10 Friday Aug 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
I never did like it when I heard someone say, “I told you so,” but then wasn’t it Thoreau (or maybe Emerson) who said ‘a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds”? Or something like that.
Anyway, something in the morning news reminded me of something I posted a while back. So I went looking for it and found it: The Real Battle(s) in 2012 May Not Be the Race for the Presidency, MillersTime/The Outer Loop, May 23, 2011.
Here it is:
06 Friday Jul 2012
Posted in Articles & Books of Interest, The Outer Loop
Tags
'Obamacare', Brian Beutler, Chief Justice John Roberts, James Fallows, Patient Protective & Affordable Care Act, Peter Shane, Reddit, Robert Gordon, the Supreme Court 6/28 decision
In this ‘edition’ of Articles of Interest, I focus on the ‘Affordable Care Act’ and the recent Supreme Court decision about it.
1. What Exactly Is Obamacare and What Did It Change? from Reddit/TheeGing3, June 20, 2012.
Since much has been written about whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (‘Obamacare’) is a good or bad law for our country, I looked for what I believe is the best, direct, understandable explanation the law itself. This link outlines what is already in effect, what is to come in the next few years, and what are the facts behind some of the most controversial aspects of the law. I believe it’s useful to have an understanding of PPACA before one hails or criticizes it.
(Note: According to Wikipedia, Reddit is a “a social news website where the registered users submit content, in the form of either a link or a text “self” post. Other users then vote the submission “up” or “down”, which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site’s pages and front page.” This posting, I believe, was written by someone named Tyler Tullis (TheeGing3) and seems intent on describing what is.
Length: Medium, depending upon how many of the comments you read.
* * * * * * *
The following articles in one way or another, focus on the Supreme Court, its June 28th decision, Chief Justice Roberts, and how we can understand what’s occurred.
2. SCOTUS Update: La Loi, C’est Moi, by James Fallows, The Atlantic, June 24, 2012.
Written before the recent Supreme Court decision, Fallows summarizes in short form (see ‘bullet’ points near the end of the post) the direction the SC has taken and seems to argue that if this had happened outside of the US, we would probably call it a ‘coup.’
“James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States, and once worked as President Carter’s chief speechwriter.”
Length: Short
3. The Obamacare Surprise: Chief Justice Roberts’ Brilliance as Institutional Strategist, by Peter M. Shane, Huffington Post Blogger, June 29, 2012.
Shane, the day following the SC decision, argues that Roberts’ was trying to preserve the SC’s reputation and that in the long run, because of the way he did ruled, the constitutional conservatives might be grateful.
Length: Short
4. Why Did Roberts Switch? by Robert W. Gordon, The Washington Spectator, June 28, 2012.
Possibly the best explanation of the Chief Justice’s decision that I’ve read.
Gordon is a Stanford Law School professor.
Length: Short
5. Largest Tax in History? Brian Beutler, Talking Points Memo, July 2, 2012.
One person’s attempt to show, largely in chart form, that the tax consequences are significantly less than those enacted by the Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton tax increases.
Brian Beutler is TPM‘s (a liberal website) senior congressional reporter and has reported on health care issues since 2009.
Length: Short
22 Friday Jun 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
In place of my usual Articles of Interest, this post will lead you to two of my favorite living (non baseball) heroes: Aung San Suu Kyi and Bill Moyers.
The first is a video of Aung San Suu Kyi delivering her recent acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, more than 20 years after she won the award in 1991. It is her Nobel Lecture and a chance to see and listen to her at length (almost 30 minutes).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRYyEk-5zoI
The second video is of Bill Moyers delivering a recent opinion piece on his new show Bill Moyers & Co. Many of Moyers’ programs over the past few years have been about the toxic role of money in politics and what it is doing to our democratic process. The actual title of this Commentary is “How to Buy an Election” and last about five minutes.
21 Thursday Jun 2012
Posted in Family and Friends, The Outer Loop
A little less than a year ago, The Atlantic Magazine published Kate Bolek’s All The Single Ladies. That article argued, among other things, that “it’s time to embrace new ideas about romance and family—and to acknowledge the end of “traditional” marriage as society’s highest ideal.”
Now, in its July/Aug. edition The Atlantic has published a new article that I think will be equally read and discussed, Why Women Still Can’t Have It All by Anne-Marie Slaughter. This article, like the previous one, seeks to break through some of the ‘accepted myths’ that society has heaped upon women.
In fact, I suspect Slaughter’s article will receive more attention and create more conversation than did Bolek’s as it will speak to even more women, and hopefully men, women of a variety of ages, across several generations.
Rather than spend your time reading about this new article, read it for yourself. It’s a bit long, but worthy.
Let MillersTime readers know what you think of what Slaughter writes.
15 Friday Jun 2012
Posted in Articles & Books of Interest, The Outer Loop
Five new ones for your reading pleasure:
1. Bionic Brains and Beyond, Danilel H. Wilson, The Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2012.
This article comes thanx to my brother-in-law who writes it’s about “inserting tiny devices in one’s brain in the future to make us smarter, better leaders, and hopefully more Republican.” Oh well, I’m not responsible for my in-laws, but the article is of interest.
(Length: Short)
2. In Praise of Misfits, The Economist, June 2, 2012.
In this Schumpeter column, the author says business needs people with Asperger’s syndrome, attention-deficit disorder, and dyslexia. Disorganization man replaces the organization man?
(Length: Short)
3. The Facebook President Is in Need of New Friends, Edward Luce, The Financial Times, May 20, 2012.
Luce writes, “The president needs to convince (people) he is running a viable enterprise that knows where it is going and which can deliver on performance.” So far, Luce argues, he hasn’t done so.
(Length: Short)
4. Prep School Predators: The Horace Mann Schools’ Secret History of Sexual Abuse, The NY Times Magazine, Amos Kamil, June 6, 2012.
The Jerry Sandusky trial is in the news, and it seems there may be much more to come along this line. In the Horace Mann article, posted first I think on line, it’s now one of the prestigious private schools that must face what it has allowed to occur on its campus. Additionally, this article has spurred school alumni to gather on line to tell more stories of occurrences at Horace Mann. And a further controversy may be brewing on why the Times focused on the male abuse and did not write about what was happening to females, even though they had been told about it.
(Length: Long)
5. All the Single Ladies, Kate Boleck, The Atlantic Monthly, Nov. 2011.
There have been a number of articles and books recently about the single woman. Here is one I read last year that I think is worthy of your time if the subject is of interest to you.
(Length: Long)
14 Thursday Jun 2012
Posted in Family and Friends, The Outer Loop
Now and then folks ask me what my wife Ellen 
is doing.
Or, if they know something about what she has done, they ask, “How can she continue to do that after all these years? Doesn’t she get discouraged.”
Well, if you have 12 minutes and 18 seconds and want to understand what Ellen does, what her Sunlight Foundation is doing, and why she believes so passionately in her work, check out this YouTube video from a speech she gave the other day at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City.
03 Sunday Jun 2012
Posted in Articles & Books of Interest, The Outer Loop
Tags
How We Die, Inventions, Sugar Daddies, The Vietnam Solution, William Alexander Morgan, Yankee Comandate
Here are this week’s post of articles that you may have missed – one is about the future, three are related to politics, and the last returns to the issue of how we do/don’t die.
Please feel free to agree, disagree, or comment on any of them.
13 Sunday May 2012
Posted in Escapes and Pleasures, The Outer Loop
Over the last week I have read Robert Caro’s fourth book on Lyndon Johnson and attended a Politics & Prose bookstore “conversation’ between 
Caro and Politico’s Chief White House correspondent Mike Allen. I thought the book (606 pages) truly worthy of my week’s devotion to it. I enjoyed listening to Caro and getting a sense of the man, his humility, his solidity, and his insights, though I think Allen missed an opportunity to draw out Caro on many aspects of the book that deserved discussion.
