tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22141653920712382842011-12-30T16:01:10.634-05:00Because the internet isn't crowded enough, another blog about life, art, politics and other things too boring for cable TV.J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.comBlogger45801100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-68171430009664367952011-12-22T14:53:00.003-05:002011-12-22T15:06:30.278-05:00

In 2008, I sat down with a head full of internet-worthy madness and decided to start a blog. I had no idea what I was doing (as is evident here) and still don't really nearly four years later. This space has been a personal diary, an outlet for political fury, a place to ruminate and a platform for criticism. I've been lucky enough to have been read around the world many thousands of times over

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-31832299278480800112011-12-19T08:28:00.001-05:002011-12-19T08:30:20.248-05:00

It's the holiday season - and as things wrap up at Juilliard and the family madness begins - blogging shall sadly slow. But here's a GIF to occupy your time...I keep feeling like eventually he'll unwrap.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-2640486517695359582011-12-16T09:59:00.003-05:002011-12-16T10:06:44.653-05:00

Words will fail to express what the writing and thinking of Christopher Hitchens has meant to me over the years. He was the first person to introduce me to a love of rigorous reason and fierce antitheism - things both at the center of my life now. He taught me that a firm and grounded ethical and moral code were not simply the provinces of the divine. He demanded a kind of furious logic from

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-1157833897351754232011-12-15T17:00:00.000-05:002011-12-15T17:00:06.364-05:00

In his endorsement of Ron Paul, Andrew Sullivan echoes what I think many in the country are feeling now:I am, like many others these days, politically homeless. A moderate, restrained limited government conservatism that seeks to amend, not to revolt, to reform, not to revolutionize, is unavailable. I'm a Tory who has come to see universal healthcare as a moral necessity that requires some

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-51079832294006276802011-12-15T15:00:00.000-05:002011-12-15T15:00:02.534-05:00

Daniel Gulati worries Facebook is making us depressed:I monitored and observed how Facebook was impacting the lives of hundreds of young businesspeople. As I went about my research, it became clear that behind all the liking, commenting, sharing, and posting, there were strong hints of jealousy, anxiety, and, in one case, depression. ... Since our Facebook profiles are self-curated, users have a

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-4603446883570353322011-12-15T13:00:00.000-05:002011-12-15T13:00:02.669-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-6910281358229269992011-12-15T11:00:00.000-05:002011-12-15T11:00:04.538-05:00

Does it get any more ridiculous than this...?

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-53751437092399849372011-12-15T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-15T09:00:16.843-05:00

There's usually no greater touchstone for what's happening in a culture's psyche than to look to it's pop. So what was 2011 all about?I'm actually surprised how few of these movies I recognized. I need to get out more.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-70601581695899716872011-12-15T00:14:00.001-05:002011-12-15T00:15:53.710-05:00

If Democrats have mastered any art in American politics, it's the constantly demonstration of cowardice under pressure. Seriously.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-28142066147120040362011-12-14T13:00:00.000-05:002011-12-14T13:00:10.785-05:00

Michael Tomasky telegraphs it:How can Barack Obama, as this new NBC/Marist poll has it, be beating Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in South Carolina, of all places? The leads are narrow—it’s just 45-42 over Romney and 46-42 over Gingrich. But still, this is South Carolina, the home state of a senator (Lindsey Graham) who, just this past Sunday on Meet the Press, was talking nullification of federal

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-62674082457669088602011-12-14T11:00:00.000-05:002011-12-14T11:00:03.051-05:00

You wouldn't know it from the news (or this blog), but an international conference on climate change has been taking place these past few weeks in South Africa and guess what? They managed to hash out an agreement over the weekend.Exactly what kind of agreement I'll let you decide.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-34042422008625901462011-12-14T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-14T09:00:05.513-05:00

Make no mistake:The Tax Policy Center has run the numbers on Newt Gingrich’s tax plan. The verdict? Gingrich’s plan does more for wealthy American households than any plan released by the other 2012 candidates — and increases the deficit by trillions.Gingrich would give the top 1 percent of U.S. households an average $430,000 tax cut, with their tax rate dropping 22 percentage points under the

