Monthly Archives: March 2012

Scalia — joker with a mean streak

Posted on March 30, 2012 by oddmanout215

Paul Krugman wrote a good column yesterday about Antonin Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court’s chief buffoon, but a reader’s response to the column was even better: When Justice Scalia compared requiring health insurance to requiring people to buy broccoli, something … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Depression, Great Recession, history | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Across 110th Street’

Posted on March 30, 2012 by oddmanout215

Bobby Womack’s song, playing over the opening credits of Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. And that’s Pam Grier, of course, not little surfer girl Bridget Fonda. You got to be strong if you wanna survive… Better start eating my spinach, it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, movies, pop music | Leave a comment

Mitt jokes about lost jobs

Posted on March 29, 2012 by oddmanout215

You don’t have to be a natural-born entertainer to win a major election, but you do have to be a fairly good liar. You have to know your audiences reasonably well, and tell them what they want to hear. That’s … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, humor, Mitt Romney, New York Times | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Supreme buffoon serves up broccoli

Posted on March 28, 2012 by oddmanout215

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., the Obama administration’s lawyer, didn’t do himself any good yesterday when he argued that health care is no more than a product on the market that everyone must eventually buy. This left the door … Continue reading →

Posted in health care, humor, Occupy Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Dear NYT: Why no news stories about ALEC?

Posted on March 27, 2012 by oddmanout215

[From a recent conversation with my Russian friend Sergei. We like to argue about which country is less democratic — America, or Putin’s Russia.] No, Sergei, I’m not turning into a conspiracy theorist, and I’m not having one of my … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, mainstream media, New York Times, Occupy Wall Street, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

A heart for Cheney. Next, a brain for Bush.

Posted on March 25, 2012 by oddmanout215

From CNN: Former Vice President Dick Cheney was recovering Saturday evening after undergoing heart transplant surgery, his office said. Cheney, 71, had surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia. He had been on the cardiac transplant list for … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, Iraq war, mainstream media | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Eat crackers and dream

Posted on March 24, 2012 by oddmanout215

“Too Much Time” sounds like a tribute to the Stax/Volt sound, straight out of 1960s Memphis. (Beefheart wouldn’t have liked the word “tribute.”) The song is from Clear Spot (1972), one of his more “accessible” albums. Should have been a … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, pop music | Leave a comment

Paul Ryan is Robin Hood for the rich

Posted on March 23, 2012 by oddmanout215

Ayn Rand wasn’t a good enough fiction writer to create protagonists who were anything more than mouthpieces for her cartoonish, elitist “philosophy.” However, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is the word made flesh — a real-life monster of selfishness and, fittingly, … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, economic collapse, Great Recession, The New Depression | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

‘Look, you fools, you’re in danger!’

Posted on March 22, 2012 by oddmanout215

Bill Maher can be a bore when he brags about being an atheist, and when he beats the war drum for Israel. But sometimes he makes a good point, as in this piece about misdirected outrage: The answer to whenever … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, humor, mainstream media, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Yahoos to feds: We hate you, but send money

Posted on March 22, 2012 by oddmanout215

Last month I made fun of the new breed of Republican governors by posting something headlined “Federal Government for Dummies.” But the governors aren’t really dumb. They’re sly yahoos who know they can demonize “big government” as they make massive … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, Great Recession, Gulf, The New Depression, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment