Politics

• Mitt Romneys worst night yet – Mitt Romney – Salon.com.
• Kaptur on Track to Defeat Kucinich in Ohio | At the Races
• Romney Finds Republican Religion on the Minimum Wage » New Deal 2.0

Springsteen

Back on Thursday, January 19, 2012  I let it out of the bag that I was anxiously awaiting Bruce’s new album Wrecking Ball. Well, it here…

• Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Wrecking Ball’: What the Critics are Saying – Hollywood Reporter
• Wrecking Ball | Album Reviews | Rolling Stone
• Album review: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Wrecking Ball’ – latimes.com
• Review: Springsteen’s anger channeled in new album
• Bruce Springsteen: Wrecking Ball :: Music :: Reviews :: Paste
• Album Review: Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball « Consequence of Sound
• Review: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Wrecking Ball’ album – CNN.com
• Holly Cara Price: Review: Wrecking Ball by Bruce Springsteen
• Springsteen’s Anger Outdoes Sinead as Rock’n’Roll Turns Fiery: Mark Beech – Bloomberg
• Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball Reviewed : People.com
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – Bruce Springsteen: Jack of All Trades (3/2/12) – Video – http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com
  

  I’ll mow your lawn, clean the leaves out your drain
  I’ll mend your roof to keep out the rain
  I’ll take the work that God provides
  I’m a Jack of all trades, honey, we’ll be alright

  I’ll hammer the nails, and I’ll set the stone
  I’ll harvest your crops when they’re ripe and grown
  I’ll pull that engine apart and patch her up ’til she’s running right
  I’m a Jack of all trades, we’ll be alright

  A hurricane blows, brings a hard rain
  When the blue sky breaks, feels like the world’s gonna change
  We’ll start caring for each other like Jesus said that we might
  I’m a Jack of all trades, we’ll be alright

  The banker man grows fatter, the working man grows thin
  It’s all happened before and it’ll happen again
  It’ll happen again, they’ll bet your life
  I’m a Jack of all trades and, darling, we’ll be alright

  Now sometimes tomorrow comes soaked in treasure and blood
  Here we stood the drought, now we’ll stand the flood
  There’s a new world coming, I can see the light
  I’m a Jack of all trades, we’ll be alright

  So you use what you’ve got, and you learn to make do
  You take the old, you make it new
  If I had me a gun, I’d find the bastards and shoot ‘em on sight
  I’m a Jack of all trades, we’ll be alright
  I’m a Jack of all trades, we’ll be alright

Politics

• Former Mossad Director: Romney ‘Is Making The Situation Worse’ With Iran | ThinkProgress 
  

  Mitt Romney’s oped in today’s Washington Postclaimed — without offering any evidence — that Iran has a “nuclear-bomb program” and that the Islamic Republic is “racing to build a nuclear bomb.” Currently, U.S. intelligence and the IAEA do not believe either of these claims to be true.

  But Romney’s disregard for the facts was noticed not just in Washington. Former Israeli Mossad director Efraim Halevy said that Romney’s militaristic talk could induce the Iranians to rush to acquire nuclear weapons in order to deter an attack if the former Massachusetts governor were to assume the presidency in January 2013. Halevy warned that Romney is effectively “telling the Iranians, ‘You better be quick about it,’” [read the complete article...]

• At White House Press Conference, Obama Flexes the Political Muscles of Incumbency | Swampland | TIME.com
• Would Democrats have supported extrajudicial killings under Attorney General John Ashcroft? – The Washington Post
• And Senator Mitch McConnell gives us his best effort to get us all paying 8$ a gallon for gas at the pump: McConnell Threatens Congressional Resolution Authorizing Use Of Force Against Iran | ThinkProgress 
  

  Speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Sunday, President Obama warnedthat “already there is too much loose talk of war” and that “such talk has only benefited the Iranian government, by driving up the price of oil.” But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), speaking at AIPAC yesterday evening, ignored those warnings when he threatened a congressional resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iran….[read the complete article...]

  To quote that great political pundit Bugs Bunny: “What a maroon!“

• msnbc.com Entertainment – Stephen Colbert: Rush Limbaugh is a prostitute

  The Colbert Report
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• Jon Stewart Takes on Rush Limbaugh

  The Daily Show
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• Andrew Breitbart: Death of a Douche | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone—

Politics Israel & Iran

• David Frum: Will Obama Agree to Strike Iran?.