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-70415077701968502962011-12-13T17:00:00.000-05:002011-12-13T17:00:02.155-05:00

More Happy Holiday cards here.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-50063169163598606522011-12-13T15:00:00.000-05:002011-12-13T15:00:06.999-05:00

I just peed a little...I don't think I blogged it last year when I totally lost my shit watching "Game of Thrones" (and then re-watching it again and again) - but it was hands down my favorite thing on television and Season 2 looks equally bad-ass.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-14687347082026146892011-12-13T13:00:00.000-05:002011-12-13T13:00:09.052-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-17086639568611622482011-12-13T11:00:00.000-05:002011-12-13T11:00:09.881-05:00

(Buzzfeed)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-40631530861137880262011-12-13T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-13T09:00:04.838-05:00

We should all be deeply concerned with the sharp turn our politics have taken of late - and no, I'm not talking about the rhetoric - rhetoric has always been pretty loony - I'm talking about the blatant and normalized obstructionism that passes for government (if you need a refresher - here's a good one). And if you'd like to see it in graph form:This coming election is a clear choice less

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-43039177928826967832011-12-12T17:00:00.000-05:002011-12-12T17:00:07.670-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-36041506155550416762011-12-12T15:00:00.000-05:002011-12-12T15:00:09.290-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-39198312726921524902011-12-12T13:00:00.000-05:002011-12-12T13:00:07.648-05:00

This is the most awful, worst, despicable, horrifying story ever. I just want you to bookmark this story so every time you stop thinking climate change is important, you remember exactly what we're doing to the planet and it's inhabitants:Cannibalism is not a part of polar bears' M.O. The animals normally refrain from feasting on their own kind.But desperate times apparently call for quite

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-46839064644996224972011-12-12T11:00:00.000-05:002011-12-12T11:00:09.859-05:00

Paul Rudnick rewrites the Kinsey scale - OMFG.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-20041406934022719802011-12-12T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-12T09:00:18.432-05:00

Data doesn't lie:Jon Terbush:What the chart shows is that Obama inherited a bum economy but that, under his watch, things have begun to turn around. In the past year, the unemployment rate has dropped a full percentage point amid improving job growth. Assuming those trends continue, Obama will be able to say that, yes, the economy needs to be much stronger, but that it's currently heading in the

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-79115067453788589872011-12-11T21:32:00.000-05:002011-12-11T21:33:15.129-05:00

I promise...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-29901953984763293292011-12-11T14:00:00.000-05:002011-12-11T14:00:03.718-05:00

What? Are there like a thousand of these before the vote in Iowa? I'm already sick of them. The moment everyone seems to be talking about is Mitt Romney's epic fail in making a bet with Rick Perry...Paul Constant:This is not the dumbest thing Mitt Romney's ever said. It's not even the most outrageous thing he said at the debate tonight. But it could be the most damaging 35 seconds of his entire

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-46746268637910983992011-12-11T12:00:00.000-05:002011-12-11T12:00:05.412-05:00

This time in...Singapore? Who actually cares? It's just an excuse to post their opening day pictures...As Brian Moylan notes:I know I shouldn't fall into this trap, but I do—every single time. They open a store in some major city and fly in the most preternaturally buffed and plucked specimens that make me want to run to the bathroom, throw up the chicken parm sandwich I just ate, and then

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-46035196508470163662011-12-11T10:00:00.000-05:002011-12-11T10:00:06.790-05:00

It's the monster of their own making, really? They've stoked the idiot fires of their base to the point of conflagration, but those who the intellectuals would like to reign in aren't tuning in and are ready to throw their fury into the ultimate fury-man: Newt Gingrich. Cue the cries of shock from the grand masters. George Will:There is almost artistic vulgarity in Gingrich's unrepented role as a

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-16194409810476558882011-12-10T10:35:00.000-05:002011-12-10T10:35:00.154-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-17503026757066548162011-12-09T10:00:00.000-05:002011-12-09T10:00:06.670-05:00

Fingers crossed.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-2917619168434422852011-12-08T17:00:00.000-05:002011-12-08T17:00:01.346-05:00

