Be a Pro!

Just a reminder...

It is, and it isn't.

This story is just a distraction, but a fun one. Here's my favorite joke about it so far, taken from an unnamed liberal blog:

"The real anger should be at Biden for spoiling the rollout of the new phrase. You thought the New Deal was major? This is the Big F----g Deal!"

Brilliant

Mississippi High School Cancels Prom

I never went to my senior prom, but members of this Mississippi senior class don't have the option to attend or to abstain. Undeniably, not allowing a lesbian couple to attend a prom is a violation of the couple's civil rights; nonetheless, couldn't the lesbian couple find some way around the school's policy without ruining prom for her whole class? For example, couldn't they both have gone stag(ette) or have friends take each of them as heterosexual dates. High school dances typically aren't about your "date" and more about the people you meet there or with whom you arrive....at least that's the way my high school dances were. Teens find ways around things all the time by bending the rules in their favor...why not here? Prom connotes the culmination of one's school days: where the awkward moments of adolescence feel like distant memories of the past, as you embark on a mono-mythical journey into adulthood, into your future. Why end your high school career by making a scene with the officials in what you know to be a strictly religious, conservative town? It sort of seems like McMillen was baiting the school board officials and it backfired on her big time.

Obama Education Watch: I was wrong (maybe)

Wow -- this is big. I am really impressed by President Obama and SecEd Duncan. It will be interesting to see what happens to the teachers' unions: do they swallow this (where else will they go?) or do they break openly with the President.

Speaking at an event intended to highlight his strategy for turning around struggling schools by offering an increase in federal funding for local districts that shake up their lowest-achieving campuses, Obama called the controversial firings justified.

"If a school continues to fail its students year after year after year, if it doesn't show signs of improvement, then there's got to be a sense of accountability," he said. "And that's what happened in Rhode Island last week at a chronically troubled school, when just 7 percent of 11th-graders passed state math tests -- 7 percent."

The board that oversees Central Falls High School took the startling step last week of firing 93 teachers and other staff members after the teachers union refused to agree to a plan for them to work a longer school day and provide after-school tutoring without much extra pay.

[snip]

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said repeatedly that he wants to work with unions rather than impose reforms on them, and the National Education Association, with 3.2 million members, and the AFT, with 1.4 million members, have generally sought to play down policy differences with the administration.

I think it's clear that the Obama Administration is really real about education reform. Good.

Sarah Palin Insurance

So Sarah Palin gave a speech last night -- apparently it was quite campaign-oriented. I'm thinking of offering liberals Palin insurance that would pay out in the unlikely event that she would actually win the Presidency.

It should be like ten bucks a year, and pay out like, I dunno, 100 or 200 dollars. Palin's enough of a bogey-woman that I think I could make a pretty penny on this (or lose my shirt.)

Ridiculous Item of the Day: $3.72 Trillion (Obama's 2010 Budget)

This critism is not directed solely at Obama as I would expect any sitting Republican President in the current situation to sadly also submit an overly inflated budget (Bush did a good job of this). Now all of this is just a proposal as Congress (Heaven help us!) has control of the purse strings. I guess right now would be a good time to invest in companies that make printing equipment, since Ben may have to build some new mints to keep up.

My point is unless our friends in Washington finally get their heads out of the sand and propose real cuts and not freezing decretionary spending while in the same breath proposing a new $100 billion plan for job growth, we are in for some real pain in the coming years (think early 1980s: high unemployment coupled with double digit interest rates). I guess thanks to the healthcare bill (which will pass at some point) more of the unemployed will have health issurance.

It could be a very interesting mid-term election!

Where is health care reform going?

Folks are probably tired of my "taking one for the team" approach for health care, but I keep finding evidence for it. (...maybe because I keep looking for it!)

From the transcript of Charlie Rose interviewing Washington Post health care wonk blogger Ezra Klein on December 15:

EK: This bill is both quite an achievement, but a recognition of our
limits. And at some point we are not going to be able to content ourselves
with having picked the low-hanging fruit. We are going to have to sit down
and make hard decisions and hard choices on cost, and there won’t be the
spur and the shining goal of covering the uninsured. There will be a lot
less. And we’re still going to have to do it.

