Archive for January, 2010
Late Night Music Video: Cut Your Hair, by Pavement
Indie legends.
i don’t remember a word but i don’t care, i care, i really don’t care
did you see the drummer’s hair?
I Wish I Had Thought Of This
Village Voice headline: “Scott Brown Wins Mass. Race, Giving GOP 41-59 Majority in the Senate.”
That says it all.
Hitting Our Children; It’s What We Do
Sometimes I wonder why we keep on having the same discussions over and over again. For instance, Scientific American reports on a new study that says parents and caregivers should “eliminate their use of any physical punishment as a disciplinary measure.”
The study by the American Psychological Association task force “found correlations between physical punishment and [...]
Another Delaware Blogger Returns To Blogging
Anne O’Malia, formerly of Fix Red Clay, has started a new blog called Delaware Children Today. Check it out! Knowing Anne, it should be interesting and provocative!
20Jan2010 | pandora | Comments Off | Continued
Wednesday Open Thread
It’s Wednesday so let’s get this open thread started. What’s on your mind?
Haiti has another big aftershock, magnitude 6.1.
The most powerful aftershock yet struck Haiti on Wednesday, shaking more rubble from damaged buildings and sending screaming people running into the streets eight days after the country’s capital was devastated by an apocalyptic quake.
The magnitude-6.1 [...]
Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show-Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Post-Game Wrap-Up
A complete record of yesterday’s activity is here.
The House of Representatives, with the notable exception of Rep. Earl Jaques, had no problem putting a registered lobbyist on a medical advisory board, and approved HB 3, discussed here in detail yesterday. Any member of the House is welcome to come here and explain why this [...]
Ask Dr. Liberal: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Biden
Dear Dr. Liberal,
Since Tiger Woods seems to be on the cusp of declaring himself to be a sex addict, do you think that means he would have sex with me?
Signed,
Ready for Wood(s)
20Jan2010 | liberalgeek | 8 comments | Continued
Darwin Trumps You, Mr. Freshwater
Meet John Freshwater, an eighth-grade school science teacher from Ohio who likes to play loose with the facts, use the Bible as a scientific resource, and, yes, torture children with electricity.
The New York Times reports that the school district started the procedure to fire Freshwater back on June 2008 because he burned crosses into the [...]
Stars and Bars
Close to 150 years ago, the United States quelled a rebellion which cost the lives of 500,000 men and boys but which also led to the freedom of some 4,000,000 African Americans from the shackles of slavery. (Note that the number of slaves does not include the generations of African Americans who died in slavery’s [...]
20Jan2010 | nemski | 41 comments | Continued
Josh Marshall: It’s Meta Politics
I’m just sharing today what some pundits are saying about the Massachusetts Senate race and Obama’s path forward. Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo weighs in:
The central problem the president is laboring under is the fact that the economy remains in a shambles. And unemployment remains at a toxic 10%. Beyond that though the [...]
E.J. Dionne: Find Your Inner Reagan
Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne gave excellent pre-emptive advice to Democrats regarding the outcome of the Massachusetts Senate race. His advice is simply really, communicate. It seems like strange advice for a man with such great communication skills, but it is still needed. The message is just not getting through.
But the success [...]
Lessons For Democrats
The biggest lesson for Democrats in this race?
Don’t take your base for granted.
If you run on change, deliver it.
As many have been saying, it’s hard to sell the idea that we must have 60 votes if it means Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson control the outcome of every vote.
Democrats, prove you can govern. “We [...]
Late Night Music Video: Dig For Fire, by The Pixies
They weren’t really fans of making music videos, so they always made sure to put in as little effort as possible. They are, however, the inspiration for nearly every band that followed them.
are you looking for the mother lode? huh? no.
no, my child, this is not my desire.
Might As Well Start A Coakley vs. Brown Thread
I have no idea how this is going to turn out. That said, Greg Sargent finally has hard turnout numbers from the Massachusetts Secretary of State…
… and they confirm anecdotal evidence that turnout is running much higher than expected in Boston — a boon to Martha Coakley, perhaps, though who knows if it’s enough.
As [...]
Tuesday Open Thread
It’s Tuesday and it’s open thread time. Let’s go!
It’s election day in Massachusetts and they’re set to send teabagging, birther and nude model Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate. Congrats, Massachusetts, that’ll really show those Democrats who’s boss! Nate Silver rates Brown as a 3:1 favorite based on poll results.
Be sure to [...]
Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up/Pre-Game Show-Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010
The entire record of the previous legislative session (Thursday, January 14) can be found here.
Key legislation that was passed, most of it previously discussed here, included:
HB 202 (Rep. B. Short)-Designed to protect policyholders when a health or life insurance company is liquidated. Pretty sure that this bill was a Matt Denn proposal from his time [...]
I Feel Like I’ve Been Here Before
If you haven’t read Kevin Drum’s article, please do. He puts into words exactly how I feel.
The striking thing to me, though, is how fast the left has turned on him. Conservatives gave Bush five or six years before they really turned on him, and even then they revolted more against the Republican establishment than [...]
Stupid Is As Stupid Does
Banks are angry about the proposed bail-out tax. It’s so unfair! *stomps feet* They’re not just planning to hold their breaths until they turn blue and pass out, though:
Wall Street’s main lobbying arm has hired a top Supreme Court litigator to study a possible legal battle against a bank tax proposed by the [...]
Guns For Jesus
A military contractor is writing secret Biblical messages in the weapons going to soldiers.
Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.
The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan [...]
Late Night Music Video: Various Disgraces, by The Blam
Heard it on an episode of The Office, and my wife immediately purchased it on iTunes. Money well spent, because I’d forgotten about it until this past weekend when I found it on her phone.
18Jan2010 | xstryker | Comments Off | Continued
Letters From Haiti
We all have a desire to help the people of Haiti in any way that we can. Joanne Christian used an already scheduled trip to The Dominican Republic to volunteer at a 20 bed hospital in Santo Domingo that was helping 2,000 Haitian victims. At some point, she decided that she should get some names of these people so that their family will know that they got out, although there is a likelihood that some of the people here have died of their injuries, or soon will. Images after the jump.
18Jan2010 | liberalgeek | 20 comments | Continued
I Might Have To Consider Home Schooling
Especially since I’m already doing it, since my 7th grader just told me her Social Studies teacher told her that Climate Change was nonsense – which is scary, but becoming oh so predictable. Seriously, can we just pay these people more so we can get rid of the imbeciles? When my 7th grader questioned her [...]
18Jan2010 | pandora | 90 comments | Continued
Ask Dr. Liberal: Fast Food Edition
Dr. L,
Should I eat a McDonald’s Mac Snack Wrap ™ sandwich?
Signed,
Greenwood Gourmand
Health Care Reform: The Back-Up Plan
Apparently the Democrats do have a back-up plan if Coakley loses her race and nudie teabagger Scott Brown becomes the next Senator from Massachusetts:
As I noted last week, the House could simply pass the Senate bill unchanged, and Obama could sign reform into law. As recently as last week, a number of high-profile Democrats were [...]
Monday Open Thread
It’s Monday and at least some of you get to enjoy a 3-day weekend. The rest of us have to work. So let’s open this thread.
The danger of Facebook:
Anyone who is tempted to rekindle old romances or start new ones on the internet be warned: Facebook is now being cited in almost 20 [...]
Social Media