Ezra:Health care spending in the United States ranges from a high of $9,278 per person in Massachusetts to $5,031 in Utah. On average, it hovers at $6,815 per person, a $1,300 increase from just over a decade ago, in 1998.Income accounts for a lot of it. The cluster of northeastern states with high health care costs also have residents with more income, a factor previous studies have found to

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-75268385302982928762011-12-08T15:00:00.000-05:002011-12-08T15:00:03.262-05:00

Sure, you might suggest that a mash-up of LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" and old news clips of Charles Manson losing his shit might be tasteless and irrelevant; but then again, I might also say you're not a real American...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-19896002453500487232011-12-08T13:00:00.000-05:002011-12-08T13:00:00.074-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-13987576012643196612011-12-08T11:00:00.000-05:002011-12-08T11:00:05.030-05:00

Last night I saw Asuncion at the Cherry Lane Theatre and now I have quite the crush on Jesse Eisenberg. What? Leave me alone.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-83475753622553201572011-12-08T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-08T09:00:01.567-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-66641585887393935622011-12-07T11:39:00.001-05:002011-12-07T11:40:57.687-05:00

Glenn Reynold's has an interesting thought:[T]he solution is more value for less money. Student loans, if they are to continue, should be made dischargeable in bankruptcy after five years -- but with the school that received the money on the hook for all or part of the unpaid balance. ... Make defaults expensive to colleges, and they'll become much more careful about how much they lend and what

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-72772029071503824532011-12-07T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-07T09:00:15.252-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-57576789223130071862011-12-06T15:00:00.000-05:002011-12-06T15:00:07.227-05:00

By now you've probably seen this video making the rounds of a young boy whispering in Michelle Bachmann's ear...While I obviously agree with the video's politics (and have zero sympathy for someone like Bachmann), I think its pretty awful to use a child like this. It's clear the whole thing is a set-up and there's no way we should be calling a child that young an "activist" in any capacity. He's

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-79127426098122775792011-12-06T13:00:00.000-05:002011-12-06T13:00:07.540-05:00

A quick thought about something that's been nagging me lately...Like pretty much every decent human being, I was overcome with horror and disgust at the recent treatment of Occupy protesters at the hands of police, and of course this image pretty much encapsulates the epitome of my sentiment...But the blogosphere seemed to quickly devolve the power of the image above into snark, so now we get

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-24243126121302744332011-12-06T11:00:00.000-05:002011-12-06T11:00:07.910-05:00

You really have to love Manhattan:Apartments in a new Manhattan high-rise come with what are arguably the world's most expensive parking spots. Because the building has a dedicated car elevator that transports your vehicle up to an enclosed space outside your front door. An equivalent amount of floor space in that building would sell for about $800,000. Hit the link for more and for a video demo

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-76018036725112766422011-12-06T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-06T09:00:13.256-05:00

Jaswinder Bolina examines it:Race is simply too essential to the American experience to ever be entirely overlooked. As such, I can’t actually write like a white guy any more than I can revise my skin color. This, however, doesn’t change the fact that if a reader were to encounter much of my work not knowing my name or having seen a photograph of me, she might not be faulted for incorrectly

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-18562898003579013842011-12-05T17:00:00.000-05:002011-12-05T17:00:04.435-05:00

And a good start to the work week...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-80992741881880044452011-12-05T14:00:00.002-05:002011-12-05T15:34:54.203-05:00

As Democrats struggle to restrain themselves from burping with glee at the prospect of a Newt Gingrich nomination, it seems the GOP may be heading back to the drawing board to see if someone more, err, electable might be boosted. Lo and behold, Mr. Huntsman rides...for the first time. Jim Pethokoukis:Huntsman a conservative? As governor, he massively cut income and sales taxes — instituting a 5

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-63391029481357095412011-12-05T12:32:00.001-05:002011-12-05T12:32:45.280-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-10258245317334999642011-12-05T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-05T09:00:11.941-05:00

