El Somnambulo’s 25 Favorite Songs of 2013

El Somnambulo’s 25 Favorite Songs of 2013

5 Comments
I am El Somnambulo, and I'm a listaholic. I listen to lots of music so that you don't have to. I don't like my Top 25 list this year, I love my list this year. If you sample these songs, I can almost guarantee that you'll find some stuff you'll want to investigate further. (BTW, Cecile McLorin Salvant's 'Womanchild' would have been high on this list if only I could have found an online version. She's great and, if there's any justice, she'll make tons of money.) So here we go, as always, counting down from #25 to #1:
Christmas Eve Open Thread [12.24.13]

Christmas Eve Open Thread [12.24.13]

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Since it is Christmas Eve, I thought I would address a move Pope Francis made last week. During the 2004 election, conservative Catholics were strutting around like they owned the religion, and owned the country. They were emboldened by the socially conservative bent of President Bush and the Republican Congress. Remember, this was a Congress that came out of recess to solely address, debate and vote on the Terri Schiavo case. In the run up to the 2004 election, Boston Cardinal Raymond Burke announced that Democratic Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry was not welcome to receive communion in any church in his diocese. Well, Pope Francis removed Cardinal Burke from the Congreation of Bishops, which has great influence on finding the future leaders of the church. And it would seem that Burke's public statements about denying communion are the reason why. Here is Pope Francis' thoughts on the openness of the Church in his Evangelii Gaudium....
Income Inequality

Income Inequality

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You know income inequality is getting to be a big topic when even Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe talks about it fervently this morning. Of course, he falls back on the tried and true conservative position that we can't raise taxes ever on anything, and the expert guest agreed. Um, why can't we? New data from the IRS shows that the wealthiest Americans have seen their share of taxes decline rather significantly under Obama.
Festivus Open Thread [12.23.13]

Festivus Open Thread [12.23.13]

8 Comments
Governor Jack Markell is Kavip's Delawarean of the Year. He did some good things, like this:
He proposed and pushed through requiring background checks for all gun sales. He proposed and was able to get mandated reporting of lost or stolen firearms. He signed the Gay Marriage Bill. He signed transgender equality into law.
But he also did some inexplicable things, for a Democrat:
He tried to give away the Port of Wilmington to an oil company. He killed Minimum Wage in 2013. He rammed through SB51 which permanently weakens teacher education programs. He created an Illegal Star Chamber to draw up HB 165 charter school beneficial legislation, in secret without public input. He rammed through HG 165 which gives private for profit charter schools access to public school capital financing. He tried to lower taxes for the top 1%. And not for anyone else.