The Rest of Everything Archives - Page 31 of 56

Follow the Money

December 5, 2015

“Follow the money” comes from the All the President’s Men screenplay. The words were likely never spoken during Watergate, but truer words have rarely been written. Rational people can solve for many problems … until we face a problem which involves people whose economic interests lie with avoiding any solution.

Nobody with any real power makes money from the gun show loophole, but the National Rifle Association fights to the nth to prevent any modification to a loophole the size of a large nation. Gun manufacturers make money from the sale of assault weapons, but the real money flows into the coffers of the gun lobby, which opposes any reasonable regulations of weapons. Then there are cop-killer bullets. Who

follow the money, guns, NRA

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Max: An Update

December 4, 2015

Mark Rubin

Many of you met Max last week. If you didn’t here’s what he had to say about his first week in Tucson: Max A. Finch, Guest Blogger. You’re getting an update here. And here’s a Max picture for non clickers.

Max won’t be writing for Mark Rubin Writes for a bit of time. I don’t know for sure what he’d say if he was in the writing mode—we don’t censor here at MRW, but we also don’t seek out writers who sh*t all over us—and, alas, there’s sufficient concern about what Max might write to justify not accepting guest blogs from him right now.

Friday started out fine. We got up, we did a walk which included a piddle,

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Guns and the Second Amendment

November 30, 2015

Mark Rubin

In almost 21 months at this site, I’ve only written two posts that focused on guns and the Second Amendment. One of them, Guns: Embarrassed and Ashamed!, was posted less than three months ago, and its title tells you everything you need to know about my not saying enough about the problem of guns in America.

The Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting prompted this post. Three dead. Several others will survive. The alleged shooter’s motives are not clear, although some evidence suggests a relationship between his views on abortion and the situs.

President Obama said “enough is enough” after the shooting. He and many others have used the same words, too often, with no evident change in the

colorado springs, guns, second amendment

Law, The Rest of Everything

Max A. Finch, Guest Blogger

November 28, 2015

Mark Rubin

[Editor’s Note: Today’s guest blogger is Max A. Finch, sharing the news about his first week in Tucson. Please be kind about the conceit that Max wrote this. He’s very sensitive.]

I’m Max A. Finch.* Here’s my story.

I was Dumas on November 20, 2015, hanging out at Woofstock in Chandler. This tall, dark, and devilishly handsome fellow walks up. Persons talk, and I’m off on a walk. (Leash? Person? Let’s go.) Soon after, I’m off—same fellow—on a walk, into a car, and gone. Free will v. determinism? Pshaw.

The person—Mark is what persons call him—got a few surprises from me. I threw up as we approached I-10, and 2x more before we pulled into his garage. (Maybe there

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Where Art Thou, Grown Up Republicans?

November 27, 2015

Mark Rubin

I woke up on Thanksgiving morning thinking about the Republican Party, and about Republicans. I was wondering where the grown ups are. What happened to the merchants, bankers, land developers, etc.? Main Streeters? And Wall Streeters?

I posed the question because Republican Party primary polls—whether state-by-state or in the aggregate—show Donald Trump leading, consistently and by not insignificant margins. His positions are anathema to the business community, writ small or large. He dumbs down everything. He thrives on division and incivility. In the words of a gentleman lawyer with whom I worked many years ago, he’s not a “quality person,” and if my friend was still alive he’d be a horrified Republican.

Coming up on the outside rail is Senator

Donald Trump, Republican Party

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Thanksgiving 2015

November 25, 2015

Mark Rubin

Thanksgiving is here! It’s my favorite secular holiday. I like Thanksgiving because it’s a holiday which brings people together over nothing more complicated than a moderately complicated meal. It’s also the holiday which brings out fundamental generosity, in the form of welcoming strangers, delivering food, serving at a shelter, etc.

For me, Thanksgiving 2015 carries special significance. The past 12 months or so have presented many challenges. Personally and professionally, nothing looks very much like it did a year ago. People tell me change is good, but I’m not sure many of them have “done it” recently. That all said, life is good now, it gets better every day, and I only hope I haven’t hurt anyone too badly.

Right

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Paris

November 21, 2015

Mark Rubin

I have many thoughts about the events in Paris, and about the reaction in our country. The thoughts are mine, but they’re based on research and my developing perspective on how stuff works. Organizing those thoughts has challenged me, so the structure may not be great. Anyway, here goes:

Nothing Justifies the Actions of Those Who Killed 140+ People and Wounded Hundreds More. I know I’m offering up a “duh” comment. I state the obvious, however, because many of my words will upset people, and I want to be clear about the fact that explanations do not justify murder. For those who need it twice: Explanation ≠ justification.

The Problems Are Decades or More in the Making. Many commentators link

daesh, Iraq, Isil

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Stupid from Governor Rick Snyder

November 20, 2015

Mark Rubin

I’m busy writing my lengthy piece about last Friday evening in Paris and its aftermath. I need to digress, however, to challenge some serious stupid coming from Governor Rick Snyder (R-Mich.)

Steve Inskeep interviewed Governor Snyder today. Here’s the link. Michigan has the country’s largest Arab-American population, excluding California. Governor Snyder was advocating for accepting refugees, until last Friday. And after the attack? He was first in line to say: ”Not now.”

So why stupid? Three reasons, beginning with the response to Steve Inskeep’s first question.

INSKEEP: What concerns you, if anything, about the security check that’s currently in place that takes almost two years in many cases, that involve the National Counterterrorism Center and other agencies?

SNYDER:

Governor Rick Snyder, Paris, Steve

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San Diego

November 15, 2015

Mark Rubin

“Oh my gosh, you’re home already,” was the comment from my San Diego landlord, whose name is Mom. I was gone a total of 49 hours, of which 12 were spent driving and 14 sleeping. (Although I was alone, some part of the sleeping hours may have occurred during the driving hours, so total hours are approximate.)

My 23 hours were mixed. My trip had for its primary purpose visiting someone who’s ill. Our visit was delightful, but there’s no pleasure in seeing someone suffer. Alas, I’m glad I went!

The balance of my 23 hours was spent walking, reading, eating, drinking, shopping, and getting a haircut, mostly in that order. Here are some highlights:

Saturday dinner was at Ironside

Food, The Rest of Everything

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Carson Crashing!

November 7, 2015

Mark Rubin

Carson crashing? Seems likely, and it’s not surprising.

The newest Ben Carson story is about West Point. Did he apply and get offered a full scholarship, or did someone tell him he could go there for free, and did he really meet Army General William Westmoreland or not? The particulars are in Politico’s bombshell story, Exclusive: Carson Claimed West Point ‘Scholarship’ But Never Applied.

The West Point story is of a piece with Dr. Carson’s report about being held up at gunpoint at a “Popeyes organization,” a story covered by MRW in Dr. Ben Carson on October 10. Then, of course, there’s Ben Carson Defends Himself against Allegations That He Never Attempted to Murder a Child. Eric Levitz

Dr. Ben Carson

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