http://drummondpike.tides.org Drummond Pike's Blog Fri, 07 May 2010 16:15:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I mean, the guy is a piece of work. He draws up social networks on his chalkboard and then, with enormous drama, moves from point to point in the diagram and assails that week's targeted progressive groups as a conspiracy. He calls us names like ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2010/05/07/why-i-love-glenn-beck/ A NY Times editorial week before last recounted the harsh attacks from Liz Cheney's "Keep America Safe," a joint effort with the ever-intolerant William Kristol. These two self-proclaimed protectors of our national character have remarkably concluded that lawyers who volunteered their time to provide basic legal ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2010/03/31/of-barristers-and-bias/ Like most people who have a moral sense of the world, I have rejoiced in the remarkable outcome of the year-long saga of Healthcare Reform in the Congress, despite the failure of the public option and the necessary capitulation to a mostly male group of hold-outs who almost derailed the ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2010/03/23/healthcare-and-immigration/ NOTICE: Due to a planned Presidio Park power outage, the blog will be down from Fri 2/19 8pm until Sat 2/20 8am (PT). http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2010/02/18/dark-starry-friday-night-in-the-presidio/ The one thing certain about elected public servants in Washington is that they really, really want to stay there. Regardless of party, the incentives to continue to inhabit the corridors of political power are deep and abiding. The problem for most of them, though, is that they ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2010/02/05/earth-to-washington/ Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You I was thinking a lot this past Sunday about my lapsed involvement in matters of faith. From a childhood and teenage engagement with the Episcopal Church, I came away with something that has guided my life since ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2010/02/02/do-unto-others-as-you-would-have-them-do-unto-you/ Somehow, amidst the din of the holidays, a true gem of an idea is taking flight. And, if it works, we may be looking at a way to (finally) fix what's wrong with the money system in the US. And, again if it works, it should please ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2009/12/31/the-best-way-to-start-the-new-year-move-your-money/ The Wall Street Journal reports that the effort to extend the current Estate Tax regime through next year has failed. As part of the Bush tax cuts, the exemption, above which taxes are due, has been slowly rising. The Conservative plan, put in place in 2001, phases ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2009/12/17/what-estate-tax/ Among European progressives, there is a strong rallying cry for financial reform through the closing of tax havens. A French leader was just at the PES Congress podium decrying the loophole – perhaps in the EU? – that permits ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2009/12/08/progressives-at-work-in-prague/ I’m an outsider attending the 1500 plus PES Congress in Prague (this is the European Union Party that collects progressives, labor, social democrats, and socialists from the various national parties throughout Europe). At yesterday’s preliminary session, I heard ... http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2009/12/07/notes-from-prague/