Former Secretary of Labor and economic sage Robert Reich on the myth that Americans living beyond their (stagnant) means contributed most to the country’s great economic collapse in the mid to late 2000s. Novel idea: tax those whose means have actually gone up exponentially leading up to the recession and, even more astonishingly, following it?
While we’re at it, we might as well just subsidize chemical companies that make non-damaging glue so that we may bind our firearms to our hands at all times without doing any harm. Except for, you know, when we pull the trigger and harm others.
The Article: Justice Department memo reveals legal case for drone strikes on Americans by Michael Isikoff in NBC News.
The Text: A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” — even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects abroad, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the September 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both were U.S. citizens who had never been indicted by the U.S. government nor charged with any crimes.
Not spoken by a crank, but rather someone who knows his stuff. It’s worth your time to watch.
The “Us Vs. Ancient Romans” Theory: We are genetically identical to the Ancient Romans. We are simply separated by nicer things, monotheism, and two thousand years of Enlightenment and the Western legal system. Our National Football League is their gladiatorial games but with nicer Underarmor-imprinted padding.
The “10,000 Rule” Theory: Malcolm Gladwell estimates it takes 10,000 hours to truly master a skill. The Beatles became The Beatles after countless all-night jam sessions in mostly empty Munich night-clubs. Bill Gates logged well over 10,000 hours coding in the University of Washington’s computer labs.
What is the 10,000 hour skill you want to master? What is your hour tally? (Math Tip: An hour a day for three years is a little over 1,000 hours, or only a smidge above 10%.)
The “February Black History Month” Theory: As told by Chris Rock, “February is Black History Month. Isn’t that nice? The Man gives us February because it’s the shortest month of the year! Now, I’m not complaining, but I think we deserve at least a thirty-day month. It’s also the coldest month of the year, just in case we wanted to have a parade.”
