Vienna Teng: "Level Up" and "Landsailor"

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I love Vienna Teng. I really do. I mean, I love her music. I've never met her, though she seems like a lovely person. But it's okay to say I love her, isn't it?

In any event, I've blogged about her numerous times -- at least five times (four with video -- see here, here, here, and here).

Vienna released her fifth studio album, Aims, back in September. It's gorgeous -- and actually I don't think she's capable of making anything other than gorgeous music. But it's also, for her, something of a departure from her first four albums. Those were driven largely by her voice and her piano. This is still distinctively her, and her voice and piano are still present, but the piano isn't nearly as dominant. As Michael Bialas wrote at The Huffington Post:

Relying less on the piano (on about half the tracks) and more on producer Cason Cooley's loaded computer of sound libraries that range from African drum beats to orchestral instruments, Teng was thrilled to enhance songs dealing with heady subjects (Occupy Movement, Body Identity Integrity Disorder, privacy issues) that will challenge listeners. 

The result is a more electronic sound that on some songs adds noticeable artificiality to the mix. It's not unpleasant, and Vienna remains genuine throughout, but while I applaud her for venturing out in a new direction, and for trying to be something other than a stripped-down, piano-dominant singer-songwriter, I do miss the more natural, organic sound found on what I still think is her finest album, Dreaming Through the Noise.

But Aims is still a wonderful album, and it's such a pleasure to have some new music from her, not least because it's been four years since her last album, Inland Territory. "I think overall I had this strong sense that I wanted to write joyful music," she told Bialas. "And I think that's part of why I knew it would take me a long time because I instinctively write sort of depressed, melancholy music."

That's true, but it's always very beautiful music as well. Here, from Aims, are "Level Up" (live at the Highline Ballroom in New York City, on October 4) and "Landsailor" (live at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on July 14), two of the album's best songs. Enjoy!

P.M. Headlines

(New York Times): "No morsel too minuscule for all-consuming N.S.A."

(Politico): "Virginia blame game begins"

(Yahoo! News): "Snowden wants to help German probe, testify in US"

(CNN): "White House defends Obamacare rule that forces new insurance"

(The Hill): "Obamacare site to go dark for repairs"

Behind the Ad: Ken (Cuccinelli) and Rick (Santorum)

By Richard K. Barry

Who: The Virginia Democratic Party

Where: Virginia

What's going on: With Election Day just four days away to decide the next governor of Virginia, the ad connects Santorum's extreme views and his support for GOP candidate Cuccinelli in order to score points with less crazy voters.

Politico:

The ad juxtaposes a clip of Santorum talking about banning abortion in the case of rape — “we have to make the best out of a bad situation” — to a quote from Cuccinelli about the consequences of not banning abortion, when he says “God does judge nations, who knows what the future holds."

Politico also points out that in the closing days of the campaign, Santorum is just one of a handful of national Republican figures stepping in to help Cuccinelli, who is trailing Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the polls. Others include Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and former Rep. Ron Paul,  all of whom will campaign with Cooch between now and Election Day.

Polls can be wrong, but it does look like McAuliffe is in good shape. It's unfortunate this one is about the less bad choice.

On the Hustings

(New York Times): "Republican campaign committee pushes back against conservative group"

(Reuters): "Obamacare woes frustrating Democrats' 2014 prospects"

(Chris Cillizza): Is Chris Christie the Republicans’ Bill Clinton?"

(Roll Call): "Obama hits the road next week for delayed DSCC fundraisers"

(TPM): "McDaniel now says he only attended one neo-Confederate event"

What a surprise

By Mustang Bobby

Charlie Crist is officially running for governor of Florida.

The worst-kept secret in politics was confirmed Friday afternoon when the Republican Party of Florida spotted Crist’s official filing with the state Division of Elections.
The former Republican governor-turned Democrat plans a formal announcement at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Petersburg’s Albert Whitted Park, 480 Bayshore Dr. SE, but the state GOP beat him to the punch.

“Gov. Crist looks forward to discussing his priorities for moving Florida forward on Monday morning,” said Steve Schale, a spokesman for Crist who led President Barack Obama’s successful 2008 Florida campaign.