Economics & The Economny

• Apple Study on Job Creation Spurs an Economic Debate – NYTimes.com
• Powerline At Cato – NYTimes.com

Climate & Climate Politics

• Bob Lutz: Global Warming is a crock of $#%! | The Energy Collective
• Graph of the Day: Public Acceptance of Climate Change on Rebound « Climate Denial Crock of the Week
• Rush Limbaugh. Misogynist, Racist, Bully, Blowhard, – and Climate Denier Number One « Climate Denial Crock of the Week
• Heartland’s Bast – “Joe Camel is Innocent!” « Climate Denial Crock of the Week
• CLIMATE SPECTATOR: Global warming, a communist plot? | Tristan Edis | Commentary | Business Spectator

Politics

• Brad DeLong: I Hope Jonathan Chait Is Right. I Hope Jonathan Chait Is Right….
• The Maddow Blog – Charts: GOP shifts right
  • An Update on Political Polarization (through 2011) – Part III: The Presidential Square Wave | voteview blog
• ‘SNL’ lampoons Mitt Romney’s Michigan victory (video) – Election 2012 – The Washington Post

Climate & Climate Politics

• Roy Spencer’s Junk Science

Economics & The Economy

• Only in the Washington Post: No Link Between Growth and Jobs | Beat the Press

Some recent criticism of libertarian Charles Murray:

• Adam Smith on Charles Murray — Marginal Revolution
• Jared Bernstein: Just How Elitist Are You? Murray’s ‘How Thick Is Your Bubble’ Quiz
• Charles Murray’s “Coming Apart” | Jared Bernstein | On the Economy
• My debate with Charles Murray – Charles Murray – Salon.com
• Charles Murray does it again – Salon.com

Atheism

• Bill Maher – Atheism Not a Religion + Mitt Romney in-Law Unbaptism (Real Time New Rules 02-03-2012) – YouTube
• An Atheist Hero is Something to Be | (A)theologies | Religion Dispatches

Politics

• Citrix pulls out of Rush Limbaugh advertisements | Lousy Canuck.
• Rush Limbaugh, Sandra Fluke and Why is Contraception Part of Health Insurance Anyway? – Forbes
• John J. DeGioia: On Civility and Public Discourse
• Rush Limbaugh apologizes to Georgetown student – POLITICO.com
• What?? Rush Limbaugh actually apologized!! – CSMonitor.com

Economic & The Economny

• David Stockman economy Q&A: Economic disaster in the works – USATODAY.com
• Shiller Q&A: Economist who foresaw bubbles is cautious | The Tennessean | tennessean.com
  

  …Yet despite his accurate past warnings, Shiller, 65, is generally skeptical of his profession’s ability to foresee shifts in the economy. Much of his recent work focuses on behavioral economics — how psychology drives financial decision-making.He believes home or stock prices flow from the confidence of consumers or investors. Confidence, in turn, reflects the story lines people invent to frame their memories of events — from stock crashes to housing booms. Ultimately, he says, our financial decisions reflect our emotions and memories more than the state of the economy.

  Shiller thinks home prices nationally could fall further. But he isn’t certain. [read the complete article...]

• —

Climate & Climate Politics

• Limbaugh, Fox News, Tea Party Get What They Want With False Attacks on Chevy Volt: 1300 GM Lay-Offs | ThinkProgress

Brietbart

• Breitbart murdered! Now pass the Kool-Aid | Washington Times Communities
• The Internet blames Obama for the death of Andrew Breitbart — RT
• Andrew Breitbart’s death sparks wild conspiracy theories
• Andrew Breitbart’s Death Inspires Obama Conspiracy Theories
• » Breitbart: “Wait ‘Til They See What Happens March 1st” Alex Jones’ Infowars: There’s a war on for your mind!
• Breitbart’s Death: The Conspiracy Insta-Theories

Science

• Cosmic Log – Dark matter blob confounds experts
• Neuroeconomics expert talks about brain science behind economics – latimes.com

Politics

• Richard Cebull, Montana Federal Judge, Apologizes To Obama For Racist Email
• Sandra Fluke | The X Blog
  What she said:
  
  What Rush Did:
  
  From NBC’s Today Show:
  

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  Ed on Rush; includes Rush Doubling Down
  

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  Andrea Mitchell; phone call from Obama:
  

  Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Climate & Climate Politics

• Va. Supreme Court rejects Cuccinelli’s bid for U-Va. documents – The Washington Post
• Virginia Court Rejects Climate Skeptic’s Demand for Records – NYTimes.com

Religion

• Biblical Dating – YouTube
• A hat/tip to TheLivingDinosaur’s Channel – YouTube

The Media

• With Breitbart Gone, What Becomes of His Empire? – ABC News

Andrew Brietbart

While my heart felt condolences go out to his family and friends who I am sure loved him and will miss him dearly I thought Brietbart was a despicable crazy wingnut propagandist and I’ll miss him as much as I miss the stomach flu I have right now. I can’t say anything nice about him. While there are many conservative figures I respenct and admire I just can’t think of anything he said, wrote or did that I had any kind of respect for at all. He was as “ugly an American” as I can think of. If you want to be critical and attack me for speaking ill of the recently departed lets not forgot what he had to saw when Senator Ted Kennedy passed away: Andrew Breitbart Unleashes A Torrent Of Invective Against Sen. Ted Kennedy’s Legacy On Twitter | ThinkProgress

By Matt Corley on Aug 26, 2009 at 5:30 pm

Early this morning, news broke that Sen. Ted Kennedy had passed away after serving in the U.S. Senate for nearly 50 years. Soon after, conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart began a sustained assault on Kennedy’s memory, tweeting “Rest in Chappaquiddick.”

