Internet Sales Tax Won’t Stop Me From Online Shopping
Brick-and-mortar stores shouldn’t bank on the pending Marketplace Fairness Act.
The Marketplace Fairness Act is a bill that aims to “level the playing field” between online retailers and brick and mortar stores. Most online retailers don't have to collect state sales tax from buyers in states where they have no physical presence (like a retail store, warehouse or distribution facility). Changing that could be a windfall for state tax revenues and could change the retail landscape. Or will it?
Obama’s Scandals Do Not Mean Liberalism Has Failed
Big government is not the same thing as bad government.
It was to be expected: The recent round of scandals surrounding President Obama has prompted conservatives to a chorus of every ideologue’s favorite rallying cry: “I told you so!”
What we were told in this case is not merely that President Obama is a poor leader—though there’s an element of that in the recent schadenfreude. Instead, what conservatives are happy to proclaim these days is that the Obama scandals—and the abuse of power they perhaps portend—prove that liberalism is wrong and conservatives are right.
There’s Something Rotten in Virginia Politics
How a primary election swindle opened the door to the GOP’s lunatic fringe.
Even if you haven't been closely monitoring the Virginia governor's race, chances are that by now you've heard something about the two characters the GOP is running to replace outgoing Republican Bob McDonnell and his number two, Bill Bolling, the current lieutenant governor.
Isn’t is just adorable when adults stumble onto some fun thing their kids do, a thing that that they don’t understand, and then make that thing completely irresistible by telling their kids they can’t do it?
Last week was supposed to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week for President Obama. The IRS was doing something terrible. The Justice Department was doing something horrible. And in Washington, Republicans held hearings in which they stripped Hillary Clinton naked, tied her to a pole in the Capitol Rotunda, set her on fire, and danced and sang while she burned. No, actually, they threatened to shoot her in the vagina. (That part’s real.) And you know what happened after that? America just liked Hillary Clinton even more.
The Marine Corps’ Umbrella Rule Is Dumb
Conservatives get outraged at President Obama for "breaking" a very silly rule.
I respect Marines. I’ve known a few, know how rough and tough and loyal and committed they can be, both to each other and to their mission. I know I’ve never possessed the physical resources to be a Marine, and their “see the hill, take the hill” ethos has usually been refashioned to “see the donut, take the donut” in my own hands. They've given more and sacrificed more in defense of this country than I have at my piddly little keyboard.
Don’t Be Surprised by Dept. of Justice’s AP Probe
When the feds cite "national security concerns," they mean "because we felt like it."
As the immortal hip hop duo Mobb Deep rapped back in 1995, “ain’t no such thing as halfway crooks.” In "Shook Ones Pt. II," Prodigy warns, if you “speak the wrong words, man you will get touched.”
Given the actions of the Department of Justice this past week, it seems like they might know a little bit about that. In response to a report from the Associated Press in May of last year regarding a foiled bombing plot in Yemen, the DOJ launched a two-month-long probe into the AP’s phone records, netting communications information from more than 100 reporters and editors across multiple bureaus, according to AP estimates. In some cases, the secret probe extended to home and cell phone records as well, so the investigation was thorough.
The Coming Impeachment of President Obama
Republicans are just itching for a scandal they can pin to the President. They should think about what happens next.
Here’s a not-so-modest prediction about the near future of our politics:
• President Obama will be impeached within a year for one (or more) of the current “scandals” buzzing around his administration. Take your pick: Benghazi, the IRS, or the seizure of AP reporter phone records.
• When that happens, Amercia may become completely, finally ungovernable.
How Far Is Too Far With Photoshop?
World Press Photo controversy exposes journalism double standard.
On Tuesday, Swedish photographer Paul Hansen, winner of the 2012 World Press Photo award for best picture, was vindicated of charges that his winning image was a “fraudulent forgery” following weeks of mudslinging by a handful of photo-purists who took issue with the way the picture was created. The striking photograph, which depicts a group of Palestinians mourning two young victims of an Israeli missile strike, raised a stink due to its creative use of toning and Hansen's reliance on post-production processing techniques to add an emotive quality to the work.
In a strongly worded rebuke published on the photography blog...
Forget the Tea Party. The IRS Should Target Whole Foods Customers
12 people the taxman should chase.
