Archive for January 26, 2010
About to Dive into a Bowl of Spaghetti
It’s been a long day, but as it happened, I managed to make a big pot of slow-cooked spaghetti sauce. I’m thinking pasta and sauce and now, cheese. Grated Port Salut or Reggiano?
Reggiano, with a hint of Salut. Love that melty part.
Fox News is Incoherent After the Arrest of James O’Keefe
-UPDATED-
(Posted at 7:30 p.m. ET) – Fox News, James O’Keefe’s most ardent promoter and supporter, is obviously flustered by – and still trying to decide how to spin – his arrest. This incoherent headline has been up on their site for hours:
And don’t ya love their use of the words “phone scheme?” Talk about soft pedaling. The guy was caught trying to bug a senator’s phones. Fox makes it sound like this is some sort of telemarketing scam.
UPDATE @ 9:55 p.m.ET:
This is the headline on Fox two and a half hours later:
Hey Americans, Judd Gregg (R-NH) Wants You to Shut Up
Republican Senator Judd Gregg, a fan of Ben Bernanke and the criminals on Wall Street who are robbing us blind, was on CNBC yesterday decrying,
a growing tide of populism spurring senators to oppose Bernanke’s nomination to a second term, and support stringent new rules on large financial institutions.
“That’s pandering populism,” Gregg said during an appearance on CNBC in response to some Democrats’ and Republicans’ criticisms of the Fed chairman. “There’s a lot of populism going on in this country right now, and I’m tired of it.”
Short version: The ruling class is in charge here and we’re sick of the peasants whining about stuff.
James O’Keefe Busted For Trying to Bug Mary Landrieu’s Office
UPDATED
Remember James O’Keefe? He’s the “conservative filmmaker” who dressed as a pimp three or four months ago and produced undercover video entrapping ACORN employees, which the right chewed on for weeks (while turning O’Keefe into a hero) until ACORN’s reputation was in the toilet.
Well, that infamous James O’Keefe was busted by the FBI yesterday for attempting to bug the telephones in Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) New Orleans office. Also busted, along with O’Keefe and two other people, was Robert Flanagan, “the son of William Flanagan, who is the acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana.”
This is what happens when hot headed kids get treated like national heros for doing sleazy things. (House Republicans went so far as to sponsor a resolution honoring O’Keefe.) The fame and attention become more important than respecting people and the law. Which I guess pretty much summarizes Republicans: lying, exaggerating, distorting — whatever it takes to “win.”
UPDATED:
O’Keefe and his cohorts are 24-years-old. Imagine what they are learning when their elders condone this kind of behavior:
For that matter, imagine what our society is learning.
Break Time — Photography
Winners of the National Wildlife Federation’s 2009 Photo Contest.
The eagle catching the starling is just an amazing, amazing shot.
Our local Wild Bird Center — where we go to buy bird seed – has copies of a series of shots the photographer took leading up to this actual catch. Grace in motion and pure determination is the only way to describe it.
Fox News is the New Walter Cronkite
Remember when Walter Cronkite was the most trusted name in news? What a difference a few decades make: Fox Leads for Trust.
I could ask whether this might have something to do with the fact that we spend 2% of our budget on education in this country but I won’t.
The Senate Lowers Vote Threshold for Bernanke Confirmation
The public health insurance option was stripped from health care reform because it didn’t have 60 votes. An expansion of Medicare took its place but it, too, was dropped for having fewer than 60. Both proposals had at least 50 votes. Dawn Johnsen, a nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel, has the backing of progressive organizations, but a 60-vote threshold has held her up for a year.
The threshold for the re-confirmation of Ben Bernanke?
When it comes to progressive priorities in the Senate, there’s one standard: 60 votes are needed. But for Ben Bernanke, there’s a second standard: 50 will be just fine, thank you.
So, when the ruling/criminal class wants something, i.e., to retain Ben Bernanke as head of the Fed, the Senate figures out a way to deliver. When the public wants something? Houston, we have a problem.
This is so infuriating and I was already suffering from an overload of furious before I got this news.
Let’s Keep an Eye on Reshma Saujani
Reshma Saujani is a 34-year-old hedge fund lawyer who lives in New York City. She has “has won the backing of some prominent Democratic donors” in a “bid to topple Representative Carolyn B. Maloney.” Her goal is to “become an advocate for the financial industry” (poor babies, they do need more of a voice), and she accused “the entire New York congressional delegation of failing to do enough to aid business.”
I’ll be fascinating to see if this so-called Democrat makes it to Washington. Bearing in mind Citizens United, she just might, what with all the bucks that could potentially rally around her.
Obama’s Budget Freeze
On Wednesday night President Obama will purportedly propose a budget freeze that,
would cover the agencies and programs for which Congress allocates specific budgets each year, including air traffic control, farm subsidies, education, nutrition and national parks.
But take a look at this graph showing how the budget is allocated:
As it is, we spend only 2% of the budget on education yet he wants to freeze that over defense? Crazy priorities.
Oh, and then there’s this:
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Pentagon’s top suppliers Wednesday that … he would like to see “steady, consistent growth in defense budgets.”
Stunning.
