The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

The Irony Of Mitt Romney, Wingnut

by Elias Isquith May 16, 2012

It took several months and a rogue barracuda, but by the end of the 2008 campaign, John McCain’s reputation for being a “maverick” with centrist leanings was dead as the moose in the Palin living room. There was always more than a little myth behind the McCain-as-maverick story — excepting those moments when he sought to needle George W. Bush, the Arizona Senator was, on the whole, always quite rightwing — but whatever vestiges of goodwill his apostasy had earned ...

Read the full article →

The Knock Down, a Place-holder

by David Ryan May 16, 2012

(Previously: The Knock Down, Part 1 and Part 2) I am a morning writer; a cup of coffee, sitting in bed with my laptop. But as we crash on the boat time’s been short, so I have not been able to write out the epilogue of my knock-down story. As a place-holder I offer the below video of Nassim Nicholas Tabeb from the 2010 Washington Ideas Forum:

12 comments Read the full article →

Hexalogue

by Burt Likko May 15, 2012

A certain kind of religious activist takes it as a given, and as an imperative, that the Decalogue must be displayed prominently on and in public buildings. Gratefully, these folks are rare; sadly, they have influence because few people want to be seen as opposing them. Which is why there are groups like the ACLU and the FFRF, willing to (among other things) absorb the unpopularity of ”opposing the Ten Commandments” so as to stand against the melding of church and state — something ...

57 comments Read the full article →

When $2 Billion Is Not Enough

by Elias Isquith May 15, 2012

In the wake of JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion mistake, you’d think Washington would be paying closer attention to see whether this is a sign that Dodd-Frank, not yet fully implemented, is already proving to be insufficiently restrictive of risky behavior. The bank’s gargantuan loss, after all, was the result of bet-hedging with depositor money — a practice that a robust version of the Volcker Rule would ban. But because the version of the Volcker Rule passed by Congress was far ...

Read the full article →

Man Of Steel

by Elias Isquith May 14, 2012

Responding to the Obama campaign’s latest anti-Romney ad, “Steel,” which focuses on a steel company bought and closed under the management of Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital, The Atlantic‘s David A. Graham sees evidence that Team Obama is not only willingly redirecting the conversation toward the economy — after a week-long foray into same-sex marriage — but is doing so in an effort to cast Romney as the villain protagonist ofAmerica’s post-industrial story. Graham sees the commercial’s intended subtext to be: “Romney ...

Read the full article →

A Note About Restraint

by Patrick Cahalan May 14, 2012

On the redoubtable Mr. Thompson’s last post, there is a counter-point to be made. I shall now make this point, standing in for the law enforcement community. Firearm accuracy is notoriously bad in stress scenarios. The links are too numerous to aggregate at the moment, but for the purposes of this post I’ll just use this report by the NY Times:

122 comments Read the full article →

Restraint

by Mark Thompson May 14, 2012

Via Balko, in 2011, German police fired a total of 85 rounds in incidents with human beings, killing 6 and injuring 15, with the majority of those rounds (49) fired solely as “warning shots,” meaning they only fired 36 rounds at human beings that entire year. This in a nation of more than 80 million people. In 2009,* the New York Police Department, serving a city of a little over 8 million people, fired a total of 184 rounds in ...

64 comments Read the full article →

Talk to Me Like I’m Stupid : Natural Law Edition

by Tod Kelly May 13, 2012

I’d like to ask a favor of my fellow Leaguers, especially the ones that know more about philosophy than I do, (i.e.: everybody). I’d like to apologize to TNC for stealing his titular phrase “Talk To Me Like I’m Stupid,” but that would assume he reads my posts — which I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. One of the prisms that arguments are run through here when talking about public policy is the concept of Natural Law. As best I can ...

327 comments Read the full article →

Topical Astrophysics Post And Open Thread

by Jaybird May 13, 2012

One of my friends recently met Neil deGrasse Tyson at the Space Symposium and they chatted for about 4 minutes about such things as the meme he’s inspired and general love of science and even as I thought “how awesome!”, I felt a surge of envy well up in me and I thought about the various things that I would have wanted to ask if I had 4 minutes with him… the biggest one being “where are all of the ...

41 comments Read the full article →

An Apologia for Athletic Aristocracy

by Conor P. Williams May 13, 2012

Europe’s club soccer season is ending amidst a score of public debates over social and economic equality. Whatever political course the Europeans take, I hope that they don’t let their egalitarianism range too far into The Beautiful Game. (Image credit here.) — At long last the last whistle blows, the last bit of confetti falls, the last platitude spills from droning television lips, and with one final, clattering flourish, the season ends. Shelve the rivalry narratives, cue the highlight montages, ...

