Former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates on Benghazi

  By Pamela Leavey | May 12, 2013 - 7:59 pm | , , , , , , , ,
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The Benghazi Kabuki theater continues as House Republicans push on with “hearing” that some are calling a witch hunt. An apt description… Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told CBS’ Face the Nation that ”some critics of the administration have a “cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces.”” Gates, a Republican who was appointed by then-President George W. Bush in 2006 and agreed to stay through more than two years of President Obama’s first term, repeatedly declined to criticize the policymakers who devised a response to the September 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. “Frankly, had I been in the job at the … Continue reading →

‘A’ is for Average: Grade Inflation in America

  By Walter Brasch | May 7, 2013 - 9:56 am | , ,
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by Walter Brasch About 1.8 million students will graduate from college this year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. At least one-third of them will graduate with honors. In some colleges, about half will be honor graduates. It’s not that the current crop is that bright, it’s that honors is determined by grade point average. Because of runaway grade inflation, the average grade in college is now an “A.” About 43 percent of all college grades are “A”s, according to a recent study by Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy, and published in the prestigious Teachers College Record.  About three-fourths of all grades are “A”s or “B”s. Throw out the universal curve that applies to everything from height to … Continue reading →

Ben-Hur, Benghazi, Ben Gay

  By Hart Williams | May 6, 2013 - 9:07 pm | , ,
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Look at that sea of red. Only Little Green Footballs and Daily Kos have any rebuttal to the massive right-wing red/pink blog kkkonspiracies. Because, you know, the REAL criminals of the Benghazi attack were, conveniently, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. I mean, Terrists gone be terrists, raht? Continue reading →

Loony Weekend Commences

  By Hart Williams | May 4, 2013 - 3:18 pm | , ,
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The Bonfire of the Hannitys focuses its annual loon-fest in Houston this weekend. Sarah Palin, looking more and more like a clever Alien simulacrum of what they consider a generic middle-aged SUV driver brought down the house with a paean to stupidity, as mellifluous as fingernails on a blackboard Continue reading →

Fiction and Non-Fiction in Manhattan

  By Hart Williams | April 26, 2013 - 8:00 am | , , , ,
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A nineteen year old kid tells the FBI various things and New York City reacts to the imaginary attack the same way a “pro-life” fanatic reacts to an imaginary baby. Beware: it is in this stew of raw emotions and bad fiction that Patriot Acts are foisted on us. When we lose sight of the difference between the real and the imagined, we become the slaves of anyone with a microphone and a slick story to tell. Continue reading →

Oh, THAT What the Boy Scouts Mean by Being ‘Morally Straight’

  By Walter Brasch | April 25, 2013 - 8:17 am | , , , ,
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  by Walter Brasch  Harry Strausser III owns a successful small business with 25 employees in Bloomsburg, Pa. As an undergraduate, he was a national champion in several forensics categories, and represented the Boy Scouts of America in national competitions sponsored by the Reader’s Digest. As a graduate student, he coached a college forensics team. He has never been arrested or suspected of any crime. Strausser is an Eagle Scout. He is also gay. The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America says he doesn’t have the right “core values” to be a Scout leader. Denny Meyer, who lives in New York City, wasn’t a Scout, but often tagged along with his older brother to Scout meetings. During college, … Continue reading →

Tamerlan Tsarnaev Received Mass. Welfare Benefits

  By Pamela Leavey | April 24, 2013 - 5:26 pm | , ,
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The wingnuts are in a tizzy… The Boston Herald reports Tamerlan Tsarnaev and family were receiving Mass. welfare benefits: State officials confirmed last night that Tsarnaev, slain in a raging gun battle with police last Friday, was receiving benefits along with his wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, and their 3-year-old daughter. The state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services said those benefits ended in 2012 when the couple stopped meeting income eligibility limits. Russell Tsarnaev’s attorney has claimed Katherine — who had converted to Islam — was working up to 80 hours a week as a home health aide while Tsarnaev stayed at home. The Herald says, “The news raises questions over whether Tsarnaev financed his radicalization on taxpayer money.” … Continue reading →