Post-Olympics

For all of you Americans who insist that you watched the Olympics because of the athleticism, I'd like to know whether NBC's coverage left you with goosebumps? How many times did you root out loud, along with the announcers, for the American athlete to win? How many times did you weep while listening to the United States National Anthem? How many times did you think it perfectly normal for the announcers to obsess over the 18th place American, while glossing over the best athletes in a sport? You insist that this is not about jingoism, not about nationalism, but only about sport? Then how many times over the next 3 1/2 years are you going to watch a game of water-polo or tune into a synchronized diving match? Never? Because you really don't actually give a shit about the sport? Then are you SURE that you were watching the Olympics because of the athleticism? Did you hang on till the end of the broadcast day for the "medal count?" Did you say "Yeah!" when the U.S. had a couple more gold medals than the Chinese? Did you feel that YOU accomplished something by watching athletes who don't know you receive awards? Did it ever occur to you that these medal tallies are raw numbers, and that maybe it would be more relevant to athleticism to show medals per one-million population? Or how about medals per college graduate? Or medals per installed solar panel? How would the U.S. do in such a case? It's all good fun until you realize that the best part of the broadcast would actually be experienced by turning off the sound, ignoring the color of the uniforms and reminding yourself that the coverage is wildly skewed toward the coverage of Americans--in short, realizing that NBC has been satisfying your nationalistic craving by skewing it's coverage. It's no longer athleticism when the athletes wrap themselves in their own countries' flags and strut around with a victory lap. Then it becomes clearer that this Olympic broadcast was not designed to cover athletes. It was designed to cover American athletes, and especially those who have a chance to medal. It's not really about the athletes or athletics, or else you'd be seeking out these sports year round. It's not about the athletes, but about the TV viewer, and 20 minutes of commercials per hour, and flag waving and "We're better than you. And even obese Americans that are sitting couches are thinking that they are better than people from other countries sitting on their couches.

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The lendendary Paul Ryan

This article in New York Magazine discusses Ryan's fiscal vision:

In 2001, Ryan led a coterie of conservatives who complained that George W. Bush’s $1.2 trillion tax cut was too small, and too focused on the middle class. In 2003, he lobbied Republicans to pass Bush’s deficit-­financed prescription-drug benefit, which bestowed huge profits on the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. In 2005, when Bush campaigned to introduce private accounts into Social Security, Ryan fervently crusaded for the concept. He was the sponsor in the House of a bill to create new private accounts funded entirely by borrowing, with no benefit cuts. Ryan’s plan was so staggeringly profligate, entailing more than $2 trillion in new debt over the first decade alone, that even the Bush administration opposed it as “irresponsible.”

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Dangerous in America

A friend noticed this label on a step stool at work, and commented: "Look at that weight limit. This stool should not be sold in America." I have to agree, especially since people using these stools are often carrying something. If they are carrying 20 pounds, the weight limit of the person is only 180. And consider that the weight of the average American man is now 196.

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The Empathy-Free GOP Ticket

Well, now it's official. Let them eat cake. Or, as Daniel Gross says at Daily Beast,

To whom much is given, more tax breaks will be given. To those who have less, tough. The Romney-Ryan ticket now seems to be all noblesse, no oblige.
The new GOP ticket was commemorated today by the following image created by a friend of mine, Ray Gregory: Here's another offering of Ray Gregory: A bumper sticker to mark the occasion (click for full-size).  

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Need to buy a typewriter?

Tonight I was at OfficeMax, buying some back to school supplies with my daughters. I was surprised to see that there is still a typewriter section at the store. There are actually two models to choose from. This is going to sound like an "old man" story, but when I started practicing law 30 years ago, the firm of 45 lawyers had no computers. Every secretary worked 0n an electric typewriter. Even in 1990, when I brought my own computer to my law firm, people were wondering why an attorney would have a computer. Now I work at a firm with 14 attorneys, and every attorney has a computer--there is one typewriter (for forms and labels). It makes you wonder, at this rate of change, whether anyone has the ability to predict how the world will look in ten more years.

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