http://www.notnews.org Philosophy, public affairs and pop culture. Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:34:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Following up a little bit on the thought from my Letter to the Editor: I am well aware of the fact that Bill Clinton and many of his financial advisers went along with the deregulation push, and I don't absolve them of that. I do think that the overall Clinton economic ... http://www.notnews.org/policy/528.html Had a letter to the editor printed in the Philadelphia Inquirer today. The paper cut out a line I had blasting Phil Gramm's nation of whiners comment, but them's the breaks. Since I allowed the paper to publish my e-mail address, I've gotten about a dozen responses, most of which ... http://www.notnews.org/policy/we-only-get-150-words-in-the-sun.html Obsessive-compulsive note here - I began this post some time on Friday, then got distracted. I discovered it on Wednesday and figure I'll try and complete the thought five days later. Yeah, I'm completely biased, but I'll be damned if that Democratic convention didn't have me wanting to go look for ... http://www.notnews.org/now-what/can-we-vote-like-now.html I have been trying to wrap my head around John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee today, and I'll be honest, I'm having no luck. I don't know if it will help or hurt McCain, or what exactly it says about the state of ... http://www.notnews.org/policy/palin-choice-a-learning-opportunity.html I’ve been telling myself for months that I should write a post about why I support Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. And I think that what it comes down to is that over the last ten years or so, I have become deeply pessimistic about the present state of American democracy ... http://www.notnews.org/now-what/why-obama.html Very interesting article at The New Republic about the possibility that air travel - and air freight - might be getting a whole lot more expensive over the next several years. The basic thrust (hah!) is that air flight requires enormous amounts of fuel, and there's no equivalent of the ... http://www.notnews.org/life/up-in-the-air-not-so-much.html The major thoughts rattling through my head after the John Edwards news last week seem to be as follows: Good thing the Democrats didn't nominate this guy. Man, I feel awful for the Edwards supporters who feel let down or worse. If Obama ever does something this dumb, you're gonna need to keep ... http://www.notnews.org/policy/voting-for-a-person.html I have to say I was pretty disappointed reading this interview with Aaron Sorkin on GQ's site. Sorkin's work on The West Wing was one of the big pushes that motivated me to start Not News. And even when I lost interest in that show, and when Studio 60 turned ... http://www.notnews.org/culture/ill-always-have-sports-night.html Back when Not News had a message board, I said that we should have an official award for things that seemed like a good idea at the time. I was motivated by hearing the Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson duet "To All the Girls I Loved Before," so I suggested the award ... http://www.notnews.org/s-o-s/beijing-reviving-the-julio-willie.html A brief aside here - I've been bemoaning the lack of lemonade in my fridge this summer, in part because I don't like the taste of a lot of store-bought juice, in part because I've been trying to cut down on the high fructose corn syrup, and in part because ... http://www.notnews.org/life/enjoy-a-lovely-beverage.html