tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64963792024-03-23T13:06:56.322-05:00Mound CityA running commentary on the good, the bad and the curious.Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.comBlogger494125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-42557205644087541572017-03-26T00:04:00.000-05:002017-03-26T00:04:00.028-05:00
I am always skeptical when someone describes a long-time practitioner of a craft who is destined for a leadership position in their as a "real nerd" for the craft. That always strikes me as something that should be a base-line personality trait for someone who seeks to lead or inform others of how to do their job.
Imagine describing the conductor of a major symphony as a "music nerd",Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-60668742310566434782009-12-26T08:18:00.003-06:002009-12-26T09:04:01.336-06:00Got Sick? No Worries!Americans already have universal access to health care, say's Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield), even if they didn't realize it. Thus President Obama can keep his meddling health care legislation out of Missouri and away from the greatest health care system in the world. Cunningham broke this news to listeners of KMOX this past Wednesday on the Hancock and Kelly show.How canMurphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-73667037575764484862009-09-05T14:39:00.003-05:002009-09-05T14:44:32.237-05:00Republicans on EducationThe response from the DNC about wild-eyed Republican furor over Obama's education address is pretty funny (via Washington Monthly). “What this absurd episode shows is that the GOP can in fact come up with new ideas. For example, it’s now clear that the new Republican education platform will argue against personal responsibility, hard work and staying in school.”Cheeky it may be, but very Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-59870309755668932772009-09-05T13:28:00.004-05:002009-09-05T14:32:11.451-05:00What Student Could Learn From the Education AddressThere is certainly one aspect of this tempest in a teapot that students could benefit from, they have cat-bird seats for the decline of modern political discourse.Now, American politics has always been a rough game. And the insults and accusations have even involved trading charges of adultery (see the war between Jefferson-Hamilton in those esteemed days of the founding fathers). But the Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-22158384655525182922009-09-05T13:06:00.006-05:002009-09-05T13:27:58.859-05:00President's Address Doesn't Pass the Test for Some Missouri School DistrictsWhile I am sympathetic to the concerns of School Board members who don't wish to be drawn into a manufactured controversy, it is somewhat surprising that they aren't embracing an effort by the President of the United States to highlight education.That said the one concern they seem to share, according to today's Post-Dispatch report, falls under the headline of "does it fit the curriculum." In a Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-90384630550578495972009-06-21T20:36:00.002-05:002009-06-21T21:22:17.674-05:00Gates Preps For Potential N. Korean MissileWhile the most recent North Korean missile launch was notable for less for its aeronautics than its ability to broadcast underwater (the missile fell into the sea shortly after launch-despite N. Korean claims to the contrary), Defense Secretary Gates is giving the Norks the benefit of the doubt that they may achieve something closer to success in their next (rumored) launch.The initial Japanese Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-35311215426159582742009-06-21T00:59:00.002-05:002009-06-21T01:12:02.621-05:00Good Sources on Iranian ProtestsThe web has been a great source of stories, photos and video documenting the protests that have upturned modern Iranian society. The one issue is narrowing down the volume of information.Here are a few good sources to start:The Field: Al Giordano Reports America - Giordano provides a mix of analysis with up-to-date reports. He has even gotten the early word on some important events, such as the Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-30996842220688141522009-06-20T18:57:00.000-05:002009-06-20T18:58:10.726-05:00New Sources on Iran- MurphyMurphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-45153659568210610082009-06-20T13:48:00.004-05:002009-06-20T14:05:07.792-05:00The Twittering of IranThe many tools of the internet have begun to demonstrate they are actually worth a least a portion of the praise heaped upon them by those who promise kittens and flowers and peace, if only everyone had high speed internet access available.Even the lowly Twitter-which is actually an appropriate adjective to describe some of the most avowed acolytes of the tool-has shown itself to be a veritable Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-73877327105508830122009-06-20T13:00:00.002-05:002009-06-20T13:48:12.334-05:00Unions Add Their Weight in Iranian ProtestThe Autobus Workers Union has joined with the Auto Workers Union in criticizing the ruling government's brutal crackdown of the students, shopworkers, businesspeople and parents who have taken to the streets in the wake of what many believe to have been a rigged election.In a stunning rebuke to the threats issued by Supreme Leader Ali Khomeini that the violence that meets the protesters will be Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-4735532605236200102009-04-09T19:18:00.002-05:002009-04-09T19:33:26.442-05:00McCaskill Holds Grant-Writing WorkshopOne of the great sources of funding for the entrepreneurial class in both the private and public sector has been through federally-funded grants. The grants spur research and development in areas as different as preventing friendly-fire incidents on the battlefield and helping address infant heart disease.In this time of tight credit and wary investors, federal grants can provide the seed money Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-26455327526202151062009-04-09T17:13:00.003-05:002009-04-09T19:10:35.116-05:00S(l)ay again?That sound you heard was the collective yawn of the voting public in St. Louis City.Despite a match-up that could have provided a vigorous debate between a long-time incumbent facing simmering anger from a large portion of the city voters, and a bright and ambitious former State Senator who has both worked with the Mayor, and felt free to criticize him, the result was a lopsided wallop.It's not Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-51262827630740173252009-03-17T00:41:00.004-05:002009-04-09T19:10:49.694-05:00Not-so mighty shield...While it was suspected at the time, President Obama's reason for offering to pull the proposed "missile shield" in Europe may be related to questions over its viability. The USA Today