Over the course of the next three hours, Breitbart unapologetically attacked Kennedy, calling him a “villain,” “a big ass motherf@#$er,” a “duplicitous bastard” and a “prick.” “I’ll shut my mouth for Carter. That’s just politics. Kennedy was a special pile of human excrement,” wrote Breitbart in one tweet.

When Politico’s Michael Calderone highlighted Breitbart’s attacks in an article called, “Not all Kennedy critics hold fire,” a pleased Breitbart tweeted:

When a fellow conservative tweeted to Breitbart asking him not to treat Kennedy like they believe some on the left treated the passing of Tony Snow and Ronald Reagan, Breitbart responded “How dare you compare Snow & Reagan to Kennedy! Why do you grant a BULLY special status upon his death? This isnt lib v con.” Despite his claim that his attacks weren’t about “lib v. con,” Breitbart repeatedly justified them in ideological terms.

“Look, this man was granted absolution for nothing. Class, life station played a part but PARTY was everything. GOP couldnt get away with it,” complained Breitbart in one tweet. “IF a GOPpossesses 1/100 of human failings of T. Kennedy he/she is TOAST,” he claimed in another. “In this moment I cant but recognize absolute backwardness of media & society. Bush=EVIL. Ted Kennedy=SAINT. Im gonna keep fighin’, folks,” Breitbart said in another tweet.

• Andrew Breitbart: Media manipulation as an art form – latimes.com
• Oh plueeze….Andrew Breitbart memorialized on floor of Congress – latimes.com
• Andrew Breitbart Dies at 43: Furious Rants Made Headlines | Swampland | TIME.com
• Andrew Breitbart, Dead at 43, Made a Career of Showmanship | ThinkProgress
• Andrew Breitbart Dies, Leaving Legacy of Conservative Activism – ABC News

Energy (Politics)

Listening to Rick Santorum’s “Concession/Victory” speech this evening I could help but wonder about how he could be so confused and misguided about energy. Oh yeah, I forgot,  this is Rick Mr. Anti-Science Santorum were talking about.

• Adventures in Fuel Economy, Energy Use, Physics, and Life: Rick Santorum carries on the lie.
• Has the United States beaten peak oil? Not so fast. – The Washington Post
• Huge source of U.S. oil: North Dakota’s Bakken – Mar. 9, 2011
• Tycoon Says North Dakota Oil Field Will Yield 24 Billion Barrels, Among World’s Biggest – Forbes

Politics

• Gingrich: Santorum ‘Strongly Overreacted’ To JFK’s Religion Speech | ThinkProgress
• Hullabaloo: Dow Hits 13,000 under Class Warfare President
  

  I personally detest the use of stock indices as a measure of economic health. In an age where the top 1% who own the vast majority of stock investments are so utterly disconnected from the rest of us, cheering the rise of the Dow is about as useful as cheering discounted prices on yachts. Sure, a rising market helps 401Ks (for what that’s worth) and can sometimes be a predictor of lagging employment increases—though given our increasingly jobless recoveries, the latter is less and less true. But generally speaking, a healthier stock market doesn’t mean a whole lot to the rest of us…

  Still, Wall Street has a nice psychological gain to cheer about today.

  Not that it will matter, of course. Our neoliberal president, who has done essentially everything the Bond Lords asked for, will still get smeared from now through November as a radical class warrior because he once dared to hurt their widdle feelings by calling them fat cats that one time. [read the compete article...]

  (a H/T to Ryking)

• —

Climate & Climate Politics

• Balloon Juice » Smoke Gets In My Eyes

Economic & The Economy

• One Out Of Every Ten Wall Street Employees Is A Psychopath, Say Researchers

Politics

• Indecision 2012 – How Is It that Mitt Romney Hasn’t Crushed this Guy Already? – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – 02/27/12 – Video Clip | Comedy Central
  

  The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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• Could the separation of church and state make Rick Santorum throw up? – Slate Magazine.
• Jon Richards: Walker Is ‘Bain Style’ CEO
  

  During his keynote address at this year’s right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker likened himself to a new CEO who is hired to turn around a failing company.

