Reading A Beloved Book To Your Child As You Demonize the Author

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Tuesday May 08, 2012 · 9:09 AM PDT

2012/05/08 · 09:09

On the day that North Carolina votes on Amendment One, Maurice Sendak's obituary notes in passing that he was gay.

The AEI "Overpaid Teachers" Paper

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Tuesday November 01, 2011 · 2:27 PM PDT

2011/11/01 · 14:27

According to the AEI paper, teachers "make total compensation 52 percent greater than fair market levels, equivalent to more than $120 billion overcharged to taxpayers each year."

Starting salaries for a teacher in California should be $17,164/year, or about $12/hour. The average hourly wage for a janitor with 1-4 years in experience is between $7.26 and $14.10.

And how did they arrive at the "52% overpaid number"? They arrive at this number in no small part by calling summer months off "paid vacation". I don't find this convincing. Many teachers spend their "paid vacation" during the summer doing various jobs to supplement their income. By their logic, If I work 4 jobs every year, each one lasting for 3 months, then I would have 36 months of "paid vacation" in 2011, and I would be 300% "overpaid" relative to someone who works just one job that pays the same hourly wage.

A Meme to Annoy Fox News With

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Wednesday May 04, 2011 · 12:09 PM PDT

2011/05/04 · 12:09

Because I'm in a weird mood and because some things should be asked:

After Obama and the Democratic congress revoke DADT to allow gays to serve in the military, Osama bin Laden was caught and killed[1]. Coincidence?

Now I'm not saying that allowing gays to serve, some of whom having skills in critical shortage such as fluency in Arabic, might come in handy if you want to like, say, tap the phoneline of Bin Laden's courier when he's ordering coke and takeouts over at Abottabad[2] or that having a competent pilot flying missions (this one, instead of this one) was indeed the neccessary ingredient in getting Bin Laden, but it would be irresponsible to not speculate, right?

[1] technically, killed then caught, but horseshoes, grenades and all that.
[2] technically, you don't have to understand what they're saying to tap their phones, but it does help with the whole reason why you're tapping their phones to begin with

Luke Skywalker Hoists White Flag of Surrender to the Empire

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Monday February 07, 2011 · 10:44 AM PST

2011/02/07 · 10:44

[FAR, FAR AWAY GALACTIC NEWS NETWORK]: Luke Skywalker's visit to the to-be-constructed Death Star at the invitation of Emperor Palpatine was seen as an act of betrayal by many of his progressive Rebels.

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Thursday February 03, 2011 · 11:03 AM PST

2011/02/03 · 11:03

I would like to add some additional color to the recommended diary. This is not to dispute the concerns raised by the diarist, but just some additional comments and observations.

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Wednesday January 27, 2010 · 5:10 AM PST

2010/01/27 · 05:10

I just had this ridiculous idea.

Remember when Rep Pete Olsone (R-Texas) introduced Res. 809 after that goofy ACORN video?

Honoring the fact-finding reporting done by Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III in their investigation in the fraudulent and illegal practices and misuse of taxpayer dollars by the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN).

A resolution, that in turn, garnered 31 other GOP co-sponsors (including OH's own wingnut Jean Schmidt).

I say we give them a day to grandstand. Let's put this up to a vote and let them publicly commend someone who just got caught trying to wiretap a sitting US senator.

"Eliminate Banking Regulation in Canada!"- Libertarian Party Platform

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Sunday April 12, 2009 · 4:07 PM PDT

2009/04/12 · 16:07

The statement of objectives for the Libertarian Party of Canada, since 1993:

We propose elimination of the Bank of Canada and the termination of government power to issue or regulate currency or credit. We support the continued freedom of any individual or group to own gold or any other commodity of exchange, as well as the right to produce coinage and issue currency.

Because these banking regulations really undermined the Canadian economy:

This research found that this confidence from three main sources: Our banks' prudent approach to lending and investments; better management of Canadian banks when compared to banks internationally, and government regulation of the banking sector.

GOP to Oppose Stimulus During Potato Famine

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Monday February 16, 2009 · 7:26 PM PST

2009/02/16 · 19:26

LONDON, 1845 [EAP] Conservatives have come out against the stimulus package aimed at reducing the number of people starving to death as the result of the ongoing Irish potato famine.