2 comments Read the full article →

Suicide is Painless…It Brings on Many Changes…

by Nob Akimoto May 12, 2012

…and I can take or leave it if I please. It was much easier to be an outsider at 25 than at 15. Not that it’s easy. Anxiety attacks, bipolar mood swings, a general inability to trust. There were still a lot of scars there. But there’s more perspective. Less drama. There’s coping mechanisms. There’s agency. And it’s gotten even easier at 28…I’m sure it’ll be easier still at 35. At 15, I lacked those. At 15 I thought the ...

10 comments Read the full article →

I Am Mitt Romney

by Tod Kelly May 12, 2012

(Note: I wrote this a couple of days ago, inspired by something Pat had said in Eric’s threads. When I went to put it up, I saw Mike’s piece and decided not to post on the chance that they were too similar. A day later I’ve decided that maybe they’re different enough, and besides – it’s the weekend and it’s sunny, and since I need to post something I’m going with the bird in hand that’s already been saved on ...

110 comments Read the full article →

Friday Night Jukebox: Fight Test

by Jason Kuznicki May 11, 2012

From the best album of pop music I expect to see in my lifetime, the Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Been on my mind for all kinds of personal reasons, maybe obvious. And a great song for triggering the runner’s high, if those weren’t enough:

5 comments Read the full article →

Bullygate

by Mike Dwyer May 11, 2012

There was a quote from some political pundit a few years ago that talked about the price of being president. I am paraphrasing here but the point was basically that we, as Americans, elect a President who becomes the most powerful man in the world. The price we charge for that lofty office is that we spend six months doing our best to destroy that person first.

193 comments Read the full article →

Playing music with children

by Erik Kain May 11, 2012

This pretty much sums up every time I try to play guitar while my children are around. My daughter is almost five and my son almost two, and their musical tastes tend to be very different from my own. Stop playing daddy, and turn on Sesame Street songs… Hopefully this will change as they grow older and learn to play music themselves. I expect whatever progress is made in the intervening years will be crushed by the time they become ...

24 comments Read the full article →

Inequality And Same-Sex Marriage

by Elias Isquith May 11, 2012

The rise of inequality in the United States — and the West, generally — over the past 30 years has led to a lot of changes in both our culture and politics. A lot of these changes have been for the worse. But I think the President’s recent public endorsement of same-sex marriage (SSM) stands, alongside last year’s legalization of SSM in New York, as a rare example of a positive development that may never have occurred, were wealth in ...

Read the full article →

Gestures In Futility, 112th Congress Edition

by Burt Likko May 11, 2012

This is a post about separation of powers and the proper scope and exercise of Presidential authority, Congress’ ability to attempt to direct the exercise of that authority, and a strange attempt by Congress to use its power of the pursestrings to arrogate judicial powers for itself. It is not, or at least does not have to be, about same sex marriage. Article II, section 3 of the Constitution states that the President “…shall take care that the laws be faithfully ...

38 comments Read the full article →

Romney the prankster, Obama the politician

by Erik Kain May 10, 2012

You knew it would get ugly, and now it has. Romney’s character is being called into question as his past as a youthful prankster and loud-mouthed homophobe is coming to light. Recalling an incident at prep school, Romney’s old friend Matthew Friedemann describes Romney’s distaste for another student, John Lauber, who was presumed to be gay: A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a ...

264 comments Read the full article →

‘The First Law’ Trilogy Is Fantasy At Its Finest

by Erik Kain May 10, 2012

I’ve finished Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy: The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and Last Argument of Kings. And may I just say that this is some truly wonderful fantasy? Because it is truly wonderful fantasy, easily some of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Abercrombie’s characters are marvelous and full of depth, and you’re never quite sure what they’ll do precisely because he makes them all so human. There are no clear villains, no clear heroes, no clear friends or enemies. Not ...

4 comments Read the full article →

Damn Dirty Apes

by Ryan Noonan May 10, 2012

Okay, whatever partisan disagreements I have with the House Republicans, their decision to eliminate the American Community Survey is a bridge too damn far. This means war.

67 comments Read the full article →

Very Well, Say ‘Shibboleth’

by Guest Authors May 10, 2012

~by M.A. Fresh off of reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent op-ed concerning the ever-shrinking GOP tent, I had the occasion to sit around for a while listening to one of the local highly-rated talk radio hosts for my area. After about 5 minutes, I decided to grab a notepad, write down the key words and phrases, and start keeping track of how often they were uttered by either the host or call-in guests. This is all completely unscientific; it is possible it may ...

34 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →