Patrick O'Dowd.com - A Bastion of, Et Cetera

Even in Kentucky, Coal Industry Is Under Siege

Wed, 30 May 2012 08:45:20 -0400

Even in Kentucky, Coal Industry Is Under Siege:

When the operator of the Big Sandy plant announced last year that it would be switching from coal to cleaner, cheaper natural gas, people here took it as the worst betrayal imaginable.

What happened to “Friends of Coal”? I thought we were all BFFs here?

Do you mean to suggest the coal industry was using us?

OMG. Our space robot captured a space dragon.

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:20:34 -0400

OMG. Our space robot captured a space dragon.

"I rise to defend the faculty lounge, that magical idea factory that has become, in the current..."

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:13:46 -0400

“I rise to defend the faculty lounge, that magical idea factory that has become, in the current presidential campaign, an object of unexpected derision.”

- In Defense of the Faculty Lounge

"And there you have it: even then Didion was a writer who could produce something in 48 hours that..."

Wed, 23 May 2012 15:39:42 -0400

“And there you have it: even then Didion was a writer who could produce something in 48 hours that your sophomore-year roommate wouldn’t quit quoting for years.”

- Becoming Joan Didion

"In Bloomington, Wallace struggled with the size of his book. He hit upon the idea of endnotes to..."

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:32:35 -0400

“In Bloomington, Wallace struggled with the size of his book. He hit upon the idea of endnotes to shorten it. In April, 1994, he presented the idea to Pietsch, adding, “I’ve become intensely attached to this strategy and will fight w/all 20 claws to preserve it.” He explained that endnotes “allow … me to make the primary-text an easier read while at once 1) allowing a discursive, authorial intrusive style w/o Finneganizing the story, 2) mimic the information-flood and data-triage I expect’d be an even bigger part of US life 15 years hence. 3) have a lot more technical/medical verisimilitude 4) allow/make the reader go literally physically ‘back and forth’ in a way that perhaps cutely mimics some of the story’s thematic concerns … 5) feel emotionally like I’m satisfying your request for compression of text without sacrificing enormous amounts of stuff.” He also said, “I pray this is nothing like hypertext, but it seems to be interesting and the best way to get the exfoliating curve-line plot I wanted.” Pietsch countered with an offer of footnotes, which readers would find less cumbersome, but eventually agreed.”

- Some writing on David Foster Wallace in the New Yorker

"Before I occupied Wall Street, Wall Street occupied me."

Sat, 19 May 2012 09:31:53 -0400

““Before I occupied Wall Street, Wall Street occupied me.””

- Alexis Goldstein in “Leaving Wall Street”

"We just need a president who can sign the legislation that the Republican House and Senate pass,” he..."

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:39:18 -0400

“We just need a president who can sign the legislation that the Republican House and Senate pass,” he said. “We don’t need someone to think. We need someone with enough digits on one hand to hold a pen.””

- Grover Norquist Mitt Romney, Servant of the Right

American Decline a Mirage in a World That’s Rising - Bloomberg

Thu, 17 May 2012 08:02:58 -0400

American Decline a Mirage in a World That’s Rising - Bloomberg

North of Center: Students confront Catholic injustice

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:01:00 -0400

North of Center: Students confront Catholic injustice:

The wonderful North of Center was kind enough to publish my thoughts on Lexington Catholic’s banning of a same-sex couple from the school’s prom.

As a product of Lexington Catholic High School, I was chagrined to see the headlines Sunday morning, May 13. I say ‘chagrined’ because it is entirely unsurprising. The “same-sex couple unallowed to attend prom” headline surfaces with regularity this time of the year—that my Catholic alma mater was now the latest institution to partake in this injustice seemed altogether predictable.

What was not predictable was the deft handling of the matter from students Hope Decker and Tiffany Wright. After being told the day prior by the school’s administration that she and her date, Wright, would not be allowed to attend prom, Decker said, “This is ridiculous. There’s gotta be something we could do about this.” So the students did, and as they were turned away from the dance by the school, cameras from two local news stations were there waiting to tell their story. Decker’s and Wright’s public response in front of the cameras was undramatic, level-headed, and deliberate; their actions taken to rebuke the school, savvy and smart.

Read the rest at North of Center.

German voters must break the Merkel mindset that got them into this

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:29:53 -0400

German voters must break the Merkel mindset that got them into this:

If Germany cannot pull itself together to keep Spain in the euro, then the markets can no longer ignore the fact that the lack of leadership and governance is a fatal flaw in the system.

What accounts for this? I would argue that the heart of the problem lies in the political culture of Germany and the mindset of its political and economic elites, which have never been willing to admit to their own voters the sacrifices that must be undertaken in order to be the leader of Europe. Instead, they have led Germans to believe that they can have it both ways: enjoying the fruits of the eurozone while times were good, and lobbing the burden of adjustment onto others when times got bad.

Peter Orszag: Good U.S. Jobs News Can Be Found in Big Business

Wed, 16 May 2012 08:39:14 -0400

Peter Orszag: Good U.S. Jobs News Can Be Found in Big Business:

Big business, we keep being told, has been so hampered by regulatory uncertainty over the past few years, it has been reluctant to hire workers.

So it is surprising to read the results of a little-known survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Very large businesses, it turns out, have been expanding their domestic workforces relatively rapidly. If, since January 2011, businesses of all sizes had hired at the same rate as those with 5,000 or more employees, we would have almost 4 million more jobs today.

A Dozen Writers Put Down Their Pens to Prove the Might of a March

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:58:04 -0400

A Dozen Writers Put Down Their Pens to Prove the Might of a March:

“We see by the number of people that literature still has authority in our society because no one called these people — they came themselves,” said Lev Rubinstein, 65, a poet and one of the organizers. “We thought this would be a modest stroll of several literary colleagues, and this is what happened. You can see it yourself.”

Texas Wants To Drug a Prisoner So They Can Kill Him

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:12:23 -0400

Texas Wants To Drug a Prisoner So They Can Kill Him

Audio

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:55:49 -0400

Greek Chaos Threatens World Economy—And Obama

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:54:14 -0400

Greek Chaos Threatens World Economy—And Obama:

The whole episode underscores the need for a European growth strategy to supplement budget cuts and structural reforms. With the Germans blocking any idea of a fiscal stimulus—a stance they are unlikely to alter anytime soon, despite the election of François Hollande in France—the obvious way out is for the European Central Bank to engineer a large-scale monetary expansion and a devaluation of the euro, which would give a boost to European exporters. At $1.30, the euro is still grossly overvalued given the continent’s chronic problems.

German Police Used Only 85 Bullets Against People in 2011

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:46:34 -0400

German Police Used Only 85 Bullets Against People in 2011:

According to Germany’s Der Spiegel, German police shot only 85 bullets in all of 2011, a stark reminder that not every country is as gun-crazy as the U.S. of A. As Boing Boing translates, most of those shots weren’t even aimed anyone: “49 warning shots, 36 shots on suspects. 15 persons were injured, 6 were killed.”

What austerity looks like, in three graphs - via Ezra Klein

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:53:53 -0400

What austerity looks like, in three graphs - via Ezra Klein

Scamworld: 'Get rich quick' schemes mutate into an online monster | The Verge

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:59:48 -0400

Scamworld: 'Get rich quick' schemes mutate into an online monster | The Verge

The President’s Gift: What Obama’s personal support for gay marriage means for the law

Wed, 09 May 2012 17:54:36 -0400

The President’s Gift: What Obama’s personal support for gay marriage means for the law

When Energy Isn’t Popular—Anywhere

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:01:56 -0400

When Energy Isn’t Popular—Anywhere