My current Congressman is a conservative Republican… not so conservative that he falls into the wingnut category, but close. I’m what someone called a faint blue light in a sea of red. So I make a point to communicate with him fairly regularly, if only to remind him that he also represents people with views [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Is anyone listening?
Posted in Current Events, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged government-run health care, health care debate, health care insurance, health care reform, health care system, health insurance, health insurance reform, Medicare, Medicare for Everyone, Medicare Part E on November 7, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Weighing in on “net neutrality”
Posted in Current Events, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged Glenn Beck, John McCain, net neutrality, open Internet architecture on October 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The battle for “net neutrality” is heating up, and just like in the health care debate, the misinformation campaign on the right is beginning as well. The FCC has proposed regulations that will preserve the open architecture of the Internet, guaranteeing that all content providers are created equal in terms of access. Not surprisingly, the [...]
Democracy as a contact sport
Posted in Current Events, Ideas, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged city council, democracy, democracy contact sport, effecting change, local elections, local politics, make change, participatory democracy, school board on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
We’ve heard for years that all politics are local. My community will be electing city council and school board members next week. But once again I feel I don’t know much about the candidates. Our local paper has, not surprisingly, endorsed the status quo. I’m not satisfied with the status quo, but getting information about [...]
Speaking up works
Posted in Current Events, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged health care reform, opt-out public option, public option on October 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In the months since President Obama was inaugurated, many people who voted for him have been disappointed that change hasn’t happened more quickly, that some of the cherished changes haven’t happened yet.
Sen. Reid has just announced that he is sending a consensus health care reform bill to the Congressional Budget Office for scoring. The good [...]
Too much reality?
Posted in Current Events, Ideas, Uncategorized, tagged Balloon Boy, Gosslins, Jon 7 Kate, Octo-mom, Richard Heene on October 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Reality TV has become a staple of the network lineup. These shows are cheaper to produce, thus maximizing profit for the studios. But is there a hidden cost that we need to address?
It appears that the parents of the so-called “Balloon Boy” are now being suspected of staging an elaborate hoax to catapult them onto [...]
No evidence!
Posted in Current Events, Ideas, Politics, Uncategorized, tagged Defense of Marriage Act, Don't Ask Don't Tell, equal rights, gay rights, Proposition 8 on October 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
One of the standard arguments against same sex marriage is that it somehow threatens “traditional” marriage. In my previous post I said that to date no one had been able to provide a rational explanation of how that threat works. Well, Federal Judge Vaughn Walker has the same concern. And to nobody’s surprise, the [...]
Equal means equal
Posted in Current Events, Ideas, Uncategorized, tagged civil rights, equal rights, gay rights on October 11, 2009 | 3 Comments »
All men (and women) are created equal. Equal protection under the law. These and other similar statements are part of the bedrock of the American system. It all sounds so easy, but it’s definitely been easier for some Americans than for others.
Advances in civil rights don’t come easily in this country. It took nearly 150 [...]
On hiatus
Posted in Uncategorized on October 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I’m going to be out of pocket for a few weeks — an outpatient surgery procedure and then a period of recuperation. So as not to offend anyone with a drug-induced rant, and because I’ve been so critical of those people who seem to have taken leave of their senses with irrational positions, I’m going [...]
Is the public option really dead?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged health care reform, public option, Sen. Chuck Shumer, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Sen. Kent Conrad, Sen. Max Baucus, Senate Finance Committee, Senate Health Education Labor Pension Committee, Senate HELP committee on September 29, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Two amendments that would have included a public option in the Senate Finance Committee bill went down to defeat today. But is it really dead? All three House bills include a public option. Assuming that they will be combined to one bill to be debated by the full House of Representatives, the House bill will [...]