Republicans managed to diminish whatever drama Crist hoped to preside over in his hometown Monday, but it was hardly a secret that Crist was preparing to run against Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Crist has been courting top Democratic fundraisers from across the state and country in recent months, has launched a new website, and lately is often accompanied by top Democratic strategist Schale. The sleuths at the Florida Republican Party this week also found a “CHARLIE CRIST FOR GOVERNOR — 2014” logo online.

Read more »

A.M. Headlines

(Boston Globe): "Boston’s World Series parade is the biggest party in the country"

(TPM): "Peter King: Cruz was leading us into 'valley of death'"

(Bloomberg): Senator Paul predicts Yellen to win confirmation to Fed"

(USA Today): "Obama tilts federal judiciary back toward Democrats"

(Associated Press): "Pakistani Taliban confirm leader killed by drone"

P.M. Headlines

(CBS News): "LAX shooting kills TSA officer, wounds others"

(CNN): "Sources: Pakistani Taliban leader killed in drone strike"

(New York Times): "Snowden appeals to U.S. for clemency"

(Wall Street Journal): "Poll: growing number of Republicans dislike GOP"

(The Hill): "Court strikes down mandate for birth control in Obamacare"

Why has the Democratic Party abandoned Barbara Buono?

By Frank Moraes

I just saw a segment on All In talking about why it is that the Democratic Party hasn't gotten behind Barbara Buono for governor of New Jersey. Steve Kornacki was guest hosting and he was on with E J Dionne. I admire both of those men and usually agree with them. But I thought they both demonstrated the problem. Democrats just don't seem to give a shit. They are so used to dealing not just with extreme Republicans, but politically clueless Republicans. Chris Christie is an extremist but he is anything but clueless. Most Democrats mistake this for being reasonable.

Both Kornacki and Dionne talked about how the Obama administration didn't want to attack Christie because they were grateful to him for the nice things he said during Hurricane Sandy. There are a couple things they're missing. First, Obama was leading Romney during the entire general election. I believe the nadir of his campaign was when he had a two-thirds chance of winning and Romney had a one-third chance. That was the worstthat Obama ever did. By the time of Sandy, he was doing far far better—he was almost certain to win.

Read more »

On the Hustings

(Wall Street Journal): "As New Jersey's Christie campaigns, a 2016 strategy emerges"

(The Hill): "Gay marriage decision hurts New Jersey Gov. Christie with conservatives"

(New York Times): "Troubled start for health law has Democrats feeling anxious"

(Public Policy Polling): "Franken, Dayton lead by double digits"

(Roll Call): ""Can these 2016 prospects seek higher office and re-election?"

Voting on ENDA

By Mustang Bobby

According to Greg Sargent, the Senate is one vote short of having a filibuster-proof majority to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which will prevent people from being fired for being LGBT.

Can it secure the 60 votes it needs to break a GOP filibuster? Right now, one of the last remaining obstacles to passage may be an argument over “religious liberty.”

Here’s the situation. ENDA has 59 votes right now — the 55 Dems (including Cory Booker), Republicans Susan Collins and Mark Kirk, who co-sponsored the bill, and Orrin Hatch and Lisa Murkowski, who voted for it in committee. Gay rights advocates and Dems — led by Jeff Merkley — are aggressively lobbying four more Republicans: Rob Portman, Kelly Ayotte, Dean Heller, and Pat Toomey.

Conversations are ongoing with all of them, though Portman seems to be the most engaged, a source familiar with discussions says. If Portman comes on board, it’s possible or even likely (though hardly certain) that the remaining three Republicans will come along too — and proponents are hoping to get well over 60 votes, possibly as high as 65.

Here’s where “religious liberty” comes in. One of the last concerns Portman has is ENDA’s “religious liberty” protections. The bill has an exemption for religious organizations, but employers cannot cite religious reasons for hiring decisions. Portman told the Ohio press he’s still struggling with this piece of the puzzle.

With all due respect to those who have religious liberty issues about hiring people whose existence offends their faith and practice, it seems that they’re not all that concerned about the religious liberties of those of us whose faith and practice finds theirs offensive.

Explain to me how and why someone’s sexual orientation is relevant to the best practices of running a business.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Ted Cruz: Half the package, on a good day

By Richard K. Barry

Democratic Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid is saying that if Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wins the Republican nomination for president, it would destroy the GOP. He made the remarks on the Rachel Maddow Show on Wednesday night.