If you definitely plan to tackle The Passage of Power, you need not read further than the end of this paragraph. Mark this site, and come back to it after you have read the book. Then read what is written below, and let me others know what you think.**
If you’re not sure if you want to read the book, or if you just want to get a bit of a summary and one person’s reactions, read the “Summary” and “10 Takeaways” below.
(If your time is limited, check out The New Yorker’s excerpt of the day LBJ went from believing his political life was over to attaining the most power he ever had — Nov. 22, 1963.)
01 Tuesday May 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
Tags
As readers of this website may know, I am on a quest this year to try to understand how we know what we know and particularly how come good folks can differ so much on issues of politics and religion. Along that line, friend Dave Stang sent along the speech below he gave in 2007 in an attempt to school me on this subject.
(Also, see his Comment at the end of Articles of Interest.3)
17 Tuesday Apr 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
David P. Stang, a friend, upon reading Chris Mooney’s Liberals and Conservatives Don’t Just Vote Differently, They Think Differently, which I posted yesterday in my new addition to this website, took exception to the article, intimating Mooney was 51 cards short of a full deck (my interpetation of Dave’s comments).
But rather than just throw stones, Dave composed what he calls an ‘essay” to school us on what he believes we all need to know about Liberals and Conservatives.
As I’m in my extended search to understand how good folks can see things so differently, particularly in the area of politics and religion, I post Dave’s thoughtful piece below.
See what you think.
13 Friday Apr 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
Tags
biography, LBJ, Robert A. Caro, The Passage of Power, The Transition, The Years of Lyndon Johnson
I just finished Robert A. Caro’s The Transition, an excerpt* (April 2 The New Yorker ) 
from his soon to be published fourth volume, The Years of Lyndon Johnson biography.
This excerpt describes the day LBJ took over the Presidency, and, like everything else in Caro’s LBJ biography, it’s a page turner.
If you know the three previous volumes, you know what to to expect from Caro. And he doesn’t disappoint.
If you don’t know Caro 
or haven’t read any of the LBJ biography, you have a treat in store, a long one. His first volume, The Path to Power came out in 1982 and was about 900 pages. It was a page turner.
05 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in Go Sox, The Outer Loop
Finally those data geeks at The Sunlight Foundation (transparency: that’s where my wife works) have done something I can understand.
They’ve taken a look at how much each baseball team is spending in the political arena. And there are some surprises.
The Yanks are not even in the top five. The Nats, who play in the nation’s capital, are next to last in giving.
And who gives the most?
The Orioles.
What’s that about?
To learn more about how the MLB teams are spending their money and to see a list of where your team stands in political money giving (which no doubt comes out of the money you pay for tickets), see Major League Fundraising.
05 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
Again, thanks to a tweet by Jay Rosen, NYU journalism professor, here is another NY Magazine article worth reading.
In this Feb. 26 piece, Jonathan Chait explains why the 2012 elections are of supreme importance to Republicans. Generally, when I hear “this is the most important election of this century,” I just roll my eyes (can one really ‘roll’ one’s eyes?).
But check out 2012 or Never, as Chait explains why the Republicans are fearful.
27 Tuesday Mar 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
If we define politics, broadly, to include what is taking place in our world of governance, policy, how we handle national and local problems, and how we seek to solve problems, how we regulate or don’t regulate, what laws we enact, etc., then I have two problems relating to our politics.
23 Friday Mar 2012
Posted in The Outer Loop
“We don’t know who Romney is for the simple reason that he never reveals who he is,” Frank Rich
Photo-illustration by Darrow (Photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)
For some time now I’ve been looking for an article that seems to capture who Mitt Romney is.
Thanks to a tweet by NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen, I came across a Frank Rich article in New York Magazine, written in early February, that does a pretty good job of trying to answer that question.
The article is long, could do with some editing, but if you want to try understand who this man is, take a look at “Who in God’s Name is Mitt Romney?”