Nevada Writer

Five myths about America’s credit card debt – washingtonpost.com

By Robert D. Manning
Sunday, January 31, 2010
They’re yuppie food stamps. They give new meaning to the question “paper or plastic?” And they’re in everyone’s wallet. Americans have nearly 700 million all-purpose bank credit cards, plus nearly 500 million retail store cards — and they have transformed how we live and consume. Today, Americans are more [...]

Michael Wolff: Sarah Palin, Inc. Has a Problem

“Before this gets out of hand, I want to try to save the word ‘retarded,’ which seems robust and meaningful and evocative of so much that is silly, inept, and illogical. It really does not necessarily besmirch people who are actually retarded. That word, the specifically besmirching word, with cruel connotations, evoking the fifth grade, [...]

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: One Massachusetts Poll That Democrats Shouldn’t Panic About

Thank you Nate Silver!  A PR guy is pushing a bogus poll. Who woulda thought?
“The poll was conducted by a firm connected with the Black Rock Group, which bills itself as a “strategic communications and public affairs firm” and whose chief spokesman/strategist, Carl Forti, just so happens to be the spokesman for this polling firm [...]

Google Hacked the Chinese Hackers Right Back – China – Gizmodo

Google Hacked the Chinese Hackers Right Back – China – Gizmodo.

And my favorite comment:
EpiphyteCorp. 11:01 AM
Giz reader #1: Hey, did you hear Google hacked the hackers who had hacked them?
Giz reader #2: Shut the hack up!
Giz reader #1: No man, I’m not hacking with you!
Giz reader #2: No hacking way! That’s unbehackinglievable!
Giz reader [...]

And The Rest Is Just Noise | The New Republic

Jonathan Chait, senior editor for The New Republic, writes cogently about health care reform:
“At some level, it is possible to understand the roots of liberal frustration. The machinery of Congress has ground away at the health care bill, as it does to almost any bill. But at a broader level, the liberal mood is insane. [...]

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: Happy New Year and Decade

Tom Schaller’s cogent adieu to the Naughties — his take on the recently past decade mirrors my own. Bring on the new decade!
“Now, I don’t share this to be downer, but rather to encourage a sense of optimism as the next decade opens. Let’s hope the next ten are better than the previous ten.”
via FiveThirtyEight: [...]

Joseph Wyatt: A banner year for the right wing  – Op-Ed Commentaries – The Charleston Gazette – West Virginia News and Sports

Tip toe through the many memories of right wing hilarity:
“July: Sarah Palin quit the Alaska governor's job, saying that she was headed for “a higher calling.” Philosophers continue an existential debate, asking why anyone would be called to write a self-serving, error-plagued autobiography.”
via Joseph Wyatt: A banner year for the right wing  – Op-Ed Commentaries [...]

Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women | Watch Free Documentary Online

Great short film—actually a lecture—by Jean Kilbourne on the extent of advertising’s dehumanization of women and perpetuation of destructive stereotypes about both genders.
Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women | Watch Free Documentary Online.

FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right: The Internet is Underrated: A Note on Activism, Populism and Polarization at the End of the ‘Aughts

Really interesting analysis of the power of the Internet by the really interesting (and usually spot on political analyst) Nate Silver:
“Let me advance a proposition for you. It’s going to be a controversial one. Ready?
The proposition is this: the Internet is really important!
OK, so I’m joking — sort of. That tagline sounds so … 2006. [...]