Month: September 2009

We still don’t know very much about the death of Bill Sparkman in a brutal scene in Kentucky. But the far right is obviously concerned that its violent anti-government rhetoric might at some point be implicated. So what do these people do? Notorious homophobe Dan Riehl pre-emptively asks if Sparkman was a gay child predator, because he had an adopted son. He has no other evidence at all.

Jonathan Rauch daydreams:

"Hello! Thank you for calling Air Health Care, the airline that works like the health care system. My name is Cynthia. How can I give you travel care today?"

"Hi. My name is Jonathan Rauch. I need to fly from Washington, D.C., to Eugene, Oregon, on October 23."

"Yes, I'd be happy to assist you with that. It does look like we can get you on a flight on January 23 at 1 p.m. or February 8 at 3 p.m. Which would you prefer?"

"Neither. I need to be in Eugene on October 23. As in, the 23rd of October."

"I'm sorry, we have nothing open on that date. You might try another carrier."

"I suppose I'd better. Who has availability?"

"I'm afraid I have no way to know that. I have no way to look into their systems."

"Who would know?"

"You can call them individually and ask. I'm sure you can find one."

"Look, I don't have time to call two dozen airlines. It's important that I get to Eugene on the 23rd. There must be something you can do."

"Well, it looks like maybe we could squeeze you in on October 26, if you don't mind departing Washington Dulles at 5:35 a.m."

"Good grief. All right, I suppose it will do."

"Great, thank you, I'll be happy to make that booking for you. That's one flight from Washington Dulles to Chicago O'Hare on October 26. Will there be anything else?"

"Wait, hold on. Chicago? I'm going to Eugene. It's in Oregon."

"Yes, sir. The Eugene portion of your trip will be handled by a western specialist. We'll be glad to bring you back from Chicago to Washington, though."

The blogosphere is not letting go.

Mint.com passes along a print journalism autopsy report.

Room For Debate tackles whether sanctions will work against Iran. Jim Walsh is skeptical:

Research on the effect of sanctions is difficult to assess, but some scholars conclude that sanctions work about half the time. They are most effective when applied over a long period of time on small countries that are dependent on the outside world. Iran is a big country with oil, and it can build centrifuges faster than the international community can impose sanctions.

The Islamic Republic is also a proud country, the kind for which sanctions are as likely to elicit defiance, as they are cooperation. Indeed, the Islamic Republic has been under one kind of sanction or another since its founding 30 years ago. Any objective assessment would have to conclude that sanctions have completely failed to alter Iran’s nuclear policy. This is not to suggest that they are without merit. They add cost and inconvenience, especially when the price of oil is low and the level of domestic economic mismanagement is high. But are they enough to induce Tehran to reverse its very public commitment to uranium enrichment? That seems highly unlikely, no matter what sanctions are imposed (and this assumes Russia and China sign up for unprecedentedly harsh sanctions).

Is 1 percent of US income for decades a trivial cost for cap-and-trade?

Glenn Beck strikes a pose.

Change, France, 7.50 am

Clark Hoyt of the New York Times chides his paper for missing the ACORN-sting story and announces a new beat:

[Managing editor Jill Abramson] and Bill Keller, the executive editor, said last week that they would now assign an editor to monitor opinion media and brief them frequently on bubbling controversies. Keller declined to identify the editor, saying he wanted to spare that person “a bombardment of e-mails and excoriation in the blogosphere.”

Jesse Smith ponders pet health insurance:

[L]ike all other forms of insurance, coverage for pets is just another calculation of risk. When it comes to a pet's health, its owner is — to borrow the term — a kind of death panel. Do you believe a pet should have medical care? How much are you willing to spend? Is cost not an object? Or is it, so you take out a policy and make monthly payments so that when your dog inhales a fishing hook, you don't have to think twice about how you'll pay to get it out?