Monthly Archives: May 2004

The Lakers and the Candidates

This entry was posted in bush Democrats Election 2004 kerry Republicans on by

Professor Bainbridge doesn’t like the Lakers:

The Lakers personify our People/ET celebrity culture in which superficiality reigns supreme. They aren’t a team – they’re the sports world equivalent of VH1 Divas – four prima donnas plus entourages.

Which leads the Libertarian Jackass to wonder whether the Professor’s future action will be consistent with his words:

I hope the good professor votes against Bush and Kerry for similar reasons.

But I don’t think that the Professor puts bushco in this category:

As far as the elites are concerned, Middle America and the Republican Party are synonmous.
….
Here we see the modern Democratic party – secular elites at the top using the levers of government to effect wealth transfers from Middle America to reliable Democrat constituencies and special interests.

Now I do not disagree with his evaluation of what a Democratic government will do. The wealth transfer, using the power of government, is the whole game.
A simple variation of Bainbridge’s last sentence describes the current state of affairs: Here we see the modern Republican party – religious elites at the top using the levers of government to effect wealth transfers from Middle America to reliable Republican constituencies and special interests.

Update: Kevin Drum and Steve Verdon have related posts.

Just the Facts Please

This entry was posted in Journalism on by

Former conservative liar David Brock heads up a new watchdog site called Media Matters for America:

Because a healthy democracy depends on public access to accurate and reliable information, Media Matters for America is dedicated to alerting news outlets and consumers to conservative misinformation — wherever we find it, in every news cycle — and to spurring progressive activism based on standards and accountability in media.

I thought Brock’s confession, Blinded by the Right, passed muster and Media Matters looks like it might be a useful resource.
Media Matters would be even more useful if they would turn on an RSS feed.
There’s more at Talkleft and in this New york Times article.

When Free is not Free

This entry was posted in Capitalism Culture Economics Marketing on by

Over at Ebay you can pay good money for one of those free Google Gmail accounts. As Tyler Cowan notes “..right now supply is limited. Not surprisingly, a market in the accounts has arisen.”
Maybe the buyers think getting one will give them an inside track on getting a share of Google stock; or that they can get a special username that they can then resale at a profit; or bragging rights amongst some alien species; or…well, just why are they spending this money?
I’ll wait until they are readily available and then get one or two for ad hoc needs. They can sit on the shelf with my other freemail accounts for use as needed.