“If I didn't care so much about our country, I would hope he will get the Republican nomination for president, because that would be the end of the Republican Party,” Reid said.

“Ted Cruz, he`s someone else.”

I frankly don't think Cruz will be a credible candidate for the nomination, though he is certainly taking a hard look at the Republican presidential race in 2016. He's been in  Iowa, and will be going to South Carolina, another early voting state.

Everyone talks about how bright Mr. Cruz is, and that may be true. Perhaps he saw how far Sarah Palin has come using Tea Party rhetoric though with her serious intellectual limitations. With his Princeton and Harvard background, he must think that he can surely do better. 

Cruz is forgetting that in politics it is also useful to have a personality. And though Palin seems only to have personality and Cruz only a brain, the former governor of Alaska probably has the leg up. 

If only they could find a way to become one person. 

A.M. Headlines

(Fox News): "Deep cuts to country's food stamp program kick in as Congress debates more"

(Voice of America): "Kerry: U.S. surveillance went 'too far'"

(New York Times): "Troubled start for health law has Democrats feeling anxious"

(The Hill): "Nine Dems propose mandate delay"

(TPM): "Book: Jon Huntsman Sr. told Reid that Romney didn't pay any taxes for 10 years"

P.M. Headlines

(USA Today): "Reid says he will try again to push Watt nomination"

(TPM): "CHART: 'Winners and losers from Obamacare'"

(First Read): "First Thoughts: Public places a curse on all of Washington"

(Norm Ornstein): "The right to vote"

(New York Times): "Snowden’s lawyer says he has a new job in Russia"

If you lost your insurance because of Obamacare...

By Carl

Blame your insurer for selling you crappy insurance:

The controversy mainly surrounds the minority of Americans who shop individually for insurance – not for people insured through an employer-based plan or a government program such as Medicare.

The White House has said that, technically, the law allows insurance plans that individuals had in 2009 to be grandfathered in under the law, whether or not their coverage meets ACA conditions.

In practice, though, it’s common for insurance companies to change their policies frequently. Once they change, the policies need to comply with ACA standards of acceptable coverage.

So, as Obama argued, many Americans will now be offered stronger insurance coverage. And in a shift from prior law, a policy can’t be denied or jacked up in price based on an individual’s health.

Read more »

GOP still has no healthcare ideas

By Frank Moraes

Jonathan Chait makes a good point today, The Republican Health-Care Plan: Repeal and Cackle. He quite rightly notes that while the Republicans having much fun with their faux outrage about the Obamacare exchanges and the fact that some people are going to have to give up their terrible insurance plans for something that will work, their own healthcare reform ideas are far less popular.

Republicans, of course, do have healthcare reform ideas. I went over them in some detail recently. Pretty much all of them are things that they want to do anyway. Big on the list is always tort "reform," which is just another way of setting up the law so individuals can't get justice when the rich and powerful harm them. But Chait is right to focus on their really big idea of providing tax credit for people to buy health insurance while making employers pay taxes on the health insurance they provide to employees.

This would have the effect of throwing huge numbers of people off employer plans and onto the terrible private insurance system that we used to have (and still do to a large extent). He writes:

The single most salient fact about Obamacare to conservatives is that it is unpopular. This is true. What conservatives have never fully acknowledged is that its lack of popularity reflects not a broad agreement with the right's ideological critique but a deep aversion to change.

Read more »

On the Hustings

(New York Times): "Voters’ anger over shutdown is inspiring Democrats to run"

(Wall Street Journal): "More voters turn on Obama"

(Quinnipiac University): "De Blasio still has huge lead in mayor's race"

(Rasmussen Reports): "Virginia Governor: McAuliffe (D) 43%, Cuccinelli (R) 36%, Sarvis (L) 12%"

(National Journal): "John Boehner: Coming soon to a TV near you?"

Aloha!

By Mustang Bobby

Via ThinkProgress:

Wednesday evening, the Hawaii Senate passed marriage equality by a remarkable 20-4 vote as part of a special session convened primarily for that purpose. The House will begin consideration of the bill in committee Thursday morning, and it is expected to pass the full chamber with at least one vote to spare. Hawaii would become the 15th state to recognize same-sex marriage.

