The Ladies' Favorite?

Assholes

Both leaders chastised what Perkins termed "squishy" and "weak" Republican senators who have not wholeheartedly endorsed ending Democrats' power to filibuster judicial nominees. They said these included moderates such as Sens. Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. They also grumbled that Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and George Allen of Virginia needed prodding.

"We need to shake these guys up," Perkins said.

Said Dobson: "Sometimes it's just amazing to me that they seem to forget how they got here."

Full article

I don't know how these jerks get away with calling their bullshit political agenda as "doing God's work." Seriously, are these the kind of people that others turn to when they need guidance in their faith? It's pretty scary.

Does... Not... Compute

The ex-boss of US insurance giant AIG, Maurice Greenberg, gave his wife more than $2bn (£1.2bn) of his shares in the company days before stepping down. ... The [SEC] is investigating alleged fraud in a suspect deal between American International Group and reinsurance firm General Re.

Adam, maybe you can help me out here... I just don't understand.

Do these guys really think they can get away with these scams? It's not like stealing a bag of chips from a 7/11... This is big money in high profile situations... I mean I realise the Enron guys got away with it, but regardless... What is going through these scumbags' heads? Do they think they won't get caught? Or do they hope that, like the Enron guys, they'll get caught but they'll still pocket so much that it just won't matter...

Just the audacity and brazenness of it all I find so shocking... I dunno, I just don't really know what to think here.

That Goddamned Church

These are not small climb-downs, and they do not apply just to the past. They are and were admissions that the Roman Catholic Church has been responsible for the retarding of human development on a colossal scale.
[...]
By the time the church apologizes for saying that condoms are worse than AIDS, or admits that it was complicit at best in the mass murder in Rwanda, another few generations will have died out. This is almost exactly the sort of stuff with which Communists and their fellow travelers once had to content themselves. There had indeed been "spots on Stalin's sun," as one hack so prettily phrased it. But the leading role of the party was still a sure thing.

http://www.slate.com/id/2116443/fr/nl/

If At First You Don't Secede...

The Texas state legislature set aside small matters like the implementation of the death penalty last month to consider a far more arcane ritual: cheerleading. [...] "It's just too sexually oriented, you know, the way they're shaking their behinds and going on, breaking it down," Edwards explained.

So, Texas wants to dock funds to schools whose cheerleaders are too sexy.

Now, as a strong supporter of Federalism, I say fine... If you want to be this fucking crazy, then by all means, vote on it and give it a go.

But at the same time, I'd imagine I'm not the only one who realises what nonsense this is... This is where I'd love to get Lauren's opinion, her having been a cheerleader, on the front lines of the new moral battlefield against women's sexual liberation.

How do we define sexy? (Besides asking Victoria's Secret's marketing agency, that is). Is one allowed to oscillate her behind? What about suggestive facial expressions? What if the cheerleader voted for Kerry?

This seems related to the Boston.com article about egregious government waste. I love that a state in our union is wasting valuable time and money on measures like this. I'm sure if you dig deep enough you can find rubbish like this on the books in every state's legislature.

Your Tax Dollars at Work!

Here's a fun bit of investigative reporting from CT's loveable neighbor to the north, Taxachusetts!

Romney appointed Buonopane to the newly created job after Buonopane campaigned vigorously for him in 2002, donating generously to his campaign and helping to orchestrate an election-eve rally for Romney in the North End featuring former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

But the $108,000-a-year post has no obvious duties. Buonopane seldom comes to work for more than a few hours, and takes frequent vacations -- seven-and-a-half weeks last year, and three-and-a-half weeks in the first three months of this year.

Full Article

The worst part about this is that this kind of crap exists on all levels of the government, and not just in MA. I know some people here who work for the Sergeant of Arms of the House. First I don't even know what the Sergeant of Arms does, but these guys work at most 30 hours a week, sometimes only a few hours a day, and earn $35k plus full government benefits. I still have no idea what they do in this job other than occasionally lead people around the House and watch a ton of TV. So ridiculous.

Post

All that happiness eventually gets on my nerves. Weird but true. The final giddy touch is hearing the announcer exhort the fans to stick around after the game and watch as the fellas from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" make over some of the Sox players. I need a shot of angst, and fast.

Good article

Boo Hoo

A new government Web site gives parents advice on how to convince their children that “abstinence is the healthiest choice.” That’s dictating values, say organizations ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to gay rights groups, and they want the site taken down.

Article

What... abstinence is the healthiest choice. Calm down people. Just because they're Scary Religious Republicans doesn't mean they are by definition wrong on everything. On this one they happen to be correct.

But Perhaps government should leave matters of sexual activity to parents.

This one is Politics this time

"Pinellas County Judge George W. Greer issued a steady series of rulings despite being targeted for electoral defeat and impeachment, compared to Joseph Mengele and other Nazis, and even threatened with death." Here.

1. I love the hypocrisy... The whole of the issue was Ms. Shiavo's death. Those so vehemently opposed to it threatened to murder the Judge protecting her right to die and her husband's right's as legal guardian. Lovely.
2. I particularly like Lithwick's point in her essay here:
1. "Congressional Republicans who have staked their careers and the last election on the "sanctity of marriage" have turned this case into a mockery of that very institution."
3. And Saletan makes a worthwhile observation of more Republican hypocrisy:
1. "In 1988, Tom DeLay's 65-year-old father, Charles DeLay, suffered catastrophic brain damage and went into a coma. He had no hope of recovery but evidently reacted when his son entered the room. Although Charles DeLay had no living will, his family concluded that he would be better off dead and wouldn't want to go on living this way. Tom DeLay joined other family members in deciding to withhold dialysis. His father died."
4. It's always refreshing in a certain macabre way to see yet more evidence of what a bunch of hypocritical scumbags this bunch are.
5. Also in Slate, but this one's nothing to do with Shiavo (promise): a film I can't wait to see:
1. "My reaction to Sin City is easily stated. I loved it. Or, to put it another way, I loved it, I loved it, I loved it. I loved every gorgeous sick disgusting ravishing overbaked blood-spurting artificial frame of it. A tad hypocritical? Yes. But sometimes you think, 'Well, I'll just go to hell.'"

Not politics...

"Google will add a yet-to-be-determined amount of extra storage daily, with no plans to stop."

Article

I know it's not politics, but I think it's pretty awesome... Check out the gmail homepage, there's a counter showing how much space is added every second...

The wonders of Moore's Law?