With so much nonsense written about the Israeli elections, these seem two of the best analyses, and they call to mind Goldberg's line about Yesh Atid: "…such a Jewish name."'There is a Future.' Optimistic, but threaded with melancholy." http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/01/quick-israeli-election-reactions/267410/
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-elections-what-just-happened/
The fact that Israel repudiated the far right is somewhat amazing in view of the provocative pre-election statement of the leader of the Palestinian "moderates."
Or maybe it explains the high vote for an Israeli "moderate" Party which supports a Palestinian state thusly: "What I want is not a new Middle East, but to be rid of them and put a tall fence between us and them." http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/23/abbas-alleges-link-between-zionists-and-nazis.html
Watching Hillary before Congress call to mind a tough as nails Snow White (channeling a bit of the Evil Queen) confronting an army of dwarves, and makes one wonder who it was who got a blood clot threatening their brains (as if). http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/23/four-memorable-moments-from-hillary-clintons-benghazi-testimony-video/
Women in combat?
To paraphrase the great John Sebastian:
"And then I know that all I've learned, my kid assumes.
And all my deepest worries must be her cartoons." (I will admit it is one of those violent cartoons). http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/24/opinion/collins-arms-and-the-women.html?ref=gailcollins&_r=0
Speaking of women in combat, watch Chait bitchslap Tucker Carlson. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/01/tucker-carlson-confused-about-women-in-combat.html
I'm a strong advocate of the National Popular Vote Plan (NPV); one of the loudest arguments against it, mostly made by Republicans, is that we should not change the way we elect the President in a back door manner. However, as I noted, we've done it before, and it's perfectly constitutional.
Apparently, the GOP has now realized this and is attempting their own backdoor effort, which, rather than giving the people the choice, will load the dice in their favor.
The Virginia plan outlines here is particularly insidious, but any Congressional district based plan is an attempt to gerrymander the presidency.
It is therefore time to fight fire with fire. NYS should pass NPV, and Democrats must hold Shelly Silver, Jeff Klein and the Governor accountable if we do not. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/24/how-to-siphon-away-votes-from-blue-states-virginia-edition/
Senators prove they are more interested in preserving their individual power to stop things from happening than they are in their collective power to accomplish anything. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/01/senators-decide-senate-is-mostly-awesome-as-is.html
Stephanie Miner Death Watch: Day One. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/the_gov_gets_gimmicky_eaJpkX5pQUsxMgSqaHVlKK
State Senate passes a "Redistricting Reform" that isn't.
Here's what redistricting expert Todd Breitbart said about it last year:
"The constitutional amendment…has the following notable features:
1.The Legislature would still control its own redistricting.
2.The gerrymandered Senate and Assembly districts enacted in 1992 and 2002 would have been enacted even if this supposed “reform” had already been in place.
3.The amendment would bring back prison-based gerrymandering.
4.The absurd formula for determining the size of the Senate would remain.
5.Population deviations could still be manipulated to give one region more than its fair share of districts, while leaving another region under-represented." http://capitaltonightny.ynn.com/2013/01/senate-approves-second-passage-of-redistricting-amendment/
The sole function of the Assembly GOP is to keep the Sen Dems from being the world's most pathetic legislative conference. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/01/curse-of-the-assembly-gop-strikes-again
Ruby Diaz Sr's socially conservative candiate for Mayor, Rev, Erick Salgado proves he is not lacking in appeal to the LGTB community. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=erick+salgado&hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&biw=1280&bih=897&tbm=isch&tbnid=lhSLMKUBNpePsM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.magcloud.com%2Fbrowse%2Fmagazine%2F381041&docid=-Hy135YQCZnTKM&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Fstorage1.magcloud.com%2Fimage%2F39f10a47193ebc4ab4bfe79bc08c6be5.jpg&w=308&h=401&ei=v08BUerWJurQ0wHi2YCwAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=62&vpy=94&dur=1579&hovh=256&hovw=197&tx=95&ty=107&sig=115348763868684726905&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=106&start=0&ndsp=41&ved=1t%3A429%2Cr%3A1%2Cs%3A0%2Ci%3A87
TYLER: Letting our imaginations run away with us is exactly what we were told to do in your freshmen address.
SUMMERS: Well I would suggest that you let your imaginations run away with you on a new project.
TYLER: You would.
SUMMERS: Yes. Everyone at Harvard is inventing something. Harvard undergraduates believe that inventing a job is better than finding a job so I’ll suggest again that the two of you come up with a new new project.
Assholes take Larry Summers' advice and come up with a new new project. http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/blogs/insider/2013/01/winklevoss-twins-max-out-for-squadron/
"Sweets For My Sweet,” (sorry, but there seems to be no video version by the Drifters) or Tish James, The Pause That Refreshes. http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/blogs/insider/2013/01/soda-ban-foe-rewarded-by-coca-cola/
Newsflash: The Board of Elections stumbles into doing something both innovative and right. http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/blogs/insider/2013/01/board-of-elections-to-explore-instant-runoff-voting/
Is Comrie's Beep bid about to take a dive?
Well, when as prominent a Statewide black leader as Karim Camara is endorsing Jose Peralta, isn't that punch already being telegraphed?
Luckily, Leroy has options, if not Deputy Beep, then perhaps Eddie Murphy’s double in the next “Nutty Professor” sequel. http://barkanreport.com/post/41394429562/is-the-comrie-bp-bid-dead