I am so angry! I was reading this week how the Internal Revenue Service was found to be targeting certain conservative groups. C’mon guys, you’ve got some serious power at your disposal. You can make people’s lives miserable just by putting them on a list, and you’re wasting your time targeting the Tea Party? Really? Those guys don’t have any real influence.
But feel free to continue your targeting! We know you’ve been doing it for years now, so why hide anymore? Tell the public you’re providing a service and target the following.
The 50 Most Influential Jews in the World
Lena Dunham, Bar Refaeli make the list. Ed Rendell does not.
The Jerusalem Post released its hotly anticipated "50 most influential Jews in the world" today, and all we can say is, there are probably a couple dozen mothers out there who are plotzing. So much better than being a dentist.
Below, I've singled out some favorites, particularly those with a local connection. Enjoy!
Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel
Rank: No. 3
Local connection: Bibi went to Cheltenham High School, from which he graduated, and which obviously determined his success as a world leader. The best sentence on his entire Wiki page is this one: "To this day, he speaks American English with...
High-Paid, Winning College Football Coaches Are Worth Every Million
Nothing sells a school like a successful team.
[caption id="attachment_343921" align="aligncenter" width="440" caption="PSU football coach Bill O'Brien is the highest-paid PA state employee."][/caption]
Last week, Deadspin published an infographic revealing that the highest-paid state employees in 80 percent of the U.S. are college football and basketball coaches. That includes Penn State football boss Bill O’Brien.
Cue the hysteria.
I could never be a Yeshiva student in Brooklyn. My new glasses are too cool for school.
Borough Park’s Bobover Yeshiva B’Nei Zion has banned students from wearing thick-framed, retro glasses because the now-chic eyewear represents “the new modernism,” the New York Post reports.
Dan Snyder Vows to Protect “Redskins” Nickname to His Death
What the NFL team owner could learn from the Chink’s Steaks name change.
Well, at least Daniel Snyder never owned Chink’s Steaks.
Chink’s, you’ll remember, is the northeast Philly steak shop that changed its name to Joe’s Steaks + Soda Shop a couple of months ago, after years of protests that the name was insensitive to Asian-Americans. Shop owner Joe Groh wanted to expand his business, and he did—and he made the right decision, it appears: The shop just made Zagat’s list of Top 10 Philly “guilty pleasures” in part because the name change meant customers didn’t have to feel too guilty. Changing the name to reflect 21st-century sensibilities, it seems, was a smart move by Groh.
Watch Out! I’m About to Sexually Harass You!
You know what’s really "unwelcome"? The Department of Education’s new definition of sexual harassment, that’s what.
Hi there! I'm in your English 101 class with you, and you look like a nice person. Would you like to go out on a date with me?
No? Okay, well, never mind, then, I’ll just—
What? You say I sexually harassed you? How? By asking you out? Since when does that qualify as sexual harassment?
Fox News, Jason Collins, Tim Tebow and Me
Fox uses my words about a Christian athlete to make a point about gay players. There’s a difference.
This is what comes of not obsessively Googling my own name: I missed that Fox News decided to quote me a week or two ago. Take a look at this video:
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com
What’s weird: The quote comes from a column I wrote more than year ago for Scripps Howard News Service, back at the height of the Tim Tebow craze. I wasn’t a fan of Tebow’s “Look At My Awesome God!” antics, and said so.
“Most of us have learned to live with boundaries—to avoid thrusting our religion into arenas where it is unexpected or unwelcome,” I...
You Might Not Have ADHD. You Might Just Be Tired.
Will we ever solve the mystery surrounding the symptoms and diagnosis of ADD/ADHD?
The New York Times recently fanned the flames of the controversy over whether many cases of ADD, and even ADHD, are actually cases of sleep deprivation. Every time this idea hits big media, the same reactions happen: Other media picks it up, overgeneralizes and twists it; camps are formed, and people go to (verbal) war.
Before You Die Over Rats at Green Eggs Cafe, Look in Your Kitchen
Here, the FDA’s list of "acceptable" food contaminants.
Philadelphia's foodies are in a tizzy over video that surfaced this week showing a gaggle of rats enjoying after-hours pizza at the Green Eggs Cafe Midtown in Center City. The video has sparked an outpouring of revulsion on local social media, but I honestly don't know what all the fuss is about.
