The Media
- It’s the Christmas Hoiday weekend,… I should in all right be sleeping in but the aspiring wonk in me has taken over I’ve developed this compulsion to get up early on Saturdays & Sundays to watch Up with Chris Hayes.
- Inside Up With Chris Hayes: The Best (And Worst) Part Of Waking Up Weekends | Mediaite
It’s fast becoming the worst-kept secret in cable news that Chris Hayes is ruining people’s weekends. The editor-at-large of The Nation, formerRachel Maddow fill-in, and (for the past few weeks) proud papa of daughter Ryan hosts a political roundtable which, true to its title, forces a growing number of people to get Up With Chris Hayes. The show combines the fun, accessibility, and sleep-interrupting qualities of a Saturday morning cartoon with the smarts and savvy of a crackling wonk dinner party. To atone for waking us up every weekend, Chris Hayes agreed to give us a look inside Up.
- Inside Up With Chris Hayes: The Best (And Worst) Part Of Waking Up Weekends | Mediaite
Economic & The Economny
- On Income Inequality
“An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” — Plutarch ancient Greek biographer (c. 46 – 120 CE)
- Recession? Depression? Income Inequality is the Problem | Government Lies…
- Income Inequality is a cause, not a symptom, of our economic problems… | Trish Costello
- Voices of Reason: Affirming the Proposition: Income Inequality is a Problem in the United States (Opening Statement)
- Income Inequality, Round Two
- Statistics on Income Inequality | P.a.p.-Blog | Human Rights Etc.
- 1,900 Year Old Wisdom: “An Imbalance Between Rich and Poor Is the Oldest and Most Fatal Ailment of all Republics” – Washington’s Blog
- A website exploring the issue: Inequality.org | News, Data & Statistics on Income, Health, Social Inequality
Politics — Newt Gingrich
Politics — Mitt Romney
Politics — Ron Paul
- Ron Paul: The new teflon candidate? – CBS News.
(The New Republic) Nearly four years ago, on the eve of the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, The New Republic published my expose of newsletters published by Texas Congressman Ron Paul. The contents of these newsletters can best be described as appalling. Blacks were referred to as “animals.” Gays were told to go “back” into the “closet.” The “X-Rated Martin Luther King” was a bisexual pedophile who “seduced underage girls and boys.” Three months before the Oklahoma City bombing, Paul praised right-wing, anti-government militia movements as “one of the most encouraging developments in America.” The voluminous record of bigotry and conspiracy theories speaks for itself. And yet, four years on, Ron Paul’s star is undimmed. Not only do the latest polls place him as the frontrunner in the Iowa Caucuses, but he still enjoys the support of a certain coterie of professional political commentators who, like Paul himself, identify as libertarians. Most prominent among them is Daily Beast blogger Andrew Sullivan, who gave Paul his endorsement in the GOP primary last week, as he did in 2008. But he is not alone: Tim Carney of The Washington Examiner recently bemoaned the fact that “the principled, antiwar, Constitution-obeying, Fed-hating, libertarian Republican from Texas stands firmly outside the bounds of permissible dissent as drawn by either the Republican establishment or the mainstream media,” while Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic argues that Paul’s ideas cannot be ignored, and that, for Tea Party Republicans, “A vote against Paul requires either cognitive dissonance—never in short supply in politics—or a fundamental rethinking of the whole theory of politics that so recently drove the Tea Party movement.”
- Angry White Man | The New Republic
- Ron Paul For The GOP Nomination – The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan – The Daily Beast
- GOP will take off the gloves if Ron Paul wins Iowa | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner
- Pretending That Ron Paul Doesn’t Matter Won’t Make Him Go Away – Conor Friedersdorf – Politics – The Atlantic
- Little Green Footballs – Crazy Ron Paulian Comment of the Day
Politics
- Don’t Forget Wingnut Welfare – NYTimes.com
- Daily Kos: Rick Perry exaggerates results of Texas job creation program
Life as an Atheist
- Jesus or death | Butterflies and Wheels.
- …And our little lives are rounded with a sleep | The Atheist Experience
Our profoundest condolences go out to friend and sometime co-host AronRa, who here gives a tremendously touching eulogy for his granddaughter Sidney, felled by cancer. I recently read a novel in which a character ruminates on death, expressing the view that — the phraseology notwithstanding — instead of thinking that our lost loved ones were “taken” from us too soon, perhaps we should think that they were “given” to us for a time, to love and be loved by, and we have no way of knowing, nor any control, over how long or short that time is. And so we cherish that brief time, because it is all we have, because every minute that we live is one we will not live again. So let those you love know how much they mean to you, right now. Don’t wait until the chance has come and gone.
- A Wonderful Life – Without Religion – Skeptico
- Greta Christina’s Blog: Seven Reasons for Atheists to Celebrate the Holidays
- The Immoral Minority: The President’s Weekly Address. The Christmas Edition.