Voters appear to be split almost exactly between the two parties when it comes to taxes. Democrats are pushing higher taxes for the rich and breaks for everyone else. Republicans are pushing a regressive flat tax, tax breaks for the wealthy and an end to tax breaks for working families. The choice is stark, but somehow it’s not clear.
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Chris Hayes’ new show on MSNBC provides a rare space for the expansive, non-partisan debates we need . . . “Up With Chris Hayes,” which broadcasts Saturday and Sunday mornings, purposely rejects the manufactured red-versus-blue mallet that bludgeons every issue into partisan terms. Instead, the program’s host is creating a space for more expansive discussions with voices typically deemed too unconventional, provocative or dangerous to be allowed anywhere near a television set.
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The Palestinian bid received 107 “yes” votes during a UNESCO meeting in Paris, with 14 countries voting against and 52 abstaining, enough to satisfy a two-thirds majority of those countries present and voting . . . Israel, not surprisingly, voted against the measure, as did the United States, Canada and several European countries, including Germany. The United Kingdom abstained, while France voted in favour. Ahmed Yousef, a Hamas official and the deputy foreign minister in Gaza, called it a “great achievement” and said the vote “shows that Israel and America are not dictating politics to the world anymore.”
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By Madison S. Hughes (12.18.2009)
Other people are simply the benchmarks by which we judge ourselves. The humble seek the companionship of others they adjudicate as superior, while the haughty search for those deemed to be inferior. The former look up to others for enlightenment, while the latter look down on others for power.
Carl Edward Sagan, Ph.D., (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996)
American Astronomer, Astrophysicist, Cosmologist, Author, Science
Popularizer, and Science Communicator in Space and Natural Sciences
You can’t convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it’s based on a deep-seated need to believe.
She gets it!
John Kenneth “Ken” Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006 )
Canadian-American Keynesian Economist, Prolific Author
An understanding of our economic discourse requires an appreciation of one of its basic rules: Men of high position are allowed, by a special act of grace, to accommodate their reasoning to the answer they need. Logic is only required in those of lesser rank.
