I Write Letters

July 11, 2012PoliticsJames

Published in the Sun-Times today, in response to analysis from know-nothing business columnist Terry Savage claiming that maintaining tax cuts for the millionaires among us is the right thing to do–and willl really stimulate the economy this time!

I would have liked to elaborate more, but sadly they have their print letters at two paragraphs max these days. Gotta save room for the syndicated columnists.

Savage wrong on tax cuts
Does Terry Savage really think maintaining Bush-era tax cuts for the richest Americans is going to boost the economy? We’ve heard that same story for 10 years now and it hasn’t panned out. Better to return top tax rates to what they were during the Clinton years (Remember? When people had jobs?) and start paying down our deficit.

James Seidler, North Center

Bors on Sandusky and Other Enablers

June 24, 2012ComicsJames

This one has to sting.

J.D. Smith – Two Capitals

June 15, 2012FLYMF Alums, Well Worth ReadingJames

FLYMF alum J.D. Smith has an excellent poem, “Two Capitals,” in American Arts Quarterly!

J.D.’s stories for FLYMF included The Great Tuvalu Liquidation Sale, My Fetishist Things and As a Matter of Fact, I Am the Person You Have to Blow to Get a Table Around Here. You can follow all of J.D.’s updates on his blog, Smitroverse.

Learning All the Wrong Lessons

June 15, 2012PoliticsJames

But, if you happen to be passing by the Mount Transfiguration Baptist Church Cemetery in Aiken County down in South Carolina, you might stop by the grave of Frank Wills and say a little prayer for his soul. This weekend is his 40-year anniversary. It belongs to him, and to the three cops — public employees, as they are reckoned in the politics of the moment — who answered his call. Forty years ago this Sunday, they all did their jobs very well. In the 40 years since, as citizens of a self-governing republic, we’ve all done ours very badly.

Charles Pierce has a gutpunch of a post on the legacy of Watergate.

Sugar and the Nanny State

June 7, 2012Well Worth ReadingJames

Certainly. And if people want to ride motorcycles without helmets or smoke cigarettes that’s their prerogative, too. But it’s the nanny-state’s prerogative to protect the rest of us from their idiotic behavior. Sugar-sweetened beverages account for a full 7 percent of our calorie intake, and those calories are not just “empty,” as is often said, but harmful: obesity-related health care costs are at $147 billion and climbing.

New York Times Food Magazine columnist Mark Bittman has a compelling column supporting Mayor Bloomberg’s move to limit portion sizes of sweetened drinks. I’d be more swayed by arguments about the nanny state if it weren’t so obvious that most of us need to be thoroughly nannied, especially when society foots the bill.