Category Archives: Current Events

Hey, are you reading Ken Levine's blog? One of the best on the web, especially if you want to hear all about the teevee biz from someone who's been there, done that. And he just scored a coup: A letter from castaway Juliet from the TV series, Lost. Go take a look.

As we await the results of the Phil Spector trial — waiting to see if he's acquitted and I therefore go on a killing spree — the L.A. Times discusses the impact of "paid experts" on the court system.

Dick Cavett tells us of Tony Slydini, a man some hail as the greatest close-up magician of his generation…and maybe all time. And embedded in Mr. Cavett's blog post is a half-hour video that would seem to prove that premise.

Fred Kaplan is confused about Barack Obama's plans for Afghanistan. And if Fred can't understand them…

This week is the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill that polluted 1200 miles of Alaskan coastline. Most people assume that the proper clean-up was done, the proper fines were paid and the proper restitution was made to those who were damaged by the accident. Investgative reporter Greg Palast says that all those assumptions are wrong.

Here are two columns by Michael Kinsley. In this one, he continues his debate over stem-cell research…a subject near and dear to his heart as he has Parkinson's Disease. In this one, he discusses the outright dishonesty that was used to kill the fabled Hillary Clinton health plan of 16 years ago and how the same tactic may be used against current efforts.

Health care is an issue near and dear to my heart, as I've seen friends' lives completely destroyed by medical bills. In many ways, I think they're a greater threat to human life in this country than religious fanatics flying planes into skyscrapers. I also took the time to actually read most of Hillary's plan back then and came to the conclusion that it was defeated simply because its opponents outright lied about its provisions, and a large part of the American people bought those lies. It would be nice, if the new efforts don't succeed, for them to fail because of what's actually in the proposal, not because of fibs about its contents.

I've been telling you here for some time that Zogby Polls were spectacularly inaccurate and not to be believed. Nate Silver reviews Zogby's recent track record and proves the point.

Joe Conason writes about attempts by one party to blame the other for bad economic news.

Fred Kaplan says this is the week Obama has to commit to a strategy for Afghanistan. It's about time we had one.

Joe Conason with the radical suggestion that corporations in America should actually be paying all the taxes that the law says they're supposed to pay.

I wasn't going to link to any more articles about the AIG bonuses but David Sirota has a good summary of one of the things that bugs me about the whole situation.

Fred Kaplan says that if we halt production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, it will not (as threatened) cost 95,000 jobs. Hope he's right.

Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Colin Powell's chief of staff, has some strong words about what went wrong with the U.S. prison facilities at Guantanamo Bay. They're worth reading because recent polls suggest the American people are split about the future of the place. 50% want to close it down and the other 50% think it should remain open but only to house bonus-recipients. (Thanks to Bruce Reznick for this link and probably a dozen others I haven't given him credit for in the last month or two.)

If you're looking for a web screed expressing outrage about the AIG bonus payments, you won't have far to look. I like the one from Joe Conason.

Gene Lyons on the different ways our leaders have had of coping with financial needs. It's apparently fine to spend billions to rebuild Iraq but it's socialism to spend the same kind of money rebuilding this country.