Archive for February 25, 2010
Sanity: Vermont Senate Blocks Nuclear Plant’s License
This is great news for those of us who think the United States should concentrate — immediately – on developing wind and solar energy: In Historic Vote, Vermont Senate Blocks License Renewal for Nuclear Plant. “The vote was striking because the state relies on the plant for a third of its electricity.”
Vermont has to figure out how to make up for that loss but bless them for having the guts to do it.
On Unemployment Benefits? The GOP Likens You to a “Hobo.”
Millions of Americans are unemployed and living (barely) on unemployment benefits — mostly due to no fault of their own — but House and Senate Republicans apparently think they’re a bunch of lazy, whining, welfare-queen-types and they are fighting an extension of those benefits:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is trying to pass an extension of unemployment benefits, but is facing resistance from Republicans who are throwing up procedural hurdles and trying to use the extension as leverage to push through a tax cut for the wealthiest families in the country. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) today questioned the necessity of an extension on the grounds that “we intend to have some immediate impact on the economy through what we’re doing.” And discourse in the House isn’t any better, with Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) positing that extending unemployment benefits may be creating “hobos.”
The deal with Republicans is that their attention and effort centers on corporations and the rich (yes, Democrats, unfortunately, are trending that way too). They literally don’t care about average Americans; they just kind of get in the way.
Break Time — Miniature “Food”
Wow, one of my favorite Break Time finds ever. Look at these amazing miniature foods by artist Kim Burke. Here’s just one example:
Look at how tiny those grapes are. Incredible.
I don’t know precisely what you’d do with them — put them in a dollhouse? — but they sure are fun to look at.
Rush Limbaugh’s Health Care Plan: Eat Applesauce
From Rush Limbaugh’s radio show today: “If you don’t have any teeth, so what? What’s applesauce for?”
The guy knocks me over with his compassion and empathy.
A Dispassionate “Summit” on Life and Death
Insofar as this “Health Care Summit” is, in the end, about life and death and suffering and paying for insurance or food or medicine or the mortgage or college, the lack of urgency and passion on the part of the participants has been pretty astonishing.
Beware of Senators Talking “Tort Reform”
Beware of senators talking about the glories of “tort reform.” “Tort reform” benefits big business and the power elite. It means that the powers that be want to “reform” the law so that — in the case of health care reform — if a doctor leaves a staple gun inside your belly after he performs surgery on you, you (l) either can’t sue him, or (2) the government places a limit on the amount you can sue for.
Or, in the case of big business, say a loved one dies when their Toyota crashes because of a sudden exceleration. Tort “reform” would do the same there — either limit the amount you can sue for or limit your ability to sue in the first place.
Be careful about being for “tort reform.” In the end, it screws you and me.
And there are big questions as to whether “tort reform” even works.
Ben Stein Wages Class Warfare on CNN
Oh my God. Ben Stein is on CNN with Donna Brazile and Wolf Blitzer. Blitzer just asked him why so many Republicans are against a public option. Stein said, “Because a much higher percentage of Republicans are taxpayers and Republicans are going to be paying for it while Democrats are going to be receiving it.”
Remind me to turn the channel as soon as I see Ben Stein’s face.
U.S. to Build New, $1 Billion Embassy in London
Do we really, really need to spend $1 billion (yes, that’s with a “b” folks) on a new embassy in London? That would be more than the $850 million we spent on a super-fortified embassy in Baghdad for God’s sake.
Decision to Stop Making Hummers Saddens Assholes
Read the always spot-on Andy Borowitz: Decision to Stop Making Hummers Saddens Assholes.
Love that title.
When You Hear Republicans Whine About Reconciliation — Remember This
Between 1981 and 2009, 22 bills have been passed through reconciliation. Eight of the bills were initiated by a Democratic-controlled Congress. The rest, 14, by a Republican-controlled Congress. So the Republicans have used reconciliation almost twice as much as Democrats. And they’re whining?
It’s an act. Period. End of story.
Now let’s move on.
In Case You’re Interested…
PolitiFact.com fact checks 100 statements made about health care.
The “Health Care Summit”
Looks like all the cable “news” channels are carrying President Obama’s opening remarks at the health care “summit.” Can’t imagine they’ll air all six hours. From the looks of it, there’s going be a whole lot of speechifying. Wish Obama had come out and started with nothing but, “Okay, Boner*, McCain, what are your ideas?”
* I refer to John Boehner as John Boner which I’ll keep doing as long as he refers to the Democratic party as the DemocRAT party.
Full Text of PETA Statement Regarding SeaWorld Tragedy
Here is the text of PETA’s statement regarding the tragedy at SeaWorld today:
Earlier this afternoon, another trainer at SeaWorld in Orlando was killed after being pulled into the tank by an orca named Tilikum (or Telly, for short). According to a witness, the whale, who has been involved in two previous fatal incidents involving human beings and who our captive wildlife director, Debbie Leahy, describes as “12,300 pounds of sheer rage,” leapt out of the tank and grabbed the trainer by the waist, pulled her into the water, threw her around like a rag doll, and then held her underwater until she drowned. SeaWorld officials canceled the dolphin and whale shows for the rest of the day, but SeaWorld remains open (have they no shame?!) and will continue to exploit and abuse these captive animals despite the many horrific injuries and deaths of trainers and animals that have occurred throughout the theme park’s history.
PETA has long been asking SeaWorld to stop taking wild, ocean-going mammals from their families and ocean homes and confining them with no semblance of a life to an area that, to them, is the size of a bathtub. No wonder these huge, intelligent animals, like the beaten elephants in the Ringling Bros. circus, lash out after being forced into subservience and forced to perform stupid circus tricks for their food for so long. For years, PETA has been calling on SeaWorld to switch to hugely popular robotic replacements like those used in the amazing “Walking With the Dinosaurs” exhibit. The public needs to stand up now against this cruelty and stop patronizing aquariums and whale and dolphin shows. Please join us in saying, “Enough!”
For the record, I posted this earlier today, which was all I could find at the time re PETA’s reaction.
Again, this is horribly sad for everyone — including Tilikum.
