REWIND - A Week of Quotes and Cartoons
SUNDAY
Quote of the Day
November 10, 2013
'All week, the US has been focused on the Twitter
IPO as if it were the Marshall Plan of finance, as if
this one money-splashing event had long-term
implications for capitalist peace. Silicon Valley
millionaires gossiped about the company's decadent
$30bn valuation and started dreaming of IPOs that
would make them rich for working at unprofitable-
but-innovative companies too.
'Meanwhile, in the real America - the one where you
can't call Uber to take you to a launch party - people
are dropping out of the workforce, the recovery is
weakening and early cuts in food stamps are already
slamming the poor.
'That real America is the one that's not getting much
attention. Part of the reason is that it's not
glamorous, and it doesn't have any startup-founder
creation myths. Another part of the reason is to be
found in misleading economic statistics. Economic
indicators keep supporting the idea of a "weak
recovery", and for some reason experts keep
focusing on the recovery part and not the weakness.'
Heidi Moore, US finance and economics editor, The
Guardian (UK)
November 8, 2013
Toon of the Day
The Great Rollout
Joel Pett
MONDAY
Quote of the Day
'Madam chair, we have never had a typhoon like
Bopha, which has wreaked havoc in a part of the
country that has never seen a storm like this in half
a century," Naderev Sano, the lead negotiator of the
Philippines delegation at COP18, said. "And
heartbreaking tragedies like this are not unique to
the Philippines, because the whole world, especially
developing countries struggling to address poverty
and achieve social and human development,
confront these same realities.
"I speak on behalf of 100 million Filipinos, a quarter
of a million of whom are eking out a living here in
Qatar," Saño said. "And I am making an urgent
appeal, not as a negotiator, not as a leader of my
delegation, but as a Filipino.
'I appeal to the whole world, I appeal to the leaders
from all over the world, to open our eyes to the stark
reality that we face. I appeal to ministers. The
outcome of our work is not about what our political
masters want. It is about what is demanded of us by
7 billion people. I appeal to all, please, no more
delays, no more excuses. Please, let Doha be
remembered as the place where we found the
political will to turn things around. And, let 2012 be
remembered as the year the world found the courage
to do so to find the will to take responsibility for the
future we want. I ask of all of us here, if not us, then
who? If not now, then when? If not here, then
where?'
Naderev Sano, the lead negotiator
of the Philippines delegation speaking
at global climate summit in Doha, Qatar,
December 12, 2013 after the deadly
Typhoon Bopha
November 11, 1013
Toon of the Day
Check Mate
Tom Toles
Washington Post
November 11, 2013
TUESDAY
Quote of the Day
''Much has been made of commercial flights these
days, with all those divisions between first class and
coach. For various supplements or with various
deals, you can get a few more inches of legroom or,
shy of that, a prime aisle seat. You can get to board
earlier or later, and thus hoard or miss out on the
overhead bins. Will it be long before there's a ranked
queue for the bathroom? I'm not even sure I'm
kidding.'
Columnist Frank Bruni
New York Times
November 12, 2013
Toon of the Day
Legal Horseplay
Jen Sorensen
WEDNESDAY
Quote of the Day
' "We remain deeply troubled by the continued lack
of adequate congressional consultation in many
areas of the proposed pact* that deeply implicate
Congress' constitutional and domestic policy
authorities," said the House Democrats' letter,
circulated by Representative Rosa DeLauro of
Connecticut and George Miller of California.
'The House Democratic letter has about 151
signatories. On the Republican side, 22 lawmakers
signed a similar letter. Other members have signaled
their opposition independently, meaning that
roughly 40 percent to 50 percent of House members
have signaled that they have concerns about, or
oppose, the use of fast-track authority.'
New York Times
November 13, 2013* Trans-Pacific Partnership
Toon of the Day
Comic Relief
Jim Morin
Miami Herald
THURSDAY
Quote of the Day
'... Political writers over the decades have developed
a whole specialized vocabulary to quickly
contextualize politicians in sound-bite form.
Ideological geography is just left-right, a single
horizontal line apparently representing our whole
universe of beliefs, but people buy it. Then, in a nod
to sports coverage, we shorthand the political
standings by talking about "presumptive
frontrunners," "fringe candidates" and "insurgents."
'The latest linguistic fad is to describe a candidate
as being prone to making "populist appeals," a
concept nearly as nuts as that ostensible single
horizontal line of all possible beliefs. Only in the
Beltway do they have to come up with a special term
to describe the inexplicable (to them) phenomenon
of a politician who advocates for his actual
constituents, instead of just whoring along the
usual career track like everyone else.'
Matt Taibbi
Rolling Stone
November 13, 2013
Toon of the Day
Air Merger
Signe Wilkinson
FRIDAY
Quote of the Day
'Democrats are showing once again they have the
backbones of banana slugs.
'The Affordable Care Act was meant to hold insurers
to a higher standards. So it stands to reason that
some insurers will have to cancel their lousy sub-
standard policies.
'But spineless Democrats (including my old boss Bill
Clinton) are caving in to the Republican-fueled
outrage that the President "misled" Americans into
thinking they could keep their old lousy policies -
and are now urging the White House to forget the
new standards and let people keep what they had
before.'
Economist Robert Reich
blog
November 13, 2013
Toon of the Day
Growing Banks
Stuart Carlson
SATURDAY
Quote of the Day
'Will Senator Rand Paul, misunderstanding the
voices of the un-dead, block the appointment of
Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve Board?
'No joke. Tea Party fave Paul told the Wall Street
Journal he would have preferred Milton Friedman,
the free-market fanatic, to the liberal-ish Yellen.
But, as a stunned Journal reporter informed the
Senator, Milton Friedman is, alas, some years dead.'
Investigative journalist Greg Palast
Nation of Change
November 15, 2013
Toon of the Day]
Takers
Mike Luckovich
Atlanta Journal Constitution
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