September 2012
1 post
On Minimum Wage v. Slavery →
laliberty postulates:
First let’s understand the damage the minimum wage brings about: it creates unemployment, makes goods and services more expensive, potentially drives otherwise employable people to illegal activities, shifts demand to off-the books hires and thus illegal immigration, among other things. And all this socio-economic destruction especially affects the people it purports to...
May 2012
8 posts
On Pious and Empty Platitudes
squashed wrote:
Chris Hedges:
Religious leaders, in churches, synagogues and mosques, at best voice pious and empty platitudes about justice or carry out nominal acts of charity aimed at those bearing the weight of resistance in the streets.
If Hedges wants to criticize those who aren’t doing the work they should be doing, fine. But he need not disparage those who have given...
I’m pretty willing to bet he didn’t bother
kohenari:
I’m not sure about others, but I use Tumblr as my blogging platform for a variety of reasons. I chose — and stick with — Tumblr because it’s easy to use, because I can use it quickly from anywhere on any device, and because I have built relationships with other bloggers here. The dozen Tumblr users with whom I regularly interact are careful, thoughtful readers and writers. But they...
I'm in prison for a postcard?
The latest This American Life featuring the Jeff Smith story, The Postcard Always Rings Twice is again, as is expected with TAL output, excellent radio.
Producer Alex Blumberg tells the story of Jeff Smith, a former Missouri State Senator who spent last year in federal prison. The story of how Jeff ended up there includes large sins, but begins with a relatively small one. In other words,...
Respected killers?
kohenari:
Since today is Star Wars Day and everyone I know is having a fantastic time writing, “May the 4th be with you” on Facebook and Twitter, I thought I’d ask a question that’s been troubling me for weeks now:
When are we going to deal with the troubling fact that Luke Skywalker is one of the most successful and best respected mass killers in history?
Not only does Skywalker...
I'm voting for Barack Obama because…
squashed:
In response to the Obama campaign’s graphic contrasting the ways in which Obama’s policies and initiatives would help one woman, “Julia,” over the course of her life HuskerRed wrote:
“Julia” is a fictional character created by Barack Obama’s campaign to advertise the litany of government benefits they promise if you just vote for him. This is the exploitation of naive people’s self...
Poster boy for the 1%?
alsson:
“People ask me, `What would you to get the economy going’? and I say, `well look at what the president’s done, and do the opposite.” — Mitt Romney
Now does that sound like a strategy, or a petulant candidate?
(via think-progress)
Both. Let’s let a real executive give it a whirl. We might actually have some collaborative leadership for the first time in decades.
By putting...
America needs a conservatism that can deal with...
Alsson at Large wrote:
A Phoenix Rising: Common-Good Conservatism (via azspot)
Today, American conservatism has degenerated into an intellectually and morally bankrupt ideology. It offers nothing more than bumper-sticker slogans that pander to the prejudices and ignorance of the lowest common denominator in order to enrich and empower an oligarchic elite. Angry, cruel and sneering,...
AZplace Resurrection 2012
Tinkering with themes — it might not look like much at this present juncture, but under the seams, bits of CSS are being deconstructed.
AZspot is getting all the post attention these days, but I yearn to rekindle a longer form, essay length (or short paragraph bursts) blogging space. Contemplated creating a new online space and/or identity but figured I would at least attempt to revive...
April 2011
1 post
'Waiting for Superman' Takes
What “Waiting for Superman” Got Wrong
Why the Right should hate “Waiting for Superman”
I’m Sorry I’m a Teacher
The Real Problem with Waiting for “Superman”
Waiting For Superman: Davis Guggenheim Ignores Too Many Inconvenient Truths
Grading ‘Waiting for Superman’
Miracle schools, vouchers and all that educational flim-flam
The Myth of Charter...
February 2011
1 post
Big Tent Christianity 2011 Roundup
Herein lies my chronicle of Big Tent Christianity 2011, a conference about “convergence of new and old ways of being and becoming the Church”, that I attended last week (Thursday and Friday).
BTX brings people together from across the country to proclaim what unites us as followers of Jesus in this modern world. More than a dozen leading Christian voices will break through...
November 2010
1 post
PodCampAZ 2010 Tumblr Talk Reflections
PodCampAZ v4.0 has come and gone.
For the 2010 edition, I was able to take in Saturday sessions only as family contingencies precluded any Sunday participation. Sadly, attendance, hoopla, and excitement waned, it seems, from previous year’s enactments — even the existence of cancelation rumblings on the eve of the event.
As I wrote previously, I presented a session devoted to Tumblr. And I got...
June 2010
3 posts
Historcial Empirical Evidence Simply Refutes This...
unsolicitedanalysis:
Why the United States and Europe can’t cut their way to economic prosperity
In the United States, a different set of factors is driving the trend. With unemployment high and long-term interest rates near record lows, inflation under control, and Democrats poised to suffer losses in the midterm elections, further stimulus would seem to be a no-brainer. But the same...
The New Right Prosperity Story II
unsolicitedanalysis:
…We have, time and again, decided to pour debt into aggregate demand instead of fundamental economic systems like education or infrastructure. I don’t understand why the blame for this process is being laid upon a nebulous “corporate America.” Moreover, I don’t understand how your protectionist theories and vague New Deal fetishization produce a...
The New Right Prosperity Story
unsolicitedanalysis:
Without the cost impact of free trade, what do you think the lifestyle of those tied to the balls/chains would be?
I’ll also point out that Southeast Asians - for some reason depicted with racist imagery here - are slaves of their own nations. China, for example, purchases debt using tax revenue. Its currency policy robs the savings accounts of its workers of purchasing...
