Internal Monologue

Dude, the yarns little kids spin are just totally surreal: Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo . Violence, theft, suicide, exploitation of the poor, this story has everything.

Now is not the time for shilly-shallying, says Krugman : Finally, in normal times modesty and prudence in policy goals are good things. Under current conditions, however, it’s much better to err on the side of doing too much than on the side of doing too little. The risk, if the stimulus plan turns out to be more than needed, is that the economy might overheat, leading to inflation — but the Federal Reserve can always head off that threat by raising interest rates. On the other hand, if the stimulus plan is too small there’s nothing the Fed can do to make up for the shortfall. So when depression economics prevails, prudence is folly. What does all this say about economic policy in the near future? The Obama administration will almost certainly take office in the face of an economy looking even worse than it does now. Indeed, Goldman Sachs predicts that the unemployment rate, currently at 6.5 percent, will reach 8.5 percent by the end of next year. All indications are that the new admin

I sure hope those beepers that go off when trucks back up save a lot of lives, because they are annoying as hell. [I sent this from my iPhone, so please excuse any excessive brevity or typographical errors.] --Zachary Drake

Paul Hogarth , a California lawyer whom I know slightly through my friend Paul Dosh , takes a look at the legal challenge to Prop 8, and is more optimistic than before that the California Supreme Court might strike it down: But after having read Herrera’s well-written brief and done some legal research, I am now more optimistic that justice will prevail. Prop 8 was not your typical “amendment” that merely tinkers with the California Constitution. It was a drastic revision that deprives a “suspect class” (gays and lesbians) of a fundamental right under equal protection. And a simple majority vote of the people is not enough to take that right away – especially when the purpose of equal protection is to shield minorities. While other courts have upheld marriage amendments in other states, they have different Constitutions – and court rulings have changed considerably in a short period of time. And unlike many states, California has explicitly found sexual orientation to be a “suspect cl

via bluegal on Crooks and Liars .