It's the most sensible comparison I've heard of late - and Josh Marshall has more on the new poll that shows Gingrich with a now clear lead in Iowa in the wake of Cain:Stepping back, what’s most clear about this poll is that we are clearly at the Mitt vs. not-Mitt stage of the primary battle. (See poll internals here) Newt’s support continues to grow and looks to have more upside, while Romney

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-73522826974657850462011-12-04T10:21:00.000-05:002011-12-04T10:21:00.179-05:00

So it's officially the holiday season - if for no other reason than the fact that at two clubs this weekend Mariah Carey's timeless and omnipresent Christmas anthem came on several times and everyone (including yours truly) lost their shit. It's quite clear that every time I hear that song, this is exactly what's going on inside my soul...You should hang in till the end for this one - yes it's a

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-28240884859381579282011-12-03T17:36:00.003-05:002011-12-03T17:39:20.289-05:00

Paging Mitt Romney: you got 99 problems and a Cain-less race probably makes that 100.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-73474101451888099682011-12-03T10:00:00.000-05:002011-12-03T10:00:01.974-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-63290348151990722952011-12-02T12:13:00.003-05:002011-12-02T12:19:39.473-05:00

This is one of my favorite songs from the album...The decent of Gaga into what I confess has been a boring morass of excess has been interesting to follow. As a real admirer of her tongue & cheek critique of pop culture and her radical outdoing of her colleagues, one would think that she'd be granted the freedom to really develop in other directions - but much like Eminem, I fear Lady Gaga is

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-63583102885868909042011-12-02T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-02T09:00:17.595-05:00

Also how is he the only man in history to make a kilt work besides the hairy dudes from Braveheart?

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-47190208398436269782011-12-01T17:00:00.000-05:002011-12-01T17:00:02.084-05:00

If you've yet to see the new Muppet movie, you really need to do yourself a favor and go - it's amazing and awesome in all the best ways possible. And if you needed further proof of that, here's the origin of the famous "do do-do do do, Manamana!" song - a soft core Italian porn...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-27326086687294147682011-12-01T15:00:00.001-05:002011-12-01T15:00:00.521-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-41660499065441431702011-12-01T13:00:00.001-05:002011-12-01T13:00:03.838-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-84701204217510837832011-12-01T11:00:00.001-05:002011-12-01T11:00:04.303-05:00

Josh Marshall:We've frequently noted the boom-and-bust cycle of would-be Romney slayers in the GOP primary race. And Newt is currently in his 'Angry-Birds-like' arc across the polling chart. But like some others, I now have my doubts whether Newt's really going to tank like the others. Look at the data from the various primary states in this article.Gingrich is now significantly ahead of Romney

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-64042751161335146502011-12-01T09:00:00.000-05:002011-12-01T09:00:05.124-05:00

The perfect Christmas gift: Legolas Barbie.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-7114660795659525622011-11-30T11:51:00.002-05:002011-11-30T11:52:20.510-05:00

I have a day full of meetings, school and more meetings, so I'm not going to get around to posting on my first day back to NYC. Instead, just watch this on repeat...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-87844196371879569362011-11-29T11:00:00.000-05:002011-11-29T11:00:02.168-05:00

I'm boarding a plane back to New York today after spending several glorious days home in the Bay - not many posts today as a result.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-90921473554535070742011-11-29T09:00:00.000-05:002011-11-29T09:00:05.182-05:00

Modeling gym shoes. I have no idea why I felt the need to post this...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-75516212269599535892011-11-28T17:00:00.000-05:002011-11-28T17:00:01.371-05:00

A while back I posted about my afternoon with James Houghton, the Artistic Director of Signature Theatre Company in New York and the head of the Drama Division at Juilliard. I was talking over the weekend about that day with a friend of mine and found this video of Jim giving pretty much the same tour he gave us that day - it's well-worth your time...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-19513226368732148412011-11-28T15:00:00.000-05:002011-11-28T15:00:04.345-05:00

More good news over the weekend for the former Speaker. David Frum thinks is disastrous politically for the GOP:Back in the 1990s, Gingrich made himself one of the most disliked figures in the recent history of American politics. As American political commentator Jay Cost reminds us, within 24 months of becoming Speaker, Gingrich had forced a shutdown of the federal government and sunk to an

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-68483039568741472772011-11-28T13:00:00.000-05:002011-11-28T13:00:03.933-05:00

This is a great way to kick back into the work week and something I keep at the center of my work...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-25225311235171104732011-11-28T11:00:00.000-05:002011-11-28T11:00:03.690-05:00

The Juilliard School will be hosting a reading of Wicked Fox on December 19th & 20th that's open to the public - information here - but seating is super limited so make sure you reserve in advance. I'll be the one in the back having a nervous breakdown (like always).