You might remember that the first inklings of same-sex marriage in the United States being a possibility began over twenty years ago with a case in Hawaii.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

A.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "Obama blames ‘bad apple insurers’ for canceled insurance plans"

(Chuck Todd): "Chuck Todd: White House in a "bunker mentality" over Obamacare"

(New York Times): "Syria is said to destroy all chemical arms production sites"

(BBC): "Snowden leaks: NSA chief denies illegal server access"

(Boston Globe): "Red Sox cap season with World Series title"

P.M. Headlines

(USA Today): "Report: NSA muscles in on Google, Yahoo data"

(New York Times): "Behind roar of politics, whispers of race persist"

(NBC Politics): "Obama says health care website will 'get fixed ASAP'"

(National Journal): "Why Obama won't fire Sebelius"

(Boston Globe): "Obama taps 2 campaign supporters to be ambassadors"

The official end to Ted Cruz's presidential aspirations

By carl

Beating up on Trayvon Martin’s mom:

During a Senate hearing on "stand your ground" laws and public safety, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tried to dismiss claims that such laws had racial implications. Because many black people are victims of violent crime and need to defend themselves, Cruz said, "the notion that 'stand your ground' laws are some form of veiled racism may be a convenient political attack, but it is not borne out by the fact remotely." The chair of the subcommittee, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, offered a quick and biting rebuttal. Sitting in front of the two was Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother.

The hearing stemmed from the 2012 shooting of Martin, the Florida teenager shot to death while walking back from the convenience store after being confronted by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. That case prompted new consideration of the type of self-defense law that, at first, allowed Zimmerman to go free without criminal charges.

[…]Speaking directly to Martin's mother, Cruz suggested that the family was "simply the mourning the loss of your son," while "other players" sought "to do a great deal more based on what happened that Florida night." But Sybrina Fulton was not there simply to mourn the loss of her son.

Read more »

Silly things morning show hosts ask politicians: Survey says...

By Richard K. Barry

Is there anyone with even a passing acquaintance with American politics who is unaware that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is going to make a run at the presidency in 2016? Yet, for some reason, it was a story yesterday that Christie refused to commit to serving another full term after he is re-elected (and he will be re-elected).

Christie was on "Good Morning America" on the first anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, but the topic of conversation also included Christie's potential 2016 presidential run -- a campaign that, were he to win, would require him to step down with a year left in his term. "I'm committed to being the best governor New Jersey can have for as long as I can possibly do it," Christie said.

He went on to say the kind of thing elected officials in his position always say, which is, "But, you know, George, neither one of us have a crystal ball and know what's going to happen in the future."

I'll do this job as long and as aggressively as I possibly can, and my current intention is to spend four years, but we'll see what happens, George, you never know what life's gonna bring you.

For those who don't know, Christie's comments are on page 432 of the media relations handbook under the heading: "Shit Politicians Say When They Have No Intention of Serving a Full Term."

Remember that scene in Bull Durham in which Crash Davis teaches "Nuke" LaLoosh how to do media interviews in the major league? Same book. 

On the Hustings

(Tampa Bay Times): "Alex Sink is running for C.W. Bill Young's congressional seat, will move to Pinellas"

(Politico): "Mike Enzi says VP Dick Cheney telling fish tales"

(National Journal): "Why 2014 is do-or-die for the GOP"

(The Hill): "New Jersey voters split on Christie as president"

(Roll Call): "Chamber of Commerce battles Tea Party in Alabama special election"

In the sewer that is Washington, D.C.

By Richard K. Barry

Stay classy, Tom.

At the risk of sounding prudish, it amazes me that things in Washington have become so bad that respected publications and websites have been forced to use two full dashes to make printable nasty things our politicians are calling each other. In this case it was Republican Sen. Tom Coburn who called Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid an "absolute a--hole." Apparently there are gradations in being an a--hole and Harry Reid is very good at it. 

In truth, though I identify with Reid's party, I get the sense he is very good at it. 

As for Reid's side, there is this. 

“Nothing says ‘comity’ like childish playground name-calling, especially from a senator who has not sponsored a single piece of successful bipartisan legislation during his entire Senate career,” said Adam Jentleson, a spokesperson for Reid.

Yeah, that'll lower the temperature. 