February 2010
2 posts
The Power of Love
A local conservative Christian radio talk show features a segment every week that’s titled “What would you say?”. In it, he cues an audio clip of a notable “liberal” speaking something buffoonish. Thereafter, he solicits audience phone calls to provide the best response. The winner is then awarded a prize pack of goodies.
In the most recent instance, Sarah...
Corporations is People
Like the Church, the Monarchy, and the Communist Party in other times and places, the corporation is today’s dominant institution.
Some thoughts and a comprehensive roundup of recent posts on the ramifications of the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling.
Corporations is People
Corporations were given the rights, of immortal persons. But then...
January 2010
3 posts
The Lamer Blame Game
jgapinoy wrote:
Yes, BHO did inherit some huge problems (most of which he made worse). The economic recession had causes from both the recent as well as distant past. President Bush spent way too much money (not nearly as much as Obama is on track to spend)…
Not according to the conservative Cato Institute:
…what hurt the economy more were the Clinton-era liberal programs forcing mortgage...
Arizona Republic Left Leaning?
Tonight, listening to a local radio talk show, I heard the host repeat an inane remark that’s echoed by many other Arizona conservatives — that the state’s newspaper of record, the Arizona Republic is “left leaning”.
A simply baffling, incredulous charge, considering that as far as I know, the Arizona Republic has NEVER endorsed a Democrat for president. I can’t...
My Colossal 2009 Read Books List
Well, it’s 2010 already and so I failed at a 2009 self-pledge to log a review of each book read. But I did at least log the titles, and so now, at the end of year, I give to you a way too long of a list to peruse.
Obviously, with this lengthy of a list, it would be a rather large book itself to evaluate each title in proper detail. So, a short blurb or summary must suffice. A few books I...
December 2009
4 posts
Next Door Rant
Located right down the street from my home address is a fabulous coffee shop. There you may enjoy an excellent espresso. Or even, on some mornings, partake in tasty composition from an omelette/waffle bar. Or maybe a Mexican coke (with real sugar!) or a cold frothy alcoholic beverage.
A few months back a Next Coffee barista provided me with a rewards card, a mini-card keyring attachment so I...
Genie Mac
As I wrote previously, I ordered the new 27 inch iMac from apple.com/store.
It took a few weeks to ship and arrived last Friday.
So I thought I’d chronicle my experience with the new machine thus far, as well as some tidbits on transferring my applications and data from my old MacBook Pro.
First, the 27 inch 2560x1440 resolution monitor is absolutely gorgeous. Upon initial gaze, it...
Dear Websites Whose Names Shall Be Withheld…
dailymeh:
When I clicked on “Print”, I did not give you permission to launch my printer. It’s a forgivable mistake, but when I click on “Print”, I don’t mean “Please help me print this website out”, I mean “Please take me to a version of this article that is on a single page rather than many short pages, and that isn’t covered in ads and widgets.” I know how to print out a goddamn website. If...
3 tags
A Tragic Virtue
War is always about betrayal, betrayal of the young by the old, of idealists by cynics and of troops by politicians. —Chris Hedges
And the Pat Tillman story, chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s Where Men Win Glory; The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (Krakauer is also the author of Into the Wild, the story of Christopher McCandless Alaska trek made into a big screen movie), is certainly emblematic of that...
November 2009
8 posts
Willing to Pay a Fee for Access to News Articles?
As I’ve been perusing online since the time when the Mosaic browser ruled the web, I continue to be astonished at the recycling of this meme about the tragedy of noble newspaper guardians going extinct at the expense of gluttonous online readers taking for free what print subscribers previously paid fees to receive. Inevitably, the discussion meanders into solution space speculation —...
Thanksgiving 2009 Thankfulness
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Things I’m thankful for:
My smashingly beautiful, unreciprocated giving, deeply loving wife.
My wonderful family.
The roof over my head, the clothes on my back, and blessed with sufficient food and water.
Our church and fellow caring brothers and sisters.
Friends that I’ve had to pleasure to share life with, interact, influence and be influenced. In...
1 tag
Hot Bubbling Gore
The conservative media sphere has been ablaze the past week over a Al Gore gaffe on the earth’s interior temperature. Yes, Gore blundered — it’s thousands of degrees, not millions. Social networking organs and conservative talk radio bastions are gleefully roasting Gore and deriding his “scientific blunder” and bolstering their climate change denial talking point chest.
...
Test Your Global IQ →
How much do you know about the opinions of people around the world?
I only tallied 5 correct answers (out of 12 total)…
1 tag
Laws of the Internet
1. Godwin’s Law:
“As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”
2. Poe’s Law:
“Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humour, it is impossible to create a parody of fundamentalism that someone won’t mistake for the real thing.”
3. Rule 34:
“If it exists, there is porn of it.”
4. Skitt’s Law:
...
1 tag
PodCampAZ 2009 Roundup
Another PodCampAZ, the “Relevant Media Unconference”, is in the books. The 2009 edition did not seem as lively to me, especially on day 2 when the session load seemed to be rather light. Maybe it’s due to the present economic climate, or perhaps because of a major auto race and Arizona Cardinals game were also scheduled on the same day. Or diminished presence of...
1 tag
About AZplace
Blog about politics, computers, technology, radio, Arizona, science, justice, war, world affairs, globalization, economics, sports, history, and whatever else catches the fancy of me or other contributors.
I am Naum, amateur writer and rabble rouser, professional programmer and website developer. I have a bachelors degree in Computer Science, and minor in mathematics, and that renders me totally...
1 tag
Welcome to the new, refurbished AZplace!
AZplace has made the move to Tumblr.
A shiny, new web locale for my mind’s output.