"This is unacceptable" said Lord Grover Norquist: "All we're doing is subverting the free market process. These people should be allowed to starve to death so they can learn how not to starve to death next time."

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Thursday November 20, 2008 · 4:19 PM PST

2008/11/20 · 16:19

I was talking to my friend about how Focus On Family was forced to lay off a significant number of their staff after the spend a large amount of money pushing Prop 8, and it occured to me, what if something like this happens every year so that they basically bankrupt themselves.

Now I don't propose to have propositions that actually make a difference, but how about a propostion next year that would make December 17th the official "Cider House Rules Day". It's just innocuous enough that regular voters don't care about it one way or the other, but is enough of a dog whistle to Social Conservatives that they can't help but spend millions of dollars, even to the point of bankrupting themselves, on ad campaigns and such.

And the added benefit? Extra income for us Californians!

My Crazy Debate Idea Redux

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Wednesday September 24, 2008 · 8:18 PM PDT

2008/09/24 · 20:18

3 months ago, I posted a diary here facetiously wondering how funny would it be if Obama had a debate with an "actual conservative", and then chose to debate against Bob Barr and snubs McCain.

Who knew John McCain reads my diary?

I say Obama should just go ahead and have the debate, but still snub John McCain. Carry on the debate with Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party, give enough visibility to Barr so that he can peel off even more conservative voters from John McCain.

I know it's kind of dick-ish and unrealistic. But it still cracks me up.

My Crazy TownHall Debate Idea

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Monday June 09, 2008 · 9:46 PM PDT

2008/06/09 · 21:46

Okay, this is probably a little bit dick-ish at some level and is about as realistic as me being the President of Antarctica, but I just had goofy thought.

Wouldn't it be great, if, in response to John McCain's demand to a townhall debate, Barack Obama sets one up... between him and Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party, while freezing out the GOP?

You know, Bob Barr, the ex-GOP representative, the one who was so disgusted with the GOP that he left the Party?

Think of the putdown value: you can bill this as a debate between a "True(tm)liberal and a True(tm) conservative". And you can honestly call it as such: it seems entirely feasible that either candidate would concede points on the margin-whether this relatively unimportant activity calls for more government or less, instead of the "OMG where's your lapel pin?!" nonsense.

Of course, a debate between the two will not obscure the fact that True(tm) conservatives and True(tm) liberals will call dumb war for what it is, as well as its enabler. It's a win-win situation for both the Libertarian Party and the Democratic Party, both coincidentally at the expense of the GOP.

The imagery of the GOP looking bad trying to smear the Libertarian Party as being insufficiently conservative fills me with premium grade schadenfreude

Rupert Murdoch's Daughter Raised $400K... For Obama

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Friday May 30, 2008 · 12:32 AM PDT

2008/05/30 · 00:32

You might have heard the blurb about how Rupert Murdoch a) influenced the NY Post to endorse Barack Obama and b) predicts a landslide victory for Obama:

The tide is against the Republicans, and Obama could overcome the race issue. McCain, Murdoch said, is a friend, patriot, and decent guy, though he conceded also that he is unpredictable, has spent too much time in Washington, and is not great on the economy (which he said is in a recession) or organizationally adept.

What you might not have heard is that Elizabeth Murdoch held a fundraiser at her home that netted $400K for Obama two weeks ago:

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Reading A Beloved Book To Your Child As You Demonize the Author

The AEI "Overpaid Teachers" Paper

A Meme to Annoy Fox News With

Luke Skywalker Hoists White Flag of Surrender to the Empire

I Was at the National Prayer Breakfast... As a Non-Believer

GOP's Resolution Honoring ACORN Pimp? Let's Vote On That!

"Eliminate Banking Regulation in Canada!"- Libertarian Party Platform

GOP to Oppose Stimulus During Potato Famine

My Nefarious Plan to Bleed Social Conservatives Dry

My Crazy Debate Idea Redux

My Crazy TownHall Debate Idea

Rupert Murdoch's Daughter Raised $400K... For Obama