Kish and I are up in northern Michigan for a vacation. The other day we went to visit “Fishtown,” which is a part of Leland, Michigan. “Fishtown” is an area that used to be used by commercial fishermen on Lake Michigan. There is still a functioning smokehouse there and lots of fishing vessels that you [...]
Archive for July, 2010
Fishtown
Posted in America, Travel, tagged America, Fishing, Fishtown, Lake Michigan, Leland Michigan, Travel on July 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Hard To End
Posted in Politics, tagged Congress, Corn, Corn Ethanol, Corn Ethanol Subsidies, Government Subsidies, Politics, President Reagan on July 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The Washington Post has an editorial today urging Congress to end corn ethanol subsidies. The subsidies cost $6 billion, and their value in encouraging corn ethanol use is questionable in light of other government requirements. What the Post editorial does not say is that these kinds of subsidies, and other government programs that seek to [...]
Attention And Accountability (Cont.)
Posted in Politics, tagged Charles Rangel, Congress, House Ethics Committee, Politics on July 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve posted on several occasions about the ethical issues surrounding Democratic Representative Charles Rangel, the former head of the House Ways and Means Committee — see here, here, and here. The House Ethics Committee has now announced that Rangel will be tried on ethics charges before the Committee. The bipartisan nature of the finding of [...]
Should The Bush Tax Cuts Be Extended?
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Ben Bernanke, Bush Tax Cuts, Democrats, economy, income taxes, Politics, President Bush, President Obama, Republicans, taxes, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on July 23, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Beginning on January 1, 2011, the tax cuts enacted under President Bush will expire and significant tax increases — affecting Americans of different income brackets and many American businesses, and involving income taxes, estate taxes, capital gains taxes, and other forms of federal taxes — will automatically take effect as a result. The Springfield News-Sun [...]
Who’s Playing Politics? (Cont.)
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Congress, Democrats, economy, Extended unemployment compensation, Politics, President Obama, Republicans, Unemployment compensation on July 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
CBS News has an interesting take on the issue of who is playing politics on the extension of unemployment benefits for out of work Americans. It turns out that President Obama, in signing a prior extension bill, specifically noted that it was fully paid for and therefore fiscally responsible — which is all that Republicans [...]
Developments At Stonehenge
Posted in Science, Travel, World, tagged Easter Island, England, Science, Sphinx, Stonehenge, Travel, World on July 22, 2010 | 1 Comment »
When I visited England after graduating from college, I went to Stonehenge. It was a very cool place — evocative, ancient, mystical, and unknown, even with the assistance of modern science. Like Easter Island, the Sphinx, and other monumental parts of the world of long ago, Stonehenge has carefully kept its secrets. Now scientists are [...]
Reflections On “JournoList” And Journalism
Posted in America, College, tagged America, College, Journalism, Journalism Schools, JournoList, Ohio State University School of Journalism, Reporting on July 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been saddened by the recent stories about the JournoList on-line listserv, which allowed a number of prominent reporters and writers to share information and viewpoints. Although JournoList was intended to be a private listserv, some of the exchanges have been leaked to the press. One led to the resignation of a Washington Post blogger [...]
Public Art At The Ohio Statehouse (VII)
Posted in Art, Columbus, Ohio, tagged Art, Christopher Columbus, Christopher Columbus Discovery Plaza, Columbus, Ohio, Ohio Statehouse, Public Art on July 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
At the intersection of walkways at the southwest corner of the Statehouse is the Christopher Columbus Discovery Plaza, which features a rendering of the intrepid explorer, and the capital city’s namesake, atop a granite base and fountain. The Christopher Columbus Discovery Plaza came together gradually. The hollow copper statue of Columbus was created first and [...]
Robin Hood Cream Ale And Other Cheap Beers Of the ’70s
Posted in College, tagged Beer, Billy Beer, Blatz, Burger Beer, Cheap Beer, College, Ho Hos, Hostess Bakery, Robin Hood, Robin Hood Cream Ale, Star Trek, The Ohio State University, Twinkies on July 20, 2010 | 7 Comments »
My post on summer cider, and particularly the picture of Errol Flynn in iconic Robin Hood garb, inevitably reminded me of Robin Hood Cream Ale. The corner grocery store about a block and a half from my college apartment at 101 West 8th Avenue in Columbus specialized in cheap beer. How surprising in a campus [...]
The Follies of Dudism
Posted in Movies, tagged The Big Lebowski, The Coen Brothers, The Dude on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
When we meet The Dude, he’s paying for a carton of milk with a check for 67 cents. A TV behind the cashier shows George W. Bush declaring that Iraq’s aggression toward Kuwait won’t be tolerated. The Dude glances at the President setting the moral ground for a new war, makes a vague expression of [...]
Keeping Things In Perspective
Posted in Books, TV, tagged Are You There Vodka ? It's Me Chelsea, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, Chelsea Handler, Chelsea Lately, Entertainment Network, My Horizontal Life on July 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I just finished the third of three books written by Chelsea Handler who is a stand up comedian. All of her books were hiliarious and I enjoyed them all. Her first book titled My Horizontal Life was my favorite. The book consisted of a collection of stories about her one night stands and there was one [...]
Insidious Inception
Posted in Movies, tagged Inception, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Movies on July 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
At Richard’s urging, we went to see Inception on Sunday. Whew! What a terrific movie! It insidiously works its way into your consciousness, and during idle moments you find yourself thinking about certain scenes or basic questions raised by the serpentine plot. The movie is just about perfect summer movie fare because it has something [...]
Who’s Playing Politics?
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Congress, Democrats, economy, Extended unemployment compensation, Politics, President Obama, Republicans, Unemployment on July 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It seems like, on every point of disagreement between Democrats and Republicans, each side accuses the other of “playing politics.” (Of course, to this Midwesterner it seems like every decision by every elected and appointed official in Washington, D.C. involves “playing politics.” Isn’t that why they are called “politicians”?) So it is with the latest [...]
Recognizing Taxes As Taxes
Posted in America, Healthcare Reform, Politics, tagged America, Congress, Health Care Reform, Healthcare Reform, Politics, President Obama, taxes on July 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The New York Times recently carried an interesting article on the Justice Department’s arguments against claims that the “health care reform” legislation is unconstitutional. The “linchpin” of the argument is that the individual mandate, which requires people to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty, is constitutional as an exercise of Congress’ broad taxing power. [...]
Review: Inception
Posted in Movies on July 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Ah. Nothing like seeing a movie you’re really excited about, that you have really high hopes for, and walking out of the theater with your expectations exceeded. I expected Inception to be very good. After all, the cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine, and Ellen Page. It was written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who [...]
