, 05 May 2011 01:44:35 I have been a member of the professional left for most of my adult life. Well, as of today I am officially resigning my position and joining the corporate left. The pay was terrible and the hours were lousy. Most of the time I got paid in tofu and M&M’s. My soles are worn out from marching and the s... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/155 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:34:51 They get us into a lot of trouble. Not just the recent, obvious and crazy lies like the ones Glenn Beck tells, but the vast mosaic of lies and untrue ideas that have affected every culture throughout history to one degree or another. From the horrific, such as the myths that early Mesoamericans were... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/154 Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:23:17 On November 17th the Los Angeles Times published an editorial titled, Shut Up and Be Scanned. As is the case with many arguments that advocate for a wrongheaded solution, the L.A. Times puts forth extreme and false choices.

[div class="excerpt"]“We're not wild about the new methods either, but... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/153 Sun, 21 Nov 2010 01:13:54 Imagine, if you will, a person that can conceivably live forever. Who sometimes grows stronger with age. A person so substantial that presidents and kings will act sycophantic towards that person, even after major insults and threats to the countries they preside over. One who can mobilize millions... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/152 Sat, 06 Nov 2010 22:52:41
Part of conventional wisdom is that understanding lies in the middle. That the left and the right are too extreme, so both sides are equally wrong. That idea has been part of the main stream media’s modus operandi for years, now. Put two to six people arguing on a subject on any given television ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/150 Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:19:36 It does matter that teabaggers are energized and it certainly matters that our media gives them so much undo attention. And it matters even more that the media pretends they have something important to say. But it only matters as far as their affect on the nation and politics goes, it should not t... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/149 Sun, 19 Sep 2010 08:03:55 If one follows the progression of the nineteenth century’s adage, “lies, damn lies and statistics,” propaganda would be the next logical step in the increasingly worse set of deceptions. Propaganda can crush economies, kill millions in unjust wars, change reality and alter history itself. As George ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/148 Sat, 11 Sep 2010 22:26:49
From the time of the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts, hunting down witches in 1692 – 1693, through Glenn Beck’s rants about Progressives-Nazis, the country has been in flux politically. Our nation has gone through several bouts of irrationality, followed by corrections and then reflections on wha... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/145 Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:41:51 At least where reincarnation is concerned. Because then so many of the worst of us would crawl around as real slugs, and give up the metaphorical positions they now hold. We’ve all met them in our day to day lives, we’ve read their writings, and we’ve all heard them on the radio and television. Thi... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/142 Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:38:29 Talking to people of different political persuasions, about politics, is much harder in tough times than it is when the stakes aren’t quite as high. When life and death, or millions of jobs are on the line, fuses become shorter and the intensity of the explosions increases. People talk past each oth... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/141 Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:47:27 It’s hard enough to be a liberal, Nazi, progressive, communist, but with Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh uncovering your every devious plan, it’s damn near impossible. Every time my friends and I design an intricate, multi-faceted plot to take down America – one of those two is there. Shining sunlight... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/138 Mon, 17 May 2010 19:31:24 (Repost with additions and better title.)

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is also bringing the debate about regulation to the forefront once more. Where it belongs. Time and time again, those who tout the “Government is the problem” meme manage to steer the conversation. The phrase is repeate... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/137 Sun, 02 May 2010 14:08:46 Your group does have a knack for identifying problems – I’ll give you that – but you get all discombobulated when you shout out solutions and try to assign blame. As with all of your very loud objections and complaints, your support of the new immigration law in Arizona is both counterproductive and... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/135 Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:56:58 A friend recently said to me that he thought Obama was weak because he gave the right-wing far too much power on issue after issue, time and time again. We had been discussing healthcare, offshore drilling and abstinence education. In all three of these subjects, the left ended up with less than the... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/134 Sat, 03 Apr 2010 20:31:04 From the inside. This college is my wife's Alma mater and I have been hearing for years about the emphasis put on critical thinking. If the right succeeds in its bid to take over, this 150 year old institution will, for all intents and purposes be gone.

[div class="excerpt"]Why Thomas Lindsay M... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/133 Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:07:49 In an effort to further bipartisanship and clarify the Senate’s disdain for average citizens, Senators Baucus and Shelby have introduced S.8008, or the “We Slap You in the Face” bill. The House is working on a companion bill that should reach the president’s deck before June of 2010.

“It has bee... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/132 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:59:31 The latest was Markos Moulitsas, whom I usually like, claiming that Dennis Kucinich deserves a primary challenge. He went so far as to say, “I’m going to hold people like Dennis Kucinich responsible for the forty-thousand Americans that die each year.” Inexcusable hyperbole. It is very reminiscent ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/20score/131 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:23:49