June 24, 2012
Insomniac Edition: Garbage – Blood For Poppies (2012)
• • •
June 24, 2012
The Naiveté Of Advocating A Free Market Health Care System
In case you didn’t notice, the current health care system in the United States is already a free market system. There are winners and losers. There are some people who can afford to participate and others who get left behind. This is how any market works, and this is how our current health care system (which isn’t really a system at all) is working, or should I say, is not working.
• • •
June 23, 2012
Income Inequality: Top One Percent Share Of Total Pre-Tax Income, 1913-2007
There will be naysayers who cite causality when they see a chart like the one below, and that is fine. I agree, we cannot directly correlate the top one percent’s share of total pre-tax income with all things that ail this country, but is anyone going to make the case that income inequality of this magnitude is healthy for the future of the United States?
• • •
June 23, 2012
A Republican Narrative Dies As The Price Of Gas Keeps Falling
• • •
June 23, 2012
Greed: It’s Why We Need Strong Financial Regulations To Avoid Another Meltdown
I think it’s safe to say that all but the most extreme (and potentially selfish) anti-government libertarians would be for regulations when it comes to aviation including the safety of the airplane that takes you to see Aunt Betty in St. Louis. I think most would be hesitant to trust a for-profit company to regulate itself when it comes to the flight-worthiness of an aircraft. Sure, a company that neglects maintenance and has many fatal accidents is likely to go out of business quickly but nobody is willing to allow that market to work itself out because it means putting your life on the line when you board an airplane.
• • •
June 22, 2012
Call for Ray Bradbury to be honoured with internet error message
A new status code to reflect internet censorship could be named after Ray Bradbury’s most famous novel, Fahrenheit 451
• • •
June 16, 2012
The State Of Capitalism: Chris Hayes – “The Difference Between Cheating And Performance”
Today Chris Hayes made a great point about the difference between cheating and performance, or that there isn’t really a difference at all, at least not anymore. The problem is that we assume people who have made a lot of money did the right things in life to earn that money, but we know that isn’t always the case. We know there are people who get into positions where they are able to rig the system. We know there are people who once they taste success are not satisfied and then begin to cheat their way to the top. At this moment, a serious problem in our society is that we look up to people who have earned a lot of money. We want to emulate them because we believe they have done well in life because they made all the right and morally correct decisions. This is very dangerous if enough people buy into it. It’s what allows the 2008 financial disaster to go on 4 years without anyone being held accountable.
• • •
June 15, 2012
Romney’s Unpredictable Surrogate – Donald Trump
Recently, several prominent Democrats have come out against President Obama’s ads attacking Mitt Romney’s relationship with Bain Capital, a private equity firm. For its part, the Obama campaign has defended its ads and have tried to bring these Democrats back in line with the campaign’s message. Surrogates are beneficial to campaigns, but they also come with some measure of risk. In the Romney camp, Donald Trump is their principle high risk, high reward surrogate.
• • •
June 15, 2012
Obama Administration Plans To End Deportation Of Young Illegal Immigrants
The big news today is an announcement by the Obama administration that it intends to stop deporting young illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Because the DREAM Act (a bill designed to give a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants) is stalled in congress, the Obama administration moves ahead, enacting its executive power to grant work permits and to extend immunity to illegal immigrants who are now under 30 and were brought to the United States before their 16th birthday. Immigrants who fall into this category can apply for 2-year work permits with the ability to renew.
• • •
June 14, 2012
Marijuana could be Barack Obama’s secret weapon in this election
With support for legalisation polling at a record 50%, it may be time for the president to reassess his position on drugs policy
• • •