The situation with the state employees pensions in Wisconsin and other states is deplorable. What’s really terrifying is how poorly people seem to understood the basics of what’s going on, why it matters, and why the proposed solutions have absolutely nothing to do with reality.…
I’m a fan of honesty and openness. It’s simpler and much less stressful to only have to remember a single narrative or persona, no matter who I’m talking to. I also no longer believe in long term online secrecy. Once you post a picture, a…
It appears that the oil market has finally noticed the “instability” in the middle east. Friedman had a brilliantly clear editorial yesterday that I want to excerpt wholesale. Instead of that, you should go read it. I’ll just share his closing paragraph: Seeing the Arab…
Elected officials at the national and state levels are finally dealing with unbalanced budgets. This is, on the whole, a good thing. However, they’re doing it wrong – and making a mess at the same time. Here’s how to do it right, simply, without all…
Taking a break from the heavy, political stuff for an evening. I’m on the road today, staying at my favorite Bed and Breakfast in Baltimore. It’s so comfortable and nice that I just want to talk about hospitality for a bit. Generally, I’m a Marriott…
A large slice of the middle east appears to have decided that they are going to rule themselves. At the very least, large and predominantly peaceful crowds seem to be overturning decades long dictatorships in more countries than I can keep track of on one…
A recent post, on The Pain, When Will It End said this: I’m also fascinated by, and admire, the relationship between the Egyptian people and its army—the passionate respect of the people for its army, the loyalty of the army to the people–so unlike our…
A thought kept cropping up today, so I figured I would share: GO USA. I’m not being at all cynical or snide here. This is some real, fundamental, patriotism. Perhaps context is in order: Last night I got on the radio and just TALKED. I…
I was on the radio show again tonight, and we spent some time talking about same sex marriage. This is an issue on the legislative docket in Rhode Island right now, and it’s been the topic of a few shows. First off, one might wonder…
After yesterday’s post, there was some good discussion in a couple of different fora. Some of the more interesting observations came off of the afterthoughts. I said: I think that there are some things that are too important to society to have them serve as…