A community bookshop in Washington Heights is doing an end of the year fundraiser to survive. The video is really powerful and it seems like a very special place. I first saw this video about it from writer Junot Diaz, after the jump … Read More

President Obama’s most recent attempt to cut a big budget deal with John Boehner ended with a conciliatory Obama agreeing to cut Social Security benefits and a hapless Boehner launching his disastrous Plan B debacle. Liberals were angry at Obama for conceding too much; conservatives were angry at Boehner for — well, for a variety of things, but mainly they were upset that their backs were up against a wall and they had no way to prevent taxes from going up.

It was a mess. But there was a certain logic to it. Read More