Crocus = Rational Exuberance

Thanks, Moveon.org!

So... tax rates for the rich were much higher under Reagan, and under Nixon, than they would be under Obama's proposed policies. And they would just return to the level they were before Bush gave the rich really good deals on tax cuts.

Hardly warrants a reasonable person summoning outrage of any kind, really.

This Finger-Pointing Approved by the American People

Jim Cramer said he wants "kangaroo courts" for these banking guys... And of course, Freud is thrilled by this, since he knows that kangaroo courts are, by definition, sham courts. "Let's go after these people," indeed. The guy can't even pronounce "Eric Sevareid".

I could not be more proud of a comedian than I am of Jon Stewart. What a brilliant interview. It cut through Jim Cramer's absurd "reformer-journalist-commentator" PR image.

Jon: "My mother is 75. And she bought into the idea that long-term investing is the way to go. And guess what?"
Jim: "And it didn't work."

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=221516&title=jim-cramer-interview-outtake

Republican asshats in Tennessee

So the Republicans decided to make a bumper sticker that absurdly references the "out-of-control" congress: Honk if you're paying my mortgage.










So saner people provide saner suggestions: Honk if you'd rather check my birth certificate than govern.




Other great ideas include:

http://www.liberadio.com/2009/02/26/honk-if-im-having-trouble-paying-my-bills/

• “Honk if you took a big bonus just before the government bailed out your worthless company.”–Hecate

• “Honk if you paid for your bankers’ cocaine” — MasterD, damn yankee

• “Honk if you’re sorry the Republicans didn’t get to put your social security into the stock market.” — rootless-e

• “Honk you’re driving on a taxpayer funded highway.”– Libby

• “Honk If You Think my Uterus Belongs to You”–Culture of Truth

• “Have your driver honk if I’ve been paying your taxes for you.”–minusp

• “Honk if you want Bush back.”–(anti-noise-pollution sticker)–Dirk Gently

And the winner is …. (drum roll, please!):

“Honk if you’re going to the job fair.” –Duane V

Ah, erudition and cogency

John Cheever on John Updike:

"The only contemporary writer I know now who gives me the sense of the fact that the life we perform is in an environment that enjoys a grandeur that escapes us."

...the life we perform.
...a grandeur that escapes us.

Yes.

This is delightful!

Hurray for Graphic Design!

Noted:
1. remixed red-white-and-blue
2. plus green
3. plus peace
4. plus hard, mechanical work perhaps of a healthcare nature
4. plus globe / ozone layer
5. plus O of course.

Invoking simple machines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_machine was a lovely idea. Not to quibble, but I would have liked to see that the cogs could actually mesh.

But it could turn out that things do work, but Rube Goldberg needs to be named Work Process Czar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGngcQb_0qg

Summary: Why AOL Should Suck It

Apparently, AOL is the refuge of Olds who hope that "real conservatism" needs to be brought back -- because God knows having a progressive president for a month is clearly a mistake after eight years of... what was Bush exactly? Because I didn't hear any complaints from Limbaugh while Bush was president.