  Next time he uses his business analogy, Walker would be more accurate to compare himself to the head of Bain Capital, the investment firm co-founded by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney…[read the full article...]

• Obama praises auto industry rescue, accuses GOP presidential critics of rewriting history – The Washington Post
• Democurmudgeon: Gov. O’Malley shows other Democrats how to talk to Republicans.
  

  Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley trashes Virginia’s “transvaginal ultrasound probe” Gov. Bob McDonnell for his states hard right political turn, and while he’s at it, slips in Wisconsin’s job loss record. This is how Democrats need to take on Republicans.
  

• Santorum: Weird extremism, or shrewd politics? – PostPartisan – The Washington Post
• Scott Walker on Recall Election: Think of the Children and Seniors | Video Cafe 
• Opinion: Thanks, GOP candidates, for move to far right – Jennifer Granholm – POLITICO.com — Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm writing in Politic0:
  

  …I recognize that, as a Democrat, I’m in no position to offer advice to Republicans. But hey, keep it up boys. The version of Republicanism you are offering is a gift to Democrats looking for recruits. The anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-Latino, anti-Muslim, anti-Europe (particularly the French and the Greeks), anti-labor, anti-poor, anti-99 percent and now anti-college graduate rhetoric enables us to eagerly welcome your castoffs into the Democratic Party — where inclusivity is celebrated and their contributions are welcome.

• Wondering about the Obama Biden efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Here are a few great charts: Obama for America — What’s better than a chart showing how President…
• False Gods and Politics: A Letter to Rick Santorum – Harrison, NY Patch
• Olympia Snowe delivers stunning rebuke in decision to leave Senate – CSMonitor.com
• Obama, Cantor link up on small biz bill – POLITICO.com
  

  Call them the Odd Couple of capital formation: President Barack Obama and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, declared enemies for much of the last three years, are coming together over a legislative package aimed at making it easier for small businesses to get access to money.

  Flanked by other House Republican leaders, Cantor unveiled the bundle of bills — several of which the House already has passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities — at a Tuesday press conference in the shadow of the Capitol. Just over an hour earlier, White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage encouraged House Republicans and Senate Democrats to negotiate quickly and send Obama a bill that can be signed into law.

  “The President outlined a number of ways to help small businesses grow and become more competitive in September of last year when he announced the American Jobs Act, and in the Startup America Legislative Agenda he sent to Congress last month,” Brundage said. “The president is encouraged to see that there is common ground between his approach and what Congressman Cantor outlined today, and we urge members of both parties in the House and Senate to come together on these provisions and do what the President called for in the State of the Union Address: send him a bill without delay.” [read the complete article...]

• Brad DeLong: Where Were You in 1993, David Brooks?— some good commentary from Brad DeLong on David Brooks excellent op-ed on the struggles of the Republican Party is facing to define and identify itself in this new century…
  • The Possum Republicans – NYTimes.com
• Robert Reich (As Santorum and Romney Battle for the Loony Right, the Rest of Us Should Not Gloat)

Climate & Climate Politics

• A Climate Warrior Puts It All on the Line — Including His Life – TIME
• Libertarian journalist Megan McArdle pleads lack of interest and scientific ignorance for her position on climate change action: Why We Should Act to Stop Global Warming–And Why We Won’t – Megan McArdle – Business – The Atlantic
• Regarding Megan McArdle: One Girl, One Cup | TBogg
• Heartland associate taught ‘biased’ climate course at Ottawa university | Environment | guardian.co.uk
• Nordhaus’s Rebuttal of the Wall Street Journal 16 | Planet3.0
  • Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong by William D. Nordhaus | The New York Review of Books
• AEI Economist Zycher Makes Head-Exploding Claims About Cost of Renewables | ThinkProgress
• Arctic warming cold winter hypothesis loses one year | Bits of Science

Economics & The Economny

• Home-price index for 20 metropolitan cities declines – latimes.com  
  

  Home values in big U.S. cities have fallen to their lowest levels since the start of the housing bust, but cheap prices could draw in new buyers and bolster the chances of recovery, economists say. [read the complete article...]

• Morning Joe: Debt Plans
  

  We discuss the findings of a report done by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which shows how the debt will increase under the tax plans of GOP candidates Romney and Santorum. Click here to view the charts illustrating the deficit impact over the next ten years under the proposed budget plans from President Obama versus the plans of Romney and Santorum.

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• Morning Joe Charts: Debt Plans

Science

• Making “Astronomer’s Paradise” | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
• The Most Distant, Dark Galaxy Ever Found! : Starts With A Bang

Healthcare

• Healthcare history: How the patchwork coverage came to be – latimes.com.