Category Archives: New York Times

A ‘post-idea’ world? I don’t know what to make of that.

Posted on August 14, 2011 by oddmanout215

Read Neal Gabler’s essay in the Sunday New York Times before you jump on Facebook to tell friends what your cat had for dinner and how much you hate Mondays: … If information was once grist for ideas, over the … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, mainstream media, New York Times, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

What if the passion was never there?

Posted on August 7, 2011 by oddmanout215

Obama blew it. That’s the point of a long piece in today’s NYT by an exasperated academic who has stopped pretending Obama is the second coming of Martin Luther King: …[King] preached the gospel of nonviolence, but he knew that … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, Great Depression, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, Obama, Politics, taxes, The New Depression, unemployment, Wall Street | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Media’s ‘cult of balance’ drags it to the right

Posted on July 27, 2011 by oddmanout215

Interesting blog yesterday by Paul Krugman, edgier than most of his op-ed columns, sparked by his gloomy conclusion that “the cult of balance, of centrism” is hurting the country more than the cult of right-wing loonies pushing for default on … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, globalization, mainstream media, New York Times op-ed, Obama, Politics, The New Depression, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hemingway was right — Big Brother was watching

Posted on July 3, 2011 by oddmanout215

Yes, Ernest Hemingway suffered from depression that grew more acute as he realized his best writing years were behind him. Very late in life he also was plagued by paranoia — i.e., by the notion that the FBI was monitoring … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, fiction, mainstream media, New York Times, Obama, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Friedman’s cure for Mideast crises? Lemonade

Posted on June 28, 2011 by oddmanout215

Mick Jagger once sang, “I could use a lemon squeezer!” Thomas Friedman is seeking lemon squeezers, too, but of a different sort. He’s a pollyanna pundit, not a rocker, who’s fond of using the cliche, “When life hands you lemons, … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, globalization, Great Recession, health care, Iraq war, mainstream media, New York Times, Politics, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Rentiers’ to the jobless: Your pain is our gain

Posted on June 12, 2011 by oddmanout215

Those trying to escape the saga of Anthony Weiner and the Weiner-ettes may not have seen Paul Krugman’s Friday column, which focuses on the relentlessly high unemployment rate and on the fact that the most powerful people in government — … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, globalization, Great Depression, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, New York Times op-ed, Obama, Politics, unemployment, Wall Street, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Stick a fork in Weiner, he’s done

Posted on June 7, 2011 by oddmanout215

Denounced from the pulpit by the Gray Lady: For more than a week, Representative Anthony Weiner, a New York City Democrat, baldly lied in denying that he had sent a lewd photo of himself to a woman over Twitter, claiming … Continue reading →

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A society that renews the ‘Patriot Act’ isn’t free

Posted on May 31, 2011 by oddmanout215

The bizarre Francophobia of columnist Roger Cohen, brought to you by The New York Times: After Osama bin Laden was killed, a prominent French radio station called me for an interview. It turned into a mildly hallucinogenic experience. Everybody from … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, New York Times op-ed, Obama, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What does ‘killing evil’ mean, Maureen?

Posted on May 9, 2011 by oddmanout215

Here’s the Beltway sage Maureen Dowd, defending those who danced in the streets and shouted “USA!” at the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed by the U.S. military: I don’t want closure. There is no closure after tragedy. … Continue reading →

Posted in Iraq war, mainstream media, New York Times, New York Times op-ed, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How do Paul Ryan do that voodoo he do?

Posted on April 8, 2011 by oddmanout215

I vote “yes” on Robert Reich’s call for higher taxes on the rich: …Remarkably, taxes on the top have plummeted. From the 1940s until 1980, the top tax income tax rate on the highest earners in America was at least … Continue reading →

Posted in economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, New York Times, Obama, Politics, taxes, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment