Disqus - Latest Comments for Polimom

Re: Chris Owings starts over Brock Holt as Red Sox go for sweep

Polimom — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 17:59:13 -0000

Oh goodness. This Cora interview sounds like he's trying to undercut Brock Holt's chances in free agency. Not okay. Not at all.

Re: House considers raising juvenile delinquent age

Polimom — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 12:32:07 -0000

17 year olds should absolutely still be handled as juveniles. New Hampshire's approach to this age group is bizarre and schizophrenic, and the selectivity of the 1996 law is a fine example of very poor legislation.

If we, as NH citizens, thought them fully able to understand the long-term consequences of their decisions, then we should also allow them to: purchase tobacco; enter into legally binding contracts; marry without parental permission; drop out of high school.

Obviously, the legislature didn't think 17 year olds were ready for such weighty, life-affecting decisions. How stupid that only in the criminal code was this changed.

Re: Double-Minded Republicans

Polimom — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 10:31:18 -0000

How is it possible that the author has so completely missed the obvious? The lost third are folks who watched a Republican Congress that come into office committed to non-cooperation. Period. End of story, come hell or high water. Out here in the "real world", we interpreted that as willingness to destroy the country in a snit.

Not ok. Not responsible enough to be trusted with governance.

Re: When Political “Debate” Crosses the Line

Polimom — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:06:30 -0000

That is indeed surely It. People really need to back up a step or ten and get themselves under control.

Re: Texas Board of Education: Making Their Own History

Polimom — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:01:40 -0000

Sorry I disappeared yesterday, everybody. Had to post and run (so to speak).

Thanks for all your comments. I want to add to the discussion that, although the very conservative faction of the board held sway over the final standards, the outcome would also have been problematic to me if the liberal faction had had its way on some things as well.

For instance: Among other things, they were pushing for adding the names of the Tejano fighters who died at the Alamo to the list of names students must know -- not because these particular fighters were especially stand-out in comparison to others who were there, but simply because of their ethnicity.

Re: Texas Board of Education: Making Their Own History

Polimom — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:35:00 -0000

Seriously? You think it's because of Sally Hemmings? How bizarre!!

Re: Reading the Tea Leaves With Blinders On

Polimom — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:01:37 -0000

It kinda depends on who's writing. Some authors are further left (or right) than others.

Re: Kansas City To Shut Down Almost Half Of Its Public Schools

Polimom — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:49:48 -0000

With the district enrollment down so hugely, what is it, exactly, that those who are outraged suggest be done?

Re: Toyota: Not Safe “Enough” for My Loved Ones

Polimom — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:25:44 -0000

Has anyone but me noticed that right after it became clear that the Toyota problem was going to be enormous, there were a whole slew of recalls by other manufacturers? I kept seeing them hit the news and then roll right off the front page.

I think they saw the writing on the public-anger wall, and decided to clear the decks while everybody was looking the other way. Not a chance do I think the timing was coincidental.

GM, for instance: Last April, they recalled 1.5 million vehicles. Ten days ago, they recalled another 1.3 million. Nobody thinks this looks a tad odd?

Re: Toyota: Not Safe “Enough” for My Loved Ones

Polimom — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:22:21 -0000

Dorian, I had a conversation with Dear Husband along very similar lines the other day. We're traveling next week, and DH wondered if I wanted to rent a Rav4 (my usual rental). I said no, I didn't think so, cuz I didn't know whether the rentals had been 'fixed'.

He gave me statistics and reminded me that the hype is being badly overplayed.

And he's right. I know he is. AND I love Toyotas. My first car was a Toyota -- best vehicle I ever owned (prior to my current Nissan).

Nevertheless, we're renting a Ford this time around. Go figure.

I'm really sad for Toyota. I hope they can get their ship turned around. But til then...

Re: Toyota: Not Safe “Enough” for My Loved Ones

Polimom — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:19:31 -0000

If I could give this more than one "like", I sure would. Howdy AR -- missed you! (even though you were apparently here.)

Re: Society As Ignorance, Fear And Courage

Polimom — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:52:04 -0000

"I’m going to be blunt: you cannot be pro-growth, anti-deficit and free market, not when our trading partners are refusing to allow adjustments."

Assuming I'm understanding Mikkel correctly...

As Mikkel says, we have to build up our manufacturing base. Unfortunately, because of the current patterns and politics, manufacturing and buying our own goods is going to cause some enormous heartburn. The unions, in particular, are going to feel quite aggrieved.