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-70340082061951242272011-11-28T09:00:00.000-05:002011-11-28T09:00:17.880-05:00

Another reminder of what actually did and didn't cause the financial crisis - a must-send for those relatives, neighbors and co-workers of yours who go on and on about how government regulation caused the worst recession in a generation:A McKinsey Global Institute report noted “from 2000 through 2007, a remarkable run-up in global home prices occurred.” It is highly unlikely that a simultaneous

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-40710344528300718432011-11-26T11:00:00.000-05:002011-11-26T11:00:01.570-05:00

You should not be out shopping today - you should be watching this mash-up of Arnold Schwartzenegger's actual audio commentary on Total Recall. Yes. Deal with all of that:

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-56839424543871984162011-11-25T14:00:00.000-05:002011-11-25T14:00:03.146-05:00

This'll do it for your weekend warm n' fuzzy...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-30928676044421301022011-11-25T11:30:00.001-05:002011-11-25T11:32:06.302-05:00

I had a really lovely Thanksgiving in Berkeley last night, though some folks in neighboring Oakland clearly weren't as lucky...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-14747896959873907542011-11-24T15:00:00.000-05:002011-11-24T15:00:05.792-05:00

It's still cooler and more insane than anything in any movie anywhere...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-32920345076806220072011-11-24T10:00:00.000-05:002011-11-24T10:00:06.459-05:00

Eat up. Happy Thanksgiving. Your welcome.

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-79130869067816483982011-11-23T15:00:00.000-05:002011-11-23T15:00:00.356-05:00

Yes - that's actually Emma Watson's brother...[insert wand joke here](WOW)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-16609268810251180632011-11-23T10:00:00.000-05:002011-11-23T10:00:00.208-05:00

Congress is less popular than Paris Hilton.Congress FTW.(A.S.)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-57851530432688597172011-11-22T10:00:00.000-05:002011-11-22T10:00:04.188-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-35995103897208826662011-11-21T13:00:00.000-05:002011-11-21T13:00:06.196-05:00

I'm boarding a plane today to head out to the Bay for a much-needed trip to see my cat, my boy and my favorite city, so posts will be scarce for the next few days. Hope everyone has fun plans for Thanksgiving - or whatever holiday it is you heathens celebrate...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-56839301101093534022011-11-21T11:00:00.000-05:002011-11-21T11:00:11.189-05:00

Which should come as no surprise:Why is economic mobility so much lower in the United States than in comparably industrialized nations? A new Pew report zeroes in on one major factor: In America there’s a stronger link between parents’ education levels and children’s success than in any other country researchers investigated.The report notes the size of the achievement gap: “In the United States,

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-74982790013839400452011-11-21T09:00:00.000-05:002011-11-21T09:00:20.533-05:00

Sometimes it's just good to remember...Felix Salmon:Once upon a time the corporate income tax generated a significant share of tax revenues; now, it’s bumping along in the 2%-of-GDP range. Yes, the marginal rate of corporate income tax is high, at 35%. But U.S. companies are extremely good at not paying that.(Wonkblog)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-8126926985729957762011-11-20T10:00:00.000-05:002011-11-20T10:00:06.266-05:00

*Squeal*

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-17597217466627319152011-11-19T14:00:00.000-05:002011-11-19T14:00:02.753-05:00

Alex Gourevitch has an interesting perspective on how we've organized our culture:We have been living in a society where debts, rather than rights, have been the major means for accessing basic social goods like housing, education, and health care. That social model was built around the assumption that while real incomes stagnated and the state did not directly provide many basic goods through

