In the last week, Nick Clegg, of the Liberal Democrats, went from leader of the third party to the leader of the tied for first (for the first time in 104 years!!!) party, to being unfairly demonized by the Daily Mail party. Shock. Any, in about two minutes Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg slug it out over foreign policy. Perhaps there will be a tea break in about half and hour. We’re just not quite sure. 3:00- Brown starts it out. Nothing to write, nothing. 3:02- Cameron wants to help families. Great foreign policy talking...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day – 22 April 2010
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today’s from NYTCLOTD factory Gail “The Colander” Collins. In “Dance of...
Continue reading...Meet the next Senator from Nevada and learn about her Chickens for Health Care initiative
Sue Lowden, one of the Republican candidates for the Nevada Senate seat currently held by Sen. Reid, currently holds a substantial advantage in polling, and will likely become the next senator from the Silver State. And, she has quite a novel approach to health care reform. Namely, she wants to take health care back to the “good old days,” when our forebears bartered or haggled for care. Here’s what she said: Let’s change the system and talk about what the possibilities are. I’m telling you that this works. You know, before we all started having health care,...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Thursday, 22 April 2010
Happy Earth Day, folks. Enjoy your morning constitutional: Belgium’s government collapsed Thursday, as Prime Minister Yves Leterme resigns. Nearly all flights in Europe are going ahead, but new ash is limiting Norway and Sweden’s airports. While no one could have predicted how important the issue would become, before the financial system nearly collapsed, Obama the presidential candidate was warning about problems with financial regulation and the potential for an economic crisis. Tonight’s U.K. debate is “make or break,” says Tory leader David Cameron, while Nick Clegg has been voted best looking of the would-be prime ministers by...
Continue reading...No hipsters in China
China is the world’s largest bicycle market, where 51 million bikes were sold in 2009 alone, according to the China Bicycle Association. However, the world’s largest bicycle trend, fixed-gear bikes, or “fixies,” have been lagging in popularity. Actually, they’re basically non-existent. “Fixes,” so-called because they rely on only one fixed gear and the cyclist slows the bike by slowing their pedaling, were born from New York bike messengers, and have become a staple of urban bicycling almost everywhere; well, except China. They’re not nearly as functional as multi-gear bicycles (complete with brakes!), so many assume that a...
Continue reading...The Court may be just a little technologically-challenged
When President Obama decides on a new Supreme Court associate justice, it may be worthwhile for the “technology president” to consider the future justice’s basic understanding of technology, a skill set that seems be notably absent on the Court. Seems during oral arguments Monday in the case City of Ontario v. Quon, a case that considers city workers’ expectation of privacy in personal text messages sent on devices provided by the city, the Court had some—ahem—issues grasping the practical aspects of the case: The first sign was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John G....
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day – 21 April 2010
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Well, no Maureen today, so Tawmy Fried it is. In today’s...
Continue reading...Poem of the Week
It’s gray and rainy and chilly in DC today, the kind of day that calls for the following lunch: a hot cup of lentil soup, a few wheat crackers, and some seasonal springtime poetry. That’s what I’m having, anyway. This poem is one of my all-time favorites, and it appears in Tony Hoagland’s excellent and often quite funny collection What Narcissism Means to Me. A Color of the Sky by Tony Hoagland Windy today and I feel less than brilliant, driving over the hills from work. There are the dark parts on the road when you pass...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Good morning, folks. Tara’s not getting married after all, and Leonard’s not going to act anymore. But we’re still bringing you your morning constitutional: European airports have reopened, and about 75% of scheduled flights are expected to fly today. In U.S. auto industry news, Chrysler announced that it lost $4B since coming out of bankruptcy almost a year ago, but sees signs of improvement in a profit for the first quarter of 2010 and a positive cash flow. On the other hand, General Motors has repaid $8.1B in loans it received from the U.S. and Canadian governments—five...
Continue reading...SCOTUS lifts ban on animal snuff films
The U.S. Supreme Court today handed down its ruling on U.S. v. Stevens, 08-769, and by an 8-1 decision, upheld the decision of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, nullifying a federal law banning the practice of filming cruelty against animals, citing First Amendment speech protection. The case centered around Robert Stevens of Pittsville, Virginia, who ran a business and website selling videos of pit bull fights. He was caught in an F.B.I. sting and was consequently sentenced to three years in prison for violating a 1999 law banning the sale of videos portraying...
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