One of the key low-tech weapons in the oil-spill response armory is the absorbent oil boom. You throw them out on the water (in a continuous chain that, in theory at least, acts as some kind of barrier). And you let them sit there till they have soaked up as much dirty filthy stuff as [...]
So Mitch McConnell has finally decided to abdicate all responsibility to the Republican party, despite being the leader of the Republicans in the Senate. Instead of working for the greater success of the Republican Party (or, more realistically, given his capabilities, we better go with lesser), he is now dedicating himself to helping the Democrats [...]
Yesterday, Matt bemoaned Democrats’ total inability to enforce party discipline, not even on make-or-break votes on key legislation: They can enforce party discipline by stripping recalcitrant Dems of chairmanships and withholding campaign funds. It’s not just that we don’t enforce party discipline. Recalcitrant Democrats seem to believe they have something to gain from threatening to [...]
Sometime this morning, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman will dash into a phone booth, and re-emerge. What happens next remains to be seen. House efforts to pass a meaningful healthcare reform bill are now at an interesting juncture. Liberals have finally rebelled at the disproportionate clout Blue Dog Democrats seem to routinely [...]
Michael Lewis and David Einhorn had an op-ed in the NYT on Sunday that is worth reading. Their piece draws attention to two inter-related aspects of the meltdown in the financial markets. First, there is the role of the SEC: Created to protect investors from financial predators, the commission has somehow evolved into a mechanism [...]
This is McCain’s last chance to try to turn this around. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Let’s rock. matt – 9:03 – why do all the debates have time limits on answers? isn’t that what the moderator is for? tom – 9:03 – they keep their hoes in check matt – 9:04 – mccain couldn’t even look at obama [...]
Finally back from my travels, trying to catch up on all the news, the one thing I don’t get is this whole argument about whether or not Sarah Palin is qualified to be president, or even vice-president. Of course she’s qualified! Haven’t we already seen more than enough evidence that she’s pretty good at what [...]
I guess we should expect this from the candidate who freely admits to knowing nothing about economics: Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Thursday it was important to “talk up” the U.S. dollar and short-term steps were needed to strengthen its value. McCain, the Arizona senator who has wrapped up his party’s White House [...]
Because Secretaries of State are…what, smart? If you’ve ever had trouble getting an Op-Ed submission published — and who among print journalists has not? — this might make you feel a little better: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has had the same problem. [...] A few months ago, she decided to write an opinion piece [...]
Temperature: “As the blast furnace of summer brought 115-plus-degree days….” Electricity: “We’re getting about one hour every four days, and we don’t have cold water or the refrigerator, so we’re buying ice from the market.” (Thought experiment: just try to imagine 115 degrees and no electricity worth speaking of.) Cost of a generator: $450 Average [...]