Re: Walmart and the Barbie Wars

Polimom — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:53:14 -0000

It's funny, CStanley, how kids pick toys sometimes. Giving too much weight to Barbies is (obviously) a bad idea.

OTOH, there's something very sad about watching a little girl identify a doll as "the ugly one" or "the bad one", and then associate that doll with herself. I have a video as part of another post at my blog (link) that made me cry the first time I watched it.

That doll test has been run again, recently, btw -- and the results are better. Somewhat.

Re: Uncle Sam Will Take Care of Us

Polimom — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:53:18 -0000

"it's meaningless to talk about aggregate asset value of houses because you can only cash out if you downgrade to a lesser house, and if everyone tried to do that it wouldn't work."

That's very much related to what I wrote in the original post about a home's primary value as "shelter", and not counting into someone's retirement portfolio.

Re: Great Expectations and The American Dream

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:44:34 -0000

So... you looked at all these maps (yes, I looked too), and to your mind, the best development areas are Monterey Bay and the Northeast????

Bwahahahaha!!!

Re: The Free Falling Fortunes of Eric Massa: More Investigation, Bombs on Beck

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:17:02 -0000

This is as funny as anything I've ever seen in politics.

Re: Great Expectations and The American Dream

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:11:19 -0000

We're not nearly as overpopulated as we're going to be...

Re: Uncle Sam Will Take Care of Us

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:51:26 -0000

alphonesegaston -- really enjoyed watching your netbook challenges. Thanks for the smile.

Your comment here regarding expectations, btw, fits nicely with what I just wrote about Great Expectations and The American Dream (here).

Because I DO think people "expect" all that. They've been told to.

Re: Supreme Court Takes Up Funeral Protest Case

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:07:09 -0000

I understand what you're saying -- and yes, lowering the bar to "speech that offends" is at extreme odds with our Constitution.

Except that there's case law about "speech that offends". As adelinesdad mentioned earlier -- if it's to give offense for its own sake, then yes, there are limits.

It might be germane to note how this case came before SCOTUS in the first place, btw. It's the result of a civil suit, brought by the father of the dead marine against Phelps and some of his "church" (actually extended family). The first court ruled in favor of the father, awarding several million $ in damages. Phelps appealed and won.

So the footprint here is less about the right to speak in the first place than whether there can / should be consequences for one's speech.

It's apparent (to me, anyway) that Phelps et al are as deliberately offensive and emotionally cruel as possible. They're targeting individuals (rather than policy), and by giving no weight to the private grief and emotional vulnerability of the victims of their cruelty, we're essentially throwing away any culpability for the effects of one's words.

Leaving emotionally devastated victims in the wake of deliberately destructive speech is not what the framers had in mind. I really, truly don't think so.

Re: Supreme Court Takes Up Funeral Protest Case

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:23:08 -0000

You're right -- it's a loaded question, but to my mind, it's pivotal to the issue before SCOTUS.

Leave the wider ramifications of the privacy question aside for a moment. Does a family have any right to bury their dead without being emotionally molested? And if they do (I personally think so), then from where does that right arise?

Re: Supreme Court Takes Up Funeral Protest Case

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:12:45 -0000

Shade -- do you accept that there's a right to privacy?

Re: Money Changes Everything

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:47:20 -0000

DQ, yes, that would be a much more useful comparison.

A number of the social ills named above, "drug use, obesity, violence, mental illness, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy", unfortunately, were not well-tracked in the past (like teenage pregnancy, for instance). Increased reporting is a difficult variable to control.

Stats should be out there, though, for drug use, violence, and illiteracy-- and I'm not sure that those have gotten worse per capita.

Re: Money Changes Everything

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:54:52 -0000

I'm also highly skeptical of the conclusions these social scientists have reached, though I don't challenge their data at all. We do suffer quite a number of social ills.

However, comparing the US to somewhere like Sweden or Japan sociologically requires factoring influences like homogeneity, social norms, and foundational rights. Might as well compare fish and fowl.

Re: Supreme Court Takes Up Funeral Protest Case

Polimom — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:39:52 -0000

Just as well you posted on this and not me. You're much less incendiary than I might have been about this repulsive family.

Heck, I dunno. I still might put something up.

But I'm with you all the way -- I hope SCOTUS rules unanimously against Westboro.

Re: There Is Nothing To Celebrate in What the U.S. Did in Iraq

Polimom — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:26:48 -0000

"BushCo took full advantage of the trauma caused by 911 to push through an extreme foreign policy theory."

That, right there, is why I was so against him becoming president... because it wasn't like his foreign policy was hidden. The PNAC agenda came in with him, and everybody who was paying attention knew it.