This goes a long way toward explaining, however, why the Senate tends to be more protective than the House of corporate interests -- be they in the form of bank bailouts, tax breaks, or whatever else (consider, for instance, that H.R. 1424 -- the second take on the bank bailout -- was approved with the votes of 74 percent of the Senate but just 60 percent of the House). We don't need vague notions about the "cultural" differences between the two chambers to explain this -- they have mostly to do with where the money is flowing in from.
Maine isn't really representing in this one - 20th and 27th, where 1st is worst. Big Russ is rolling in at 97 and Franken is right behind him at 98. -hendred
Daily Kos hate mail. For the abridged version scroll down a few pages to the poll. He gets some real jems.
Standard Daily Kos warning: Site is the ultra-left home of the dirty hippies, godless America-hating communists, father rapers, and litterbugs. -hendred
The guy behind the guy behind the guy Tue Aug 4 2009
From will: A Pens fan was a little resourceful and got on the ice when they won the cup. Then he got a champagne bottle. Then he got into the locker room. Then he got a bunch of pictures, with Sid, with Mario, with the Cup. Just nuts.
There were 1,025 people with my name. And, because it is impossible for things like this to immune to the jokers out there, I noticed somebody did a search for this person.
Rotating tripod tracks people. Takes pics. I guess you set this up at parties and whatnot and let it go to town. I feel like this could be kind of cool or really crappy. $150 to find out. -hendred
We're talking about twitter. This is the equivalent of running a steam roller over a chipmunk farm: Somewhat disturbing, oddly hilarious, and ultimately a loss of nothing but a bunch of chattering rodents.
Mad Men Profiles the show and includes pics of Don and Betty. I recently devoured the entire (13 episode) second season on DVD and liked it even more than the first. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out. -hendred
He acknowledged the Volt's high price tag, expected to be around $40,000, and lack of available public outlets are potential challenges. Volt buyers would be eligible for a $7,500 tax credit...
The Volt is powered by a lithium-ion battery with a range of around 40 miles that can be recharged though a traditional power outlet. A small gas-powered engine would power the car on longer drives.
Here's another link in case you can't get to the first one.
Since leaving school, how much money have you saved?Tue Aug 11 2009
Since it's impolite to talk about money, an anonymous poll will have to do. Please don't include 401k or other investments such as a house. We can do that later. This is straight savings. I come from poor people so I have no idea what is "normal."
Acting like a douche doesn't help anythingWed Aug 12 2009
Account of Specter's Harrisburg town hall. Seems like lots of people shouting non sequiturs and accomplishing absolutely nothing. I'll post the Daily Show thing later. Stewart's better at this. -hendred
“We believe there are several issues out there that leave the existence of the Republic at risk,” he added, “not the least of which is this Obamacare.”
Mr. Miller, shaking, stood his ground. He said he was furious that the senator’s staff had limited the questioning. “One day,” he said to loud applause, “God is going to stand before you, and he’s going to judge you!”
PS - This is from that liberal rag the NYT so you know it's all either made up or selected quotes. Also, they use fetuses to power their web site. I've seen the pictures.
Definitely, Positively, Tentatively, Maybe Thu Aug 13 2009
From Red Tom: Montreal closed a tentative deal with that little rat bastard Bernie Eccelstone. Time to reserve hotel rooms for every weekend next summer.
NYTimes Magazine on Rock Band:Beatles It's a bit long but covers the making of the game from the Beatles/Apple side and the technical side as well as the general attitudes toward the games. -hendred
I'm the bad guy for saying it's a stupid country, yet polls show that a majority of Americans cannot name a single branch of government, or explain what the Bill of Rights is. 24% could not name the country America fought in the Revolutionary War. More than two-thirds of Americans don't know what's in Roe v. Wade. Two-thirds don't know what the Food and Drug Administration does. Some of this stuff you should be able to pick up simply by being alive. You know, like the way the Slumdog kid knew about cricket.
Not here. Nearly half of Americans don't know that states have two senators and more than half can't name their congressman. And among Republican governors, only 30% got their wife's name right on the first try.
Quick Update I doubled back on the MR comments and was quickly reminded why I never do that. The guy saying he should have used ignorant rather than stupid has a point, but other than that... wow.
It's easy to stop when you've never startedTue Aug 18 2009
The story behind Fiji water. Fiji's run by a military dictatorship or some such madness. And the water really is from Fiji. Stop drinking it. Originally found on lm2y's spacebook but now appearing all over the tubes. -hendred the parched
I posted about these guys a while back, but Season 3's starting soon-ish. You may recognize the red head from an epsiode of House, that Sears commercial, or Dr. Horrible.
You like politically charged comment sections? Then you'll love this one. 1709 comments and counting as of the time of this posting. The first one I saw started with, "Who gives a sh^t about Republicans?" Sounds like a promising waste of time. -decker
Pretty much the nexus of hot-button issuesTue Aug 25 2009
Caholic university removes contraception coverage from their health insurance. Several employees filed complaints and the Equal Opportunity Commission determined they were discriminated against. The article is a little confusing to me for some reason, but it's an interesting case. The comments are actually semi-civil and include comments from the school and one of the profs mentioned. In theory, anyway.
Just one more case to throw on the 'Health care via your employer is wack' pile. -hendred, still using the word wack.
Profiles in Studentia: Gerry McDougal,* Chicago. "I was looking for a place that would challenge me academically, but I also wanted to feel bad about masturbating. At Notre Dame, I got both."
I don't think I've ever seen it before. Diving stop and backhanded flip all in one motion before hitting the ground. It didn't get much pub, but I think it's about the most difficult thing you can do on a baseball field. It's nuts. I'm flummoxed. I'm Perplexed. I'm Flumplexed.
Duplex for rent in Pittsburgh.
