Archive for June, 2010
Calling Maria Cantwell
On Friday June 25, we learned that the conference committee had finished hammering out the consensus version of the Wall Street reform bill: Nearly two years after the American financial system teetered on the verge of collapse, Congressional negotiators reached agreement early Friday morning to reconcile competing versions of the biggest overhaul of financial regulations [...]
Rand Paul Takes The Fifth
Rand Paul used to have the courage of his convictions. That was before he appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show, and spelled out some of his convictions. To quickly find himself furiously backpedaling, due to the political firestorm touched off when his convictions took the national center-stage. Now, when he makes a public appearance, and [...]
The Biggest Slavery Racket In The Free World
When the history books tell us that Abraham Lincoln fought to abolish slavery, that’s just another lousy left wing lie. According to Rick Barber, an ultra-right-wing congressional candidate in Alabama’s 2nd district, Lincoln didn’t abolish slavery at all, he just nationalized it. He killed it off in the private sector only so that slavery could [...]
The Multifarious Joys Of Airline Food
It’s not enough that you now have to pay for it, and it still tastes like crap (just like the good old days when it was free). It turns out that airline food may also be injurious to your health: Many meals served to passengers on major airlines are prepared in unsanitary and unsafe conditions [...]
Adventures In Hilarious Typography
From a national wire service, no less, we get this lovely example of typographical oversight: U.S. President Barack Obama‘s plan to free up airways would nearly double the amount of commercial spectrum currently available for wireless devices, an administration official said on Monday. “Airways”, indeed! Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postShare on Facebookshare via RedditShare with [...]
Every Which Way They Can
Here’s the latest Republican obscenity: Senate GOP blocks jobless aid extension Senate Republicans on Thursday once again blocked legislation to reinstate long-term unemployment benefits for people who have exhausted their aid, prolonging a stalemate that has left more than a million people without federal help. With the Senate apparently paralyzed by partisan gridlock, the fate [...]
The Health Of Our Healthcare System
How has the health of our healthcare system changed over the last three years? The Commonwealth Fund has updated its 2007 study which compared the US system to that of six other developed countries. And the results are just as embarrassing. The short version is: “Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed [...]
The Sheer Laziness Of The Endangered Journalist
It didn’t make much of a ripple, but yesterday morning the Senate suddenly upped and confirmed a large number of long-stalled Obama nominees. How many people were confirmed? That’s where it gets hilarious. The Washington Post offers us “more than 60″: Senators confirmed more than 60 Obama administration nominees Tuesday after months of disagreement on [...]
Gingrey Has A Dynamite Idea
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R) is a member of the House Energy Committee. As such, it behooves him to look for solutions to the ongoing BP oil spill disaster. (Especially since the Republican Party is practically in cahoots with BP.) So he’s been putting on his thinking cap. And he’s come up with a dynamite idea. [...]
Balls To You, Mr. Chief Justice
The Supreme Court acted yesterday to prove yet again that the law can, indeed, be quite an ass. According to a 6-3 ruling, it’s a crime to try to persuade groups classified by the US as terrorist organizations to make peace not war: In a case pitting free speech against national security, the Supreme Court [...]