“A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter. I feel no obligation to deal with politics. I do feel a responsibility to society because of going into print: a writer has the duty to be good, not lousy; true, not false; lively, not dull; accurate, not full of error. He should tend to lift people up, not lower them down. Writers do not merely reflect and interpret life, they inform and shape life.”
- E. B. White
“My fellow Americans,” Bush said, “at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us.” Bush swore to do “everything in [his] power” to undo the damage wrought by Clinton’s two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street. During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.
Fox News Declares War on SpongeBob SquarePants (by MediaMattersMinute)
Shutting down the FAA: The FAA has been operating under temporary bills since 2007 and it partially shut down a week ago last Friday because the House GOP refused to back down from an anti-worker provision that would make it harder to unionize airlines.
Delta Airlines, the only non-union major carrier, happens to be in the midst of a pitched battle against attempts to unionize it. FedEx is also involved in a related battle on Capitol Hill as it also attempts to fend off unionization. The air transport industry, for its part, also happens to be Mica’s single largest campaign contributor, having given him$642,993 over the course of his career.
After sending Mica’s poison pill bill for a temporary extension of the FAA’s authority over to the Senate, the House simply left town this Tuesday for a month-long vacation. Even conservative Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) called the House’s actions “not honorable.” Mica’s jobs be damned political gamesmanship now all but guarantees that the FAA will remain shut down until at least Labor Day.
Since the FAA can’t collect taxes while it is shut down, airlines are enjoying a billion-dollar windfall by keeping ticket prices the same and simply pocketing the cash they’d otherwise have to turn over to the FAA. The price, however, for workers and the economy is even steeper:
Fox News Falsehood: Half of Americans Don’t Pay Any Taxes (by MediaMattersMinute)
Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist supports an #OnionPulitzer (by AfajpOnline)
Bo Obama, Dog supports an #OnionPulitzer (by AfajpOnline)
Neil Gaiman, Author supports an #OnionPulitzer (by AfajpOnline)
First there was the bizarre AFP report asking where all the oil in the Gulf could have possibly gone. Then a breaking news alert from the New York Times landed in my inbox Tuesday night declaring “Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick Appears to Vanish Quickly,” which seemed to imply that because a few reporters hadn’t noticed much crude on a flyover, it must have magically disappeared. (The alert failed to mention the 1.8 million gallons of dispersant that BP dumped on the spill to do exactly that).
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