Snowed In or Out?

Well now the Nation's government can blame it's failure to get anything done on mother nature and not just the Senate Republicans.

(image from NASA's MODIS on 2/7/2010) (via DCist)

Tom Toles had the same thought...

(via EK)

Brace yourselves DC I hear you're getting more snow. I can't decide if I'm glad that this was the winter I chose to escape the DC or if I'm jealous of all the snow...

Read This Now - Don't Move To Colorado Springs

I lived on the front range for a bit and enjoyed my time in CO immensely, it probably didn't hurt that I was living in Boulder though and not Colorado Springs.

The Denver Post has the story of modern day Colorado Springs, pretty much this is what happens when you don't collect enough taxes...

Officials across the city know their phone lines will light up as parks go brown, trash gathers in the weeds, and streets and alleys go dark.

They're also cutting police and firefighter jobs and closing museums and pools. A lot of what 'civilization' looks like is going to go away.

(via PK)

The Taylor Mali Rabbit Hole

So I fell down a rabbit hole this afternoon, I managed to pull myself out so that I could share it with ya'll.

Sure a rabbit hole you may be saying I get it, but who is Taylor Mali?

Ever seen the 'What Teachers Make' video once again making the rounds of the interwebs? He's that guy, a teacher and a poet and an inspirational one at that.

Here is another poem / presentation of his that I particularly enjoy:



If you haven't seen 'What Teachers Make' yet here's a link to one of the several versions of it that currently exist, you may also be interested in Mali's homepage, his background on 'What Teachers Make', and the TED Talks page that got me started on this journey.

Enjoy yourselves, and beware it can get a little dusty when you watch some of these.

Read This Now - SCOTUS Double Take

Jeffery Toobin's take on the SOTU Alito kerfuffle is also worth a read, he points out that the Justices are indeed political actors and that it's best that we, the public, realize this and come to grips with it...

And now everyone knows it. And for that reason, then, I don’t begrudge Alito his grimace. He was just being honest. Alito’s role in that room—and his place at the Court—is no different from that of the Republican members of Congress; both are dedicated political adversaries of the President. The camera—and the Justice—didn’t lie.

He also touches on the history between the President and Alito, suffice it to say there isn't any love lost here.

Speechify

If you haven't had the chance yet you should really see the Daily Show's coverage of the SOTU...



The whole episode is great, Wyatt Cenac continues to get better and better, and Doris Kearns Goodwin stops by.

An aside; Comedy Central's embed codes are crap that rarely work, Hulu on the other hand does quite well.

Read This Now - The State Of The Court

I was multi-tasking last night so I missed Justice Alito's response to President Obama's condemnation of the recent SCOTUS ruling on Citizens United, and frankly I don't really want to get into it. Doing so would just be yet another distraction from the hard work of governing that our currently elected representatives are having so much trouble with of late.

That said Glenn Greenwald has an interesting piece up on the increasing politicization of the Court and the resulting decline in the Court's credibility...

It was clear from Sam Alito's confirmation hearing and his record of appellate opinions that he is a dogmatic, state-revering, right-wing judge. But last night, he unmasked himself as a politicized and intemperate Republican as well. Much of the public will view his future "judicial" and "legal" conclusions -- and those of his fellow Court members -- with an even greater degree of cynicism. And justifiably so. Whatever impulses led him to behave that way last night, they have nothing to do with sober judicial reasoning or apolitical restraint.

It's a pretty short piece and full of interesting links, so go have a look.

See also the NYT editorial board's take on Citizens United.

A Flash Of Sanity

Finally something from the political realm that makes me hold on to the slim hope that all is not lost in this world, or at least in the US.

Voters in Oregon overwhelmingly voted to increase taxes on corporations and the rich in order to shore up budget shortfalls that would have adversely impacted, among other things, the public school system.