Politicians, media pundits, economists and business leaders are blowing a lot of smoke up society’s collective ass in their attempts to perpetuate the myth of economic recovery. Almost no one understands (or pretends not to) that this time around there won’t be one. Even the so-called economic experts, from Joseph Stigl

If you haven’t yet seen Van Jones’ “Rebuild the Dream” speech, I urge you to at least take a look at the highlights; I think you’ll find it worth your while. Jones, aided and abetted by MoveOn.org and other influential progressive groups, is starting a movement designed to bring about a more balanced and more just

For the greater good of preserving our nation’s sovereignty, solvency and sanity, we should rewrite Constitutional laws, tax laws and civil laws in ways that show the 2 percent what it’s like to be the other 98 percent. Q >>>

Engineering economic disasters is one of the few things the GOP leadership is really good at. Another is their ability to shift the blame for the destruction they cause to the Democrats. They’ve proven, over time and beyond all doubt, that Republicans have the requisite skills necessary to lead the nation’s working- and

Republicans bleed the poor and the middle class every chance they get. “The corporatists have been waiting for this day.  When Americans are struggling to survive, when their homes are being swept away by Wall Street bankers, when their jobs are going South of the Border and elsewhere to poor countries that have no env

Attention farmers: Monsanto is not your friend, your buddy, or your benefactor. Using Monsanto’s GM seeds is not going to save you money, nor will using them make you money over the long haul. In the end, using Monsanto’s GM seeds will likely cost you everything you own and put you on the liability hook for millions mor

No, no, this has nothing to do with the Internet. This is all about denying abortion and reproductive health and family planning services to women desperately in need of same. In a world that’s already dangerously overpopulated (and a world that seems to be setting up as much as 90% of its total population for near-term e

One of the main differences between conservatives and progressives is that conservatives want to be the sole beneficiaries of the wealth that society produces, while progressives tend to favor a saner, less selfish, more equitable approach to wealth distribution. Each of the four short-but-excellent articles, linked to belo

Okay, okay, so I nicked the image from Don Durito over at Notes From Underground. At the time it seemed pretty fair because he'd nicked it from Skippy, who probably nicked it from . . . oh, who cares? The points are that it's a fitting tribute to a blogging legend that departed the blogosphere way to soon and that it's Blog

Anyone on the left who claims to have friends on the right is a full-of-shit fucking moron. Why would anyone call someone that wants to see them unemployed, broke, homeless, hungry, in poor health—in short, marginalized in every possible way—and, finally, dead, a friend? Get a clue, lefties; right-wingers are not your f

Why is stupidity so firmly entrenched in the Republican mindset? Like their claim that tax cuts for the wealthy will create jobs, for instance. Or that looting the Social Security trust fund is a financially sound idea, or that defunding public education will somehow magically produce smarter students. Either Republicans ar

Whenever I write a book review as part of an author’s or publisher’s promotional campaign, I like to post the review online a few days in advance of the scheduled publication date—enough time to let interested readers and potential book buyers know that the book will soon be available, but not so far out that they’r

Teabaggers don't want to take back America, they want to take it away from the rest of us. Q >>>

Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, left a phone message asking Anita Hill to apologize for accusing Justice Thomas, during his confirmation hearings, of sexual misconduct. Huh? Since when do victims owe their victimizers an apology? After reviewing the details of the case, though, I reached the con

If you want a corporate takeover of our democracy, vote for Republican candidates. If you want an absolute breakdown of society and total chaos, vote for Tea Party candidates. If you want to see the long, painful, glacier-slow recovery process continue, vote for Democratic candidates (but prepare to keep successful

Factory farming methods are a huge threat to food safety and security in the United States, but so are many other things. Jesus, the kid gets it!Q >>>

Except for his two NBA records for consecutive missed free throws, Chris Dudley’s basketball career was remarkably unremarkable in that he utterly failed to distinguish himself as an exceptional player. He sure as hell didn’t lead the Portland Trailblazers to a comeback championship season. That begs the question, if he

Here’s a tip for anyone contemplating suicide by drain cleaner. If you’re really serious about getting the job done, don’t smear it on your face; drink it. All of it. Then shoot yourself.Q >>>

If some economists have got it right, the recession is over. It was the longest economic downturn in American history; begun on President George W. Bush’s watch, ended on President Obama’s. Who’s your daddy, now?Q >>>

Next week, the Texas Board of Education—whose membership apparently consists exclusively of anti-Muslim bigots already possessed of a Texas-style education—will vote on a resolution that effectively rewrites a large chunk of American religious history. The problem is that Tex Books find their way into educational system

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts specia

Tim Hallinan’s The Queen of Patpong arrives in bookstores today and, come to think of it, so should you. Go ahead! Buy a few copies; get an early start on your Christmas shopping. Buy a copy for yourself, get one for your best friend, give one to your brother’s ex-wife’s sister’s boyfriend. Give a copy to your third

Regular readers of this blog are well aware that my blogging activities sort of ran off the rails in early April and that my blog posts since then can be counted on the digits of one hand—with a couple of thumbs to spare. Getting my various projects back on the rails and back up to speed has been a long, slow process, so

When good intentions collide head-on with the reality of adverse circumstances, good intentions almost always come out the big loser. To make the point, I’ll cite an example from recent personal experience. While my intention was to do all the things I’d committed to do, the reality was that a sudden downturn in my heal

The following blog post, reprinted here unchanged from the original, comes to us courtesy of Barbara O’Brien (The Mahablog, Crooks and Liars, et al.) Barb asked if I would be interested in helping her out by reposting her article; because I stand ready to enlist the pages of Frieddogleg to any number of worthy progressive

Over the weekend I learned that I can’t be a good environmentalist because I sometimes eat meat. Alrighty, then, here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to stop busting my hump to be a good environmentalist. First thing on my new agenda is to replace all those CFL and LED light bulbs, purchased at great expense (

As we know, convenience food and pharmaceutical industries are two of the most prolific advertisers of consumer products to which Americans have become addicted. Automobile manufacturers—whose products are as ubiquitous in American culture as Big Macs, telephones, TVs and computers—round out the top three. Let's fac

We Americans depend on our addiction to conspicuous consumerism and consumption to appease our addiction to instant gratification, which we finance with our addiction to credit. An addiction to television begets addictions to convenience food and a plethora of over-the-counter and prescription drugs, which give us the illus

We Americans are habitual addicts. Indoctrinated into consumerism at an early age, most of us base every aspect of our lives on conspicuous consumption. Even when we work at producing something, it's all about being able to consume more. We're so enamored of self-indulgence that we've elevated addiction, per se, to a lifest

There are enough “strikes” in the Health Care Reconciliation Bill to take the Major League, the Minor League, and all the Little Leagues through an entire season of baseball. With all the misdirection that is part and parcel of the legislative process, it’s no wonder that legislators find it so easy to deceive the Ame