An Underrated Development in the Ann Romney/Hilary Rosen Discussion

            One underrated thing I noticed about this whole Ann Romney stay-at-home mom discussion is that the Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, who initially called Ann Romney out for not working a day in her life, sounds… well… like a real honest to god living breathing Democratic strategist. And me-oh-my has it been a LONG time since the Dems actually sounded like they have coherent talking points that Americans can get behind.

            Now in case you missed it here is exactly what Hilary Rosen (a political pundit and Democratic Party strategist) said about her comments to Ann Romney…

Read More

Shenanigans Ep6: Reactions to the NCAA Decision to Pay “Student-Athletes”

Hey Hey! This is episode 6 of the Shenanigans podcast hosted by the Pass the Relish blog! (passtherelish.tumblr).

This week the gang reacts to a recent rule change by the NCAA to allow a $2,000 dollar yearly stipend for student-athletes.  The decision is monumental because, for years, college players have been working for free in what is a multi-billion dollar industry. 

We talk about, amongst many others:

  • What led up to this decision? Why is this happening now?
  • What is the significance of this decision?
  • Why should college athletes be paid at all?
  • What has been the legal underpinnings of previous rulings on this issue?
  • The role of race?
  • What do we see happening moving forward?
  • and much much more!

Till next time! — Mando 

p.s. Also here is the now widely read Atlantic article that we reference a number of times in the podcast: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/8643/

Shenanigans Ep5: A Frank Progressive Discussion of the NBA Lockout, also the Gang Argues About the Top 10 NBA players!

Hey Hey Everyone! Welcome to Shenanigans ep 5 hosted by the Pass the Relish blog! This week the gang (plus our special guest Dan the Man!) tackles the NBA lockout and discusses the top 10 players going into the season.

As usual the gang tries to use the progressive perspective to reframe the debate.  We also get a little testy about who are the top 10 players, with Mando making a case for CP3 and Dirk over some of the other stars.  Zack, inexplicably, became a LeWitness.  

The top 10 NBA players discussion starts at the 25:22 mark.  

Also, wanted to share this must-read link that’s relevant to the lockout discussion. Its a post on a recent interview with the an NBA players union economist.  The economist makes it clear the union is not unaware of what we get into in this podcast, what the interviewer inappropriately terms the “psychic benifits” of owning an NBA franchise. Lol, i guess real estate speculation is somewhat pyschic.  

Kevin Murphy’s economics class

peace! — Mando