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-80884746495849164632011-11-19T10:00:00.000-05:002011-11-19T10:00:08.174-05:00

Hugo Schwyzer calls for dismantling Old Boys Networks. All of them:Whether they’re found in corporations or athletic departments or churches, Old Boys’ Networks often tend to be characterized by three things: an insistence on intense loyalty to the organization, a disdain for outsiders, and a systematic process by which younger men (but rarely young women) are groomed by older ones for future

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-90351462888258990712011-11-18T13:00:00.000-05:002011-11-18T13:00:04.001-05:00

Yesterday proponents of Prop 8 were granted standing to argue for the overturning of the decision to overturn Prop 8. Ari Ezra Waldman:We now have the opportunity to take a solid case for the unconstitutionality of a same-sex marriage ban to a friendly panel on the Ninth Circuit. And, that opportunity should come quickly. The Ninth Circuit had this case fully briefed over a year ago and,

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-7208289223056865802011-11-18T11:10:00.002-05:002011-11-18T11:12:30.759-05:00

This is the video portion of the ad campaign you've been hearing so much about. And I so, so dig it...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-59126280674192810442011-11-18T10:00:00.001-05:002011-11-18T10:00:06.606-05:00

Head on...(JMG)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-27218365248765825282011-11-17T17:25:00.002-05:002011-11-17T17:26:02.441-05:00

She's verging on becoming too indulgent to stomach - though that's probably the point...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-39354470650386963612011-11-17T10:39:00.002-05:002011-11-17T10:42:16.211-05:00

Ezra Klein says that if / when the Supercommittee fails, it's not going to be easy to alter the triggers embedded in the law:The trigger is law. It is part of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which passed in August. To change the law, the two parties would need to agree on how to change it. So it’s not enough for Republicans to say they would like to see the trigger “reconfigured.” It’s not even

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-72146165427960040382011-11-16T15:00:00.000-05:002011-11-16T15:00:06.095-05:00

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-52891215688123151112011-11-16T13:00:00.000-05:002011-11-16T13:00:07.806-05:00

Andrew points to it:As David Leonhardt memorably put it, where debt and politics meet is a hard place to be. It seems to me increasingly obvious that we are collectively going to have to accept a sharp further drop in our standard of living because, at some point of mathematical certainty, the debt will become unserviceable. So our politics, as in Europe, is going to become a scramble for

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-16637404011709533162011-11-16T11:00:00.001-05:002011-11-16T11:00:10.207-05:00

Charles P. Pierce gets it absolutely right on Penn State:There will now be a decade or more of criminal trials, and perhaps a quarter-century or more of civil actions, as a result of what went on at Penn State. These things cannot be prayed away. Let us hear nothing about "closure" or about "moving on." And God help us, let us not hear a single mumbling word about how football can help the

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-54493430088339062462011-11-16T09:00:00.003-05:002011-11-16T09:00:00.778-05:00

Ezra has a great post up tracking the various proposals that've been floated behind closed doors in the ongoing negotiations of the Supercommittee. The latest Democratic proposal:a $2.3 trillion deficit-reduction package, split between spending cuts and tax increases. The new revenue would include about $300 billion to $350 billion in savings from attacking a specific set of tax breaks, including

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-17404865047549118652011-11-15T21:16:00.002-05:002011-11-15T21:19:30.655-05:00

This weekend there's a reading of my new play Crane at The Juilliard School - details here. It's totally free and could be a total train wreck, so if you have nothing better to do with your Saturday night, maybe you want to creep into the hallowed halls of that wacky stone building and see a new play? Hope to see you there!

