via Laughing Squid
Category: Politics
The Many Colberts
This piece in the New York Times on Stephen Colbert gives me an all-new respect for one of the funniest men on television.
‘A Modern-Day Abolitionist’
Marilyn Sadler, in a piece on my friend Ryan Dalton:
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reports that more than 100 cases of sex trafficking of minors have been documented in Shelby County over the last two years. Victims as young as 13 have been beaten, raped, and tortured into submission. The same number of adult cases have been documented. “But many more cases go undocumented and without rescue,” emphasizes Dalton.
GoDaddy Withdraws SOPA Support
Speaking of SOPA...
Everyone’s favorite domain registrar has gone insane.
What is SOPA?
Everyone’s favorite lawyer-turned-tech-blogger Nilay Patel has posted an in-depth look at SOPA. You need to read this.
Neo-Hipsters
Hey guys, long time no see, toss me a PBR—actually, better make it a Coors Light. I know, I look different, but before you all start saying how I look like some midtown suit, let me explain. I haven’t gone pleb on you, I’m actually a neo-hipster now. It’s basically where you’re a hipster, but since hipsterism has gone so mainstream you dress and act like a regular person, ironically.
The Fifty Percent
While the Occupy Wall Street guys have a point1, the fact that half of Congress’ members are millionaires is a bigger problem, in my opinion. I’m not sure how these people can accurately represent the middle class, let alone the nation’s poorest members.
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No matter how bad they are at getting that point across. ↩︎
Healthcare Reform, Republicans and the 2012 Elections
David Nather argues that healthcare reform would be rolled back if Obama and the Democrats lose big in 2012:
That’s because, if they win the White House and such a large margin in the Senate, they’ll argue to the remaining Democrats that the election was a mandate to change course — and scrap the health care law. In reality, the public is closely divided over the law, and some polls find a minority favor outright repeal, as opposed to making changes in it. But repeal is a Republican priority, so expect them to push it with all the momentum they can muster. All of the Republican presidential candidates have committed to signing repeal into law.
Massachusetts Attorney General has ID Stolen, Investigating iTunes With Official Power
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said on Tuesday that her office would be inquiring into long-standing complaints about fraudulent purchases that leverage Apple’s popular online music store.
In a lunchtime address to business and technology leaders in Massachusetts, Coakley said she was a victim of identity theft in recent months, and that her stolen credit card information was used to make fraudulent iTunes purchases.
Seems like a perfectly reasonable use of state resources.1
Congressional Millionaires
President Obama continued laying what may be more groundwork for his re-election campaign Monday, including a new tax proposal. He calls it the “Buffett rule”: a new tax on people making more than $1million a year, who currently pay a much lower rate than an average middle-class American. The president, in fact, proposed this rule to a group of people with a lot of millionaires in it.
Steve Jobs and Philanthropy
Say what you will about this piece, I don’t think Steve Jobs is doing anywhere near the amount of good someone like Bill Gates is.