I have no doubt that Republicans bear all the blame for an obstructionist agenda intended to make it impossible for President Obama to accomplish anything. Put another way, Republican know Washington doesn't work because they broke it.

Still, when it comes to the necessary work and relationships required to govern our Republic, we are good and truly f----ed.

A.M. Headlines

(New York Times): "Spying known at top levels, officials say"

(CNN): "First on CNN: Obama administration warned about health care website"

(Roll Call): "Judicial wars: Senate readies the next main event"

(MSNBC): "Rubio to GOP: Don’t pass my immigration bill!"

(Reuters): "Fragile Spanish economy limps out of recession"

P.M. Headlines

(CNN Politics): "NSA chief: Reports U.S. collected calls, e-mails from allies 'completely false'"

(Christian Science Monitor): "Oklahoma abortion ruling sets stage for US Supreme Court to step in"

(Dana Milbank): "What did President Obama know and when did he know it?"

(Roll Call): "Democrats introduce bill to end debt limit brinkmanship"

(The Hill): "Carney denies people misled on keeping healthcare coverage"

Not wrong, yet not right

By Carl

Atmospheric scientists have a really tough job: predicting weather. This year, 2013, has seen a hurricane season that lived up to predictions, and yet, did not:

In August of 2011, Tropical Storm Irene became the worst storm to hit New York since 1972. A year later, Hurricane Sandy made Irene look like a drizzle, and Governor Andrew Cuomo referred to the danger posed by the massive storms as the "new normal." So it was hardly comforting for New York, still largely unprepared for another Sandy, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted in May that there was a 70 percent chance this year's hurricane season would be more active than normal, with three to six major (category three or higher) storms.

Then ... nothing happened. With the season winding down, there have been twelve named storms, two hurricanes, and not a single major hurricane to date. On the surface, it seems kind of embarrassing. But one of the lead scientists behind the NOAA forecast says that it is just proof that you shouldn't pay attention to hurricane projections anyway.

[…]Consequently, while the number of storms predicted was on target, "They just didn’t find an environment that was conducive to go on and become strong," Franklin says. "So we had lots of weak systems that didn't last very long."

What may have happened, scientists speculate, is a phenomenon called “sinking air”.

When air rises, it carries moisture from the surface, especially the ocean, to upper levels of the atmosphere. This creates instability and instability breeds thunderstorms and thunderstorms seed hurricanes.

When the opposite happens, when air sinks, it brings drier air down, and basically soaks up any thunderstorms. They’ll still form but they get short-circuited.

This is important because of the human propensity to a short attention span.

It’s one year since Superstorm Sandy hit New York City, and we’re still digging out. We can take preventative steps, but there’s nothing like being prepared.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

Spare us the drama

By Mustang Bobby

Josh Marshall on the pearl-clutching over spying on foreign leaders:

Churning through countless domestic phone calls is one thing – that has very real constitutional implications. It may be a similar thing with doing that in Spain or other countries in Europe and the Middle East, though the constitutional questions are very different. But please, please spare me the shock and surprise that the US spies on foreign leaders, even allies, even close allies. These countries spy on our leaders too. The only real exception is within the special club of the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where, for a variety of historical reasons, a pretty different set of rules and integration apply.

Now, as a domestic political matter, I totally understand why these European leaders are freaked. It’s a big problem for them domestically when it’s laid out so baldly in front of everyone. Beyond national security issues, this will likely take a real economic toll on the US. So I’m not surprised at the reaction. I don’t begrudge it. But the tenor of the reporting in the US is frankly bizarre, either totally tendentious or wildly naive.

Not only that, five will get you ten that those countries do their level best to spy on us and wouldn’t miss a chance to tap the phone in the Oval Office or even hack the Twitter account of President Obama.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

On the Hustings

(Politico): "Battle lines for 2014 midterms are drawn"

(Washington Post): "McAuliffe opens up double-digit lead over Cuccinelli in Virginia governor’s race"

(First Read): "Why Virginia matters"

(WPRI): "Clay Pell confirms he may run for RI governor"

(Washington Examiner): "RNC changes spending strategy to focus on early grassroots"

Euphemisms and the grand bargain hunt

By Frank Moraes

Last week, Joshua Green wrote, Obama's Top Economic Adviser Tells Democrats They'll Have to Swallow Entitlement Cuts. He went to a Q&A session with Gene Sperling and concluded that the administration is trying to soften up the liberal base for a deal that offers entitlement cuts in exchange for Sequester cuts—no new revenue at all. There are a couple of things wrong with this.

