Elevator (Taken with Instagram at Manhattan Municipal Building)
For those who are wondering why the East Haven Police Department is out of control, one possible answer is that Mayor Joseph Maturo is an idiot.
What other possible explanation is there for Mr. Maturo’s comments Tuesday night following the arrest of four East Haven police officers for violating, often brutally, the civil rights of Latinos? A New York television reporter asked Mr. Maturo what he was doing for the Latino community. (See the interview, by all means, at http://www.courant.com.) A moderately sentient public official in such a circumstance might say that he planned to meet with leaders of the community to apologize for the officers’ behavior and ask them to join him in making changes to prevent such unacceptable conduct.
Mr. Maturo responded by saying that he that he might go home and have tacos for dinner. He then rambled on with marginal coherence about other ethnic groups, mentioning his own Italian heritage (“I might have spaghetti”). We would bet that Italian Americans who’ve seen the video cringed.
In case you missed the video, here it is over here. (Thanks Matt)
The main headline on The Drudge Report reads, “Gingrich repeatedly insulted Reagan” citing an example of him accusing Reagan of causing America’s “decay.”
On the scale of Republican taboos, profaning the name of the “great” Reagan is probably considered tantamount to, if not worse than, profaning the name of God himself.
Looks like Romney has some fresh new ammo.
Amusing map that gets at NYC’s brand of provincialism, which goes something like this:
“The City” is the center of the world and the only place worth living in (well, maybe, Paris or London, but…). The rest of America consists of backwater hinterlands inhabited by uncultured, simple people—the likes of whom roam around Times Square in droves with oversized sweatshirts.
The Wall Street Journal has a reputation for leaning to the right. However, this morning I was struck by the sentiments of WSJ readers and just how sharply they contrasted with those of the country as a whole.
In the Wall Street Journal’s online poll asking readers to grade President Obama’s State of the Union, the plurality of people—40%—gave the President an “F,” just under the combined percentage of people who gave the President an “A,” “B,” or “C” grade. A whopping 57.6% gave the President a “D” or an “F.”
Looking at a scientific CNN Opinion Research poll, however, paints a very different picture. 84% of of respondents felt that the State of the Union was either “very positive” or “somewhat positive,” and only 4% thought that the speech was “very negative.”
Of course, there are inherent biases in people who choose to respond to online surveys. However, the fact that the disparities between the WSJ and CNN polls are so significant is telling. It appears to be illustrative of a broader phenomenon, no doubt fueled by the internet, in which news sources are politicized and people seek out partisan reporting that affirms existing opinions. This spurs news organizations to produce information that placates their audiences, resulting in the formation of echo-chambers in which partisan rhetoric masqueraded as news reaches readers/viewers/listeners who accept opinion as truth and relay it to others as such. What our democracy requires in order to ensure a well-informed electorate, however, is precisely the opposite.
SOPA and PIPA are dead!
Despite my insatiable sweet tooth, I’m never tempted by the desserts at Starbucks. They simply don’t look appetizing and are poorly presented.
As a point of contrast, look at the pastries at Financier, an NYC coffee shop chain.
For the same price as the Starbucks offerings, which look stale and processed, one can buy delicious, freshly-made and appetizing desserts.
Starbucks’ offerings leave much to be desired, and in places like New York City, where so much competition exists, people will vote with their pocketbooks and buy desserts elsewhere. If Starbucks were to partner with local bakeries or even (gasp!) made baked goods in-house, it seems as if there is significant potential to improve both sales and customer satisfaction.
Really illustrative of the power of internet activism.
Behold! What the Stop SOPA blackout managed to accomplish in 24 hours.