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-56120874272606385582011-11-15T17:00:00.000-05:002011-11-15T17:00:05.219-05:00

(WOW)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-68301653866420927682011-11-15T15:00:00.000-05:002011-11-15T15:00:03.491-05:00

Catherine Rampnell:Across the country, there are 4.7 percent fewer jobs today than there were when the recession began in December 2007. And remember that the United States population has grown in the last five years, so if the economy were healthy there would be more jobs today than there were then. This analysis only models when we’ll be back to square one.(A.S.)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-79331471558097495672011-11-15T13:00:00.001-05:002011-11-15T13:00:12.603-05:00

If you haven't seen the epic collapse of Herman Cain during yesterday's newspaper interview:I would've posted it earlier, but I'm starting to feel like Drezner:There's a mercy rule in Little League, and I'm applying it here -- unless and until Herman Cain surges back in the polls again, or manages to muster something approaching cogency in his foreign policy statements, there's no point in

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-22233495635233277082011-11-15T11:24:00.000-05:002011-11-15T11:25:08.786-05:00

And all is right with the world...

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-65673718609417964442011-11-15T11:00:00.001-05:002011-11-15T11:00:12.028-05:00

You're a miracle...by visually via (A.S.)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-34884093294258833992011-11-15T09:33:00.003-05:002011-11-15T09:50:54.175-05:00

It happened in the early hours this morning:In an unexpected move, the New York City Police Department descended on Zuccotti Park around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, proceeding to evict protesters, clear the park and arrest those that stood in their way.Police told demonstrators that the 2-month-old camp must be temporarily emptied for cleaning, citing "health and fire safety" hazards, and that

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-75775604177846590022011-11-15T09:00:00.002-05:002011-11-15T09:00:00.398-05:00

Another way to think about the environment we wreck may be to go back in time:In the middle ages people believed that every creature in the natural world embodied a religious or moral lesson. Striking testament to this are the bestiaries: books of beasts which approached an art-form as illustrated manuscripts in the decades before the Black Death. In bestiaries, every animal is allegory and

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-25033824004144351342011-11-14T17:00:00.000-05:002011-11-14T17:00:04.806-05:00

A quick history lesson for perspective:Every single law Congress has passed regarding student loans since the federal program was introduced in 1965 has benefited lenders and made repayment or bankruptcy harder for borrowers. In addition to being unfair, this seems perhaps like bad policy, unless we really think it’s best for college graduates to spend their first decade (or decades) in the

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-59736767077675277072011-11-14T15:00:00.000-05:002011-11-14T15:00:03.784-05:00

Good advice:if it doesn't come bursting out of youin spite of everything,don't do it.unless it comes unasked out of yourheart and your mind and your mouthand your gut,don't do it.if you have to sit for hoursstaring at your computer screenor hunched over yourtypewritersearching for words,don't do it.if you're doing it for money orfame,don't do it.if you're doing it because you wantwomen in your

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-33194607626504756242011-11-14T13:00:00.000-05:002011-11-14T13:00:02.528-05:00

(Towleroad)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-14662607596866724592011-11-14T11:00:00.000-05:002011-11-14T11:00:05.350-05:00

(J.M.G.)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-23632440868907705042011-11-14T10:16:00.001-05:002011-11-14T10:17:29.525-05:00

Just in:The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide the fate of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, with an election-year ruling due by July on the U.S. healthcare system's biggest overhaul in nearly 50 years.The decision had been widely expected since late September, when the Obama administration asked the nation's highest court to uphold the centerpiece insurance provision and 26 states and

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-73890246861703326532011-11-14T09:00:00.000-05:002011-11-14T09:00:05.742-05:00

Is underway in our juvenile detention centers:In juvenile detention centers across the United States, one in eight detained children experience abuse in any given year—12 percent of all kids in juvenile detention. Eighty percent of them are victimized by a member of the facility's staff. "In detention facilities, there are extreme power differentials between staff and detainees, and very little

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-21383217590741563122011-11-13T15:00:00.000-05:002011-11-13T15:00:07.468-05:00

I watched most of last night's GOP debate on foreign policy and came away impressed with the growth of the candidates overall. Mitt Romney sounded mostly authoritative and knew what he was talking about (although the inconsistencies of his views and some of his pander points were hard to swallow). Newt came off as literally the grumpiest man in America - I don't think I can remember a candidate

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2214165392071238284.post-38429647669569008422011-11-13T12:00:00.000-05:002011-11-13T12:00:05.497-05:00

There are days I'm so proud of my people, but today definitely isn't one of them...(Towleroad)

J.C. Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05729706519350779417noreply@blogger.com0