The big thing wrong with this is that I don't know any liberals who are actually in favor of the Grand Bargain. Maybe at one time, it wasn't such a bad idea. But now the deal has been reduced to limiting loopholes in exchange for decreasing entitlement spending. We all know that the loopholes will quickly come back while the entitlement cuts will go on and on. So regardless of what proponents say, it is a short term tax increase in exchange for long term spending cuts. That's a bad deal for liberals!

Now Green is pushing the idea that the White House is going to take long term entitlement cuts for nothing—or maybe a couple of years of Sequester cuts. Even I don't think that the administration is that clueless. Instead, what seems to be happening is that Green is reading the tea leaves wrongly. I don't know much about him, but I assume that he's a typical upper middle class Washington reporter who really wishes to see entitlement cuts. You know what they say: wish in one hand...

Read more »

A.M. Headlines

(CBS News): "What we did (and didn't) learn from Sandy"

(New York Times): "Ohio Governor defies G.O.P. with defense of social safety net"

(Roll Call): "The incredible shrinking budget talks"

(Reuters): "German paper says Obama aware of spying on Merkel since 2010"

(Real Clear Politics): "Sen. Graham vows to block appointments over Benghazi"

R.I.P. Lou Reed (1942-2013): "Like a Possum"

By Marc McDonald


Today, the tributes are pouring in for the great Lou Reed, who passed away on Sunday. Loads of musicians are coming out of the woodwork, declaring their love for Reed and claiming what a wonderful influence he was on their music.

You know, it's a shame that more people didn't love Reed when he was still around. After all, his brilliant albums with America's greatest band, The Velvet Underground, were all commercial duds. The Velvets certainly weren't ever played on the radio -- at least in America.

And Reed's four-decade solo career hardly did much better. In half a century, The Great American Record-Buying Public only put one of Reed's songs into the Top 40 charts (1973's "Walk on the Wild Side"). And even that song had to be tampered with in order to be played on the radio.

But selling lots of records was never one of Reed's priorities. Instead, he followed his muse, wherever it took him.

Sometimes, Reed's muse took him into strange and deeply uncommercial waters (such as Metal Machine Music, his notorious 1975 double album: a record that consisted of an hour of paint-peeling, ear-piercing guitar feedback.

Reed always kept his music honest and real. He refused to compromise, or tone down his lyrics. And, of course, musicians like that rarely sell loads of records.

No, instead, it is always the mediocrities who get rewarded in America's corporate record industry. As a result, it's dogshit like Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga that receive the Grammy awards and the platinum records.

Read more »

P.M. Headlines

(Texas Tribune): "Court rules abortion restriction unconstitutional"

(CBS This Morning): "Policy cancellations, higher premiums add to frustration over Obamacare"

(ABC News): "Poll finds vast gaps in basic views on gender, race, religion and politics"

(CNN): "How many times has Dick Cheney cheated death?"

(Reuters): "Michigan governor defends Detroit bankruptcy filing approval"

If this doesn't persuade you we need immigration reform STAT, nothing will

By Carl

We hear an awful lot – too much, in my book – about the shiftless, lazy welfare-grubbing, taxpayer mooching undocumented workers flooding our nation, and overwhelming our social services.

And then there’s this guy, who I believe is far more representative of the average immigrant who comes to this nation:

They are busboys, dishwashers, construction workers. They are on their feet at enervating jobs all day and often all night. Many do not have health insurance. Most find it difficult to afford the increasingly hefty fees New York Road Runners charges for its races, especially the marathon, which now costs at least $227. 

For [Julio] Sauce, that is half a week’s paycheck.

Sauce finishes first in his age group, 40-49, regularly, despite working ten hours a day as a cook. Recently, he worked from 2:30PM to 12:30AM on a Saturday evening, and grabbed three hours’s sleep before winning a half-marathon in Central Park, a good hour’s ride from his home on Coney Island. Chew on that for a bit: he works 60 and 70 hour weeks (we presume he’s not bound by union regulations) and still manages to find time to train to win races in one of the most athletic and competitive cities on the planet. 