So this bill, it’s a good first step, it will make the next one
easier. But the next one is going to be the harder one and I don’t think
anybody looking at this process should be very confident that we will be
able to take it.

CHARLIE ROSE: What’s the next one?

EZRA KLEIN: In a very hard way, cost control. Not just starting the
procedures and the pilot programs, but telling doctors and hospitals and
device manufacturers and Pharma "You are going to make less money next year
than you made this year," or "You are going to make a lot less money in ten
years than you expect to be making now." That’s going to be very hard.

With the change in the numbers in the Senate, the reform train slows down a little. But only a little -- Democrats will continue to push for health care reform and I expect a bill to pass by the end of the month. They'll be back for more.

Just remember that their long-term plan is "You are going to make a lot less money in ten years than you expect to be making now."

Will this be healthcare reform?

Go Obama Go!

So some Senate Democrats are going to panic about the Coakley loss (which I did not predict correctly at all). Evan Bayh may have already.

Here's what I think President Obama should do: go all out. The whole centrist, calm, cool, collected thing isn't working. He should mash all the buttons down, turn the volume to 11 and just give a general "screw you" to the Republican party. Bring it all out: kill the bankers on Wall Street, go for single payer health care, stop all foreclosures for 180 days, all the big hits.

I think it would be politically braver than any of his baby steps and it would convince the strangely apathetic left that there's something worth fighting for. And I, for one, would enjoy the show.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'

If you have a moment or ten, read this article about Marvin Harrison and the crime he is alleged to have committed. Assuming that the facts in the article are true, it's quite likely that he shot at the fellow. The article insinuates strongly that Harrison's associates were involved in ultimately killing the target in the first case.

Should he be in prison? Playing devil's advocate here, it sounds to me like Harrison and his friends may have done Philly a service. That being said, lying to law enforcement is something that society cannot tolerate and I hope that justice before the law is served.

AIDS is funny!!

We are ND!

Thanks, Mr. President

I'm not quite sure how much blame to assign for the Underwear Bomber incident to the President and his staff. Nevertheless, his "The Buck Stops with Me" statement was a point in his favor. I don't think President Bush ever made such a statement, although my memory could be failing me.

That being said, the mostly ridiculous increase in security is 100% in his purview. I was really hoping that he would scale back the more ridiculous stuff, like the taking-off-of-the-shoes, etc. A citizen can hope.

And then, there were 4

Arizona at New Orleans
Dallas at Minnesota

Baltimore at Indianapolis
NY Jets at San Diego

Predictions?

Choose your metaphor...

What does this machine bring to mind?

Happy Holidays to all...

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday week and a great start to the new year.

Couple of things

"Finally, I'm right about something": A quote from a chat with Washington Post health-care blogger/wonk Ezra Klein:

Brooklyn: Looking back, how much of the backlash right now is attributable to having framed private insurance as the biggest bogeyman? Was there an option? Should Pharma have been brought out in front as well?

Ezra Klein: It's hard to say, but inside the process, people worked hard to keep Pharma on board because they have so much more money than any other interest group. The thinking was that insurers don't really have enough to launch a lethal attack. Pharma does, and did. So I'm skeptical that picking a direct fight with them would have been appealing.

Yet another data point in my "Who's going to take one for the team?" series.

Office of Depressing: I'm not sure there's anything to be said about Tiger that isn't stupid, obvious or both, except, dude, we'll always have the 16th hole at Augusta.

Week 12, a.k.a. Jim's terrible predictive powers

On September 10, I posted boring NFL predictions, as follows:

"1. The Colts? 9-7 and do not win the AFC South.
2. The Patriots do not go to the Superbowl.
3. The Vikings? Do not make the playoffs."

Well, that didn't work out so well. Basically, all three are incorrect. Well, that's why I don't put money on these sorts of things.

That being said, I have a really hard time imagining that the Colts will go to the Superbowl, much less win it all.

A New Generation of Patriots...stronger, whiter, more fiscally responsible.

It's Not Charlie's Fault!

According to a letter to the editor in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Personally, I would blame his inability to "game coach", inspire young men or his prominent F.U.P.A.