I love Thailand. I’ve been going there for 4 decades and have explored every part of the country— from Chiang Rai and the Golden Triangle, through Mae Hong Son, Chaing Mai, Udon Thani, down through Hua Hin, Ko Samui (back when there were no hotels, no phone service and no airport), Surat Thani, Phuket and Yala. And, of course Bangkok. They call it the Land of Smiles and the Thai people are the biggest asset the country has, of course.
Remember the other day when we looked at how centrism sucks? We were looking at American politics. But we're not the only ones with the problem. Remember the British avatar of neoliberal assholism, New Labour's Tony Blair? New Labour is very much like New Dems, the same disease.
-by Sam HusseiniThe new Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer began his remarks at the recent "Hands Off Medicare" event [video below] by noting that he and Bernie Sanders-- another speaker at the event-- both went to James Madison High School in Brooklyn. Said Schumer: "Bernie was on the track team and they won the city championship. I was on the basketball team.
Norcross and Christie, the two grotesque crooks who run New JerseyEarlier today we mentioned, in passing, an insurance-related dust-up in the South Jersey congressional race for the open NJ-03 swing seat being vacated by Jon Runyan. It pits multimillionaire insurance executive Tom MacArthur against Burlington County Freeholder Aimee Belgard, a Democratic.
Since 1990, the Insurance Industry has contributed $306,387,653 in congressional races, almost two-thirds of it to Republicans. So far this year, they've doled out $17,600,207, again, most of it to Republicans. So far in the cycle they have carefully selected the incumbents who have been most willing-- in each house-- to put the special interests of the insurance industry ahead the interests of their own constituents and of the American people.