Read more »

LA Times stands up for reason

By Frank Moraes

I learned from The Young Turks this evening that theLos Angeles Times will no longer be publishing letters from climate change deniers. My already high opinion of that paper just went up even further. 

Let me explain this from my perspective. My PhD is more or less in global warming. That is what all the physics and chemistry that we did went to understanding. So even though I no longer do the work, I understand it really well. What's more, when I did work in the field, I was highly skeptical. I tend to be a believer in the Gaia hypothesis and it seemed very strange to me that the earth's climate system could be so easily disrupted.

But that's a whole different kind of skeptic than we find today. For one thing, the science wasn't nearly as nailed down 20 years ago. We were looking for additions to the science, not holes in it. In particular, we were looking for negative feedback loops. Today, even the most serious skeptics are little more than charlatans. Those who even pretend to be doing science cherry pick data to make their cases. In other words, they aren't doing anything like science. Science does not work this way: get an idea; ignore all data that contradicts idea; idea is right!

Read more »

On the Hustings

(The Hill): "Pelosi hints she might endorse Clinton"

(New York Times): "De Blasio in position to win mayor’s race by historic margin, poll shows"

(NY1): De Blasio, Lhota want final debate, scheduled for anniversary of Sandy, postponed'

(Politico): "Terry McAuliffe’s big test: Turn out black voters"

(Roll Call): "House Democrats promote 3 recruits"

What goes around

By Mustang Bobby

The Republicans enabled and encouraged the Tea Party in their efforts to demonize and destroy Democrats and Barack Obama. And now it’s coming after some of them as well. Steve Coll inThe New Yorker:

The Tea Party’s anti-intellectualism reflects a longer, deeper decline in the Republican Party’s ability to tolerate a diversity of ideas and public-policy strategies, and to adapt to American multiculturalism. Mitt Romney’s poor showing among Latino voters in 2012 helped insure Barack Obama’s reëlection. Republican leaders, chastened and without any other obvious way to increase their vote base before 2016, pledged earlier this year to revive a comprehensive immigration-reform bill. Yet party leaders, in part because they have been tied down since July by the debt confrontation, haven’t found a way to move legislation past the nativist caucus in the House.

Read more »

A.M. Headlines

(The Telegraph): "Barack Obama 'approved tapping Angela Merkel's phone 3 years ago'"

(Joe Klein): "Sanity on Obamacare"

(60 Minutes): "Benghazi"

(Huffington Post): "After government shutdown, few discussing budget solutions"

(The Atlantic): "Our fear of Al-Qaeda hurts us more than Al-Qaeda does"

P.M. Headlines

(Los Angeles Times): "Some health insurance gets pricier as Obamacare rolls out"

(NBC News): "Healthcare.gov will work smoothly by end of November, government pledges"

(The Hill): "Obama: GOP 'rooting' for Obamacare failure"

(ABC News): "Clinton: Ideologues Reliable GOP Voters"

(Rolling Stone): "Lou Reed, Velvet Underground leader and rock pioneer, dead at 71"

Behind the Ad: Shaq endorses Chris Christie

By Richard K. Barry

Who: The Chris Christie campaign for governor

Where: New Jersey

What's going on: Well, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is going to win re-election. That's what's going on. And retired basketball great Shaquille O'Neal is appearing in a new ad endorsing him. 

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon. Not much to discuss. So here. Watch and listen to what Shaq has to say. I know it swayed my opinion.

On the Hustings

(The Hill): "DNC chief: Democrats can run and win on Obamacare in 2014"

(Roll Call): "Wealthy Republican candidates seek House"

(Real Clear Politics): "Latest election 2013 polls"

(Roll Call): "John Boehner gets Democratic challenger"

(The Hill): "Cheney: Enzi lied about our relationship"

A.M. Headlines

(Reuters): "United States tracked Merkel's phone since 2002: report"

(The Hill): "Cruz calls for 'grassroots army' to trample Obamacare"

(Politico): "HHS gives update on exchange data"

(New York Times): "In Fed and out, many now think inflation helps"

(USA Today): "Syria meets crucial deadline for chemical weapons plan"