reports on some European doubts.While there have been successful tests of the interceptor missile, and portions of the system have seen progress, a complete system is still some time off. In other words, while it Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-5665772951125849842009-02-15T08:48:00.004-06:002009-02-15T11:58:08.375-06:00Colleen Campbel used her column this week to criticize President Obama for what she saw as "amateurism". Yet instead of scalpel-sharp analysis, she instead offered spitballs.So what-in the wake of the passage of Obama's top legislative priority, the largest stimulus bill of its kind, ever-does she offer as evidence of this presumed amateurism? An overly verbose press conference and Obama's Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-84871575102434268602009-02-14T09:38:00.002-06:002009-02-14T09:55:09.157-06:00Akin: Stimulus Bill A "Hurricane Katrina"Rep. Todd Akin has a news release on his website explaining his perspective of the bill.""Watching this wasteful, spending bill come closer to passage is like watching a financial Hurricane Katrina head toward our shores."Considering Akin supported making Bush's $2 trillion in tax cuts permanent, $800 billion should be a lesser squall.- MurphyMurphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-11176391983713181082009-02-14T09:01:00.004-06:002009-02-14T11:22:06.714-06:00CommittedRepublican commitment to attacking the stimulus bill, regardless of both reality and necessity, is impressive. In today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Missouri Representative Roy Blunt (R-Springfield) criticized the bill saying some of the spending wouldn't occur for a decade. Blunt, along with every other Republican in the House voted against the stimulus bill.Blunt should have checked with the Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-84495815220945359792009-02-14T07:49:00.003-06:002009-02-14T08:41:45.171-06:00When logic fails....Representative John Boehner, chief Republican in the House, criticized the stimulus bill-which now awaits President Obama's signature-as "spending, spending and more spending." This sits neatly with other Republican criticisms of the bill that used visual aids to describe how large a stack of money this represents.It was, perhaps, unintended comedy. Given that this was by definition a spending Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-82223010234492555772009-01-30T21:30:00.003-06:002009-01-30T21:46:48.328-06:00An idea....Opponents of fiscal stimulus in the form of government spending regularly point out that the U.S. wasn't pulled out of the Great Depression until the enormous ramp-up that was the U.S.'s involvement in World War II.Leaving aside the point that during the war the U.S. Government laid out enormous sums of money and funded a massive expansion in manufacturing, agriculture, transportation and Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-40752237082011679652009-01-22T16:18:00.002-06:002009-01-22T16:24:00.368-06:00Limbaugh: "I hope [Obama] fails." Rush Limbaugh wasted no time in reigniting the rancor that has distinguished conservative commentary since the mid 1990’s. Rush said he doesn’t need a long statement to say what he means, merely four words. “I. Hope. He. Fails.” The American people, however, may quibble with Rush’ hunger for the failure of the newly minted Obama administration. Pollster’s aggregate poll shows that Obama Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-52183897057347823962009-01-21T14:00:00.002-06:002009-01-21T14:15:54.254-06:00Whiplash....Jonah Golberg, editor of the National Review, was just on NPR's Talk of the Nation discussing the new role of conservative commentators during the Obama administration.Goldberg started out saying that being "out in the wilderness" is actually "fun" and is the natural home of the Goldwater Conserervatives; that opposition is in their DNA.After lauding the conservatives for their principled Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-17196397193198207102009-01-11T12:23:00.003-06:002009-01-11T12:59:34.504-06:00U.S. Refused to Back Israeli Strike on IranIn a piece in today's New York Times, David Sanger reports on some of the details behind the complicated balancing act between the United States and Israel, which teeters on attempts to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program.Some of the efforts have been circulating around for some time on different foreign policy blogs, but this piece-which comes ahead of a more detailed book by Sanger to be Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-83928665513360552722009-01-06T22:18:00.003-06:002009-01-06T23:09:59.703-06:00Burris' PathWhile Roland Burris' granite mausoleum (complete with footnoted resume) may point to a playful intellect, one must admit that he could have taken a slightly different tack when approaching his appointment. Perhaps he could have backed off claims that Blagojevich's decision was touched by the hand of God, or that the Democrats were barring the door to racial progress by denying him a seat in the Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-29898419311799434912009-01-05T07:30:00.003-06:002009-01-06T23:45:49.134-06:00Sen. Cornyn: We'll Filibuster FrankenDespite the numerous court rulings that have gone against incumbent Minnesota Republican Senator Norm Coleman, Republican Sen. John Cornyn (TX) pledged on CNN this morning that Republicans would block the seating of challenger Al Franken's because it "ignores Minnesota law."During the long effort to resolve the narrow election, matters such as the type and manner of ballot counting have appeared Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-42354753166994674312009-01-01T18:30:00.002-06:002009-01-01T18:39:11.275-06:00Gaza and the Wider PictureLara Rozen posted some thoughts from an analyst who notes that destabilizing Egypt may be the real target of the coalition of militants that include Hamas in Gaza.There are two domestic agendas here. The Israeli one is very familiar... But what people are not asking and is at least as important: what are the f**** rocket firers hoping to do? ... If you look at what people are saying, there is a Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496379.post-10181395987725592542008-12-29T15:47:00.002-06:002008-12-29T16:03:22.009-06:00Stay at Home and Get Paid!Given the recent collapse of the global financial market, I am not sure its wise to push the "learn how to invest overnight" business model. I suppose television pitch-men still have to make their living too.That said, those who decide to try and make "ten, twenty, even sixty thousand dollars month!" purchasing the simple "investment fortune in a box" programs two words spring to mind...caveat Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05803834705051420258noreply@blogger.com0