Diggapedia

  If I support abortion, I am labeled a murder.   If I support meritocracy, I am labeled anti-union.   If I criticize the Israeli government, I am labeled anti-Semitic.   If I disagree with Richard Sherman’s post-game actions, I am labeled a racist. If I question our leaders, I am labeled unpatriotic.   If I say the Estate Tax is unfair, I am labeled the 1%.   If I am thankful for the ACLU, I am labeled a bleeding heart liberal.   When I call for banking regulation, I am labeled an anti-capitalist.   When I call for less regulation, I am labeled a free market fascist.   When I call for safe regulated fracking, I am labeled both a tree hugger and an oil and gas stooge. Have an opinion and get a label.   Labels are easy because it enables people to put others in nice pre-described buckets. And when you think for yourself, deny the premise of the party line talking point, and offer a new opinion, be prepared to be criticized. ...

  Twenty Questions for a Tuesday If climate change isn’t the biggest threat to the earth, where are the dinosaurs? If creationists are right, why is man still here but not the dinosaurs? Why are conservatives so worried about leaving their children and grandchildren saddled with debt, but not worried about leaving them with an uninhabitable planet? Why do Creationists love Christian Mingle, but hate Carbon Dating? When did all-star games become shitty exhibitions instead of contested games? Who has had a worse Winter Olympics: Ralph Lauren or Under Armor? How can President Obama be both a dictator as Paul Ryan says and spineless as Oliver Stone claims? In the age of streaming, On-Demand, and DVR’s, are the Nielsen Ratings still relevant? Have MSNBC, CNN, and Fox in the race for ratings hastened the end of cable ‘news’? Couldn’t Edward Snowden have blown the whistle on the most heinous civil liberty challenging NSA practices without disclosing crit...

  Weekend Musings from a Restless Mind States resisting Medicaid expansion is just the latest chapter of “stopping federal government taking over”.   Many private hospitals refused to submit to integration in the 1960’s.   Baptist Hospital of New Orleans, later known as Memorial Medical Center (yes the site of Five Days at Memorial ) issued this statement in 1966 “It is our conviction that we can serve all of the people better if we remain free of government entanglements that would dictate the terms and conditions under which this hospital shall be operated.”   Yes because the federal government mandating equality is a bad thing. Privatizing the United States Postal Services is not a new Republican scam.   It’s been in the works for years.   The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 mandated that USPS must prefund its pension benefits for 75 years through a $5.5Billion annual payment.   The Republican controlled Congress...

  On Michael Sam: He has 100X the courage of the ‘unnamed NFL executives’ who hide behind anonymity when they say things like “a gay player can cause some chemistry disruptions in the locker room.”   On Olympics: I love how purists pretend that the Olympics are about the competition and politics have no place in the conversation, when in reality the Olympics are nothing but politics starting with the host city selection, including the governing bodies for the individual sports, and ending with the judging. On Canadian Breast Cancer Study: This study over 25 years concluded that mammograms do not help detect cancer any better than an exam.   Of course the study was based on old technology and lacked proper randomization and to make matters worse the old white guys who analyzed data now recommend women shouldn’t bother with mammograms.   On Health Care Plans: One may argue whether it is a war, but the bias against women’s health as exemplified by the de...

  As a frequent visitor to Israel, I often leave conflicted.   I love the food, I have many friends that have open their homes to me, the history is unparalleled, the spirit of inventorship rivals any other nation, and the never say die attitude is inspirational.   And yet, I am troubled, like many, about the region’s oldest democracy as it struggles with its identify and future.   Can Israel be both a democratic state and a Jewish state?   In its pursuit for the latter will it sacrifice the former? Last week I happened to be in Israel when key points of the Kerry Plan were released to the public courtesy of New York Times’ Thomas Friedman (who was visiting and staying in the same hotel as yours truly).   I won’t bore you with the details of the plan, but it was interesting to witness firsthand the “he said/he said” schoolyard silliness within the Netanyahu government.   If the Israeli government, and its outspoken ministers spent as much tim...