Department of Changing the Subject

Remarks at Lynchburg College on September 26, 2011

I'd like to thank Dave Freier for inviting me, and all of you for being here. I think I was invited to speak about my most recent book, War Is A Lie, but I asked Professor Freier if it would be all right to speak about my next book, not yet finished, and he agreed. So, the following is a relatively very short summary of a forthcoming book that is not yet finished, and which I need your help with. It would be very helpful to me if you let me know when I've finished these opening remarks what was unclear, what didn't make sense, or what didn't persuade you, as well as what -- if anything -- seemed useful or inspiring. Read below the fold...

We already have a pretty good idea of what the big speech is about. So unless you feel compelled to listen to the Compulsive Liar in Chief make even more empty promises, here's an alternative: "The Last Heart Attack" aired when Hurricane Irene was making landfall, so it was easy to miss. It's less than one hour long, but it may save your life. Read below the fold...

MIT researchers have found a way to cure viral diseases, any viral diseases, from common colds through dengue and up to HIV. (Press release, PLoS One research article.) This is like being there at the discovery of penicillin. This is one huge, massive, "Wow!" Read below the fold...

Hello this is my first post here, just a cross-post of something I wrote last night elsewhere. Far more social than political but I've often had something political to say, just not lately. Jut a little note to say "Hello."

It was Wednesday evening and I went to see Stevie Nicks and Rod Stewart at Madison Square Garden. Since that show I spent a bunch of days working on a New York Philharmonic presentation of Sondheim's Company. The Broadway revival was so great that I'm already having trouble remembering the rock concert, at least the second half is fading. Read below the fold...

... bats, bats, and lolbats!

If you were ever wondering whether or not I am barking moonbat crazy, well, wonder no more. I have adored bats for as long as I can remember. They are cute. And fascinating.

First, warm wishes for those protesters who are braving the cold in Inner Siberia Wisconsin and related environs:

Read below the fold...

I still glance through FDL to see what topics are being covered. I found this promoted diary by Rohan Jayasekera on the My FDL page. Jayasekera is one of these David Horowitz types who started out on the left as an opponent of censorship but then involuted into his own opposite. In his diary, he basically recycles an Administration argument that Wikileaks has put lives at risk. Whose? Well according to Jaysekera mouthing an argument fed him by a US diplomat, those of human rights activists in repressive countries who talk to US consular officials. Read below the fold...

Paul Krugman can be a remarkable dumb fuck when he wants to be. You see as a classical economist, he has been trained to interpret markets in terms of supply and demand. Speculation when it occurs only happens at the margins. It is either transient or insignificant to larger forces.

This time around Krugman invokes global scarcity and global recovery to explain why commodity prices have been surging. He tells us we live in a finite world, sounding a lot like that other Times airhead Thom Friedman when he does. It all sounds so plausible, at least if you don't look at it too closely. If you do, it comes across as the dimwittery that it is. Read below the fold...

'Cause I got nuthin and Lambert is still away. So: what are you doing to prepare for winter? We got our first hard frost here last night, brrr. The berries in the forest preserve where I walk my puppy daily were frozen this morning, but still tart. I'm going to be trying to emulate Ohio this winter, and get these frakking basement rehab projects done once and for all. But it's cold down here (my new office suite I sort-of-built this year is in the basement), and I'll be burning a lot of wood, while keeping the thermostat set as low as I possibly can. Read below the fold...

This is an amazing story.

JERUSALEM – It seems almost Kafkaesque: Ten safety deposit boxes of never-published writings by Franz Kafka, their exact contents unknown, are trapped in courts and bureaucracy, much like one of the nightmarish visions created by the author himself.

The papers, retrieved from bank vaults where they have sat untouched and unread for decades, could shed new light on one of literature's darkest figures.

Read below the fold...

Progressives want a lot done. Some things, like accountability for torture and violations of constitutional rights, and for criminal activity undermining the financial system, won't cost much to accomplish. But other things, like full employment job programs, Medicare for All, reconstruction of the educational system, modernization of infrastructure, transformation of the energy foundations of the economy, environmental sustainability, halting climate change, the creation of new industries, will all require Government spending. And in each area, deficit terrorists and many well-meaning people who believe in prudence and not living beyond one's means will meet progressive legislative proposals with the statement, “that's all very well but . . . , followed by the question “How Are We Going To Pay For It?”

If progressives expect to get done the things that they need to get done for America's future they need to be able to answer this question. Currently the conventional answer to it has been either to tax or to borrow to “fund” or “finance” Government spending. But this doesn't work very well because the taxing answer is now met with claims that taxes, even those on the very wealthy, should not be raised during a recession because of their deflationary impact. And borrowing is met with the claims of the deficit terrorists that progressive proposals are fiscally irresponsible and would place the nation on an unsustainable fiscal course and that interest payments would claim an increasingly and unsustainably high proportion of GDP. Read below the fold...

Eggs, Smoke Bombs And Punches Fly As Ukranian Lawmakers Debate

What will Democrats run on in 2010 and 2012? They can't credibly run on their record, so they will have to run on how eeeevil and scaaaary the Republicans are.

Coincidentally, a favorite subject of (D) captured 'progressive' sites like FDL, where Blue Texan went with "New Harris Poll Finds Nearly One Fourth of Republicans Believe Obama May Be the Antichrist" Read below the fold...

(crossposted from Whenceforth Progress)

Rest in peace, Charlie Wilson.

He represented Texas -- which is more than can be said of most of those who say they do so now, either in Austin or in DC.

Although he was not a perfect politician, and although some of the things he worked hardest for ultimately didn't go the way he hoped, Read below the fold...