Whiskey Fire: The Hole I Dig Is Bottomless

Whiskey Fire: The Hole I Dig Is Bottomless

"Even to the layman it is quite clear that when you ram Large Hardons together at that sort of velocity and with that sort of power, accidents are bound to occur. But where is the information about proper safety precautions? Medical treatment? Notification of relatives (God forbid)? Lubricant? Nowhere! This is enough by itself to suspect wrongdoing, if not outright conspiracy.

Moreover, look at this again: 'The collisions in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are part of an experiment to recreate conditions immediately after the Big Bang at the start of the universe.' Foolishness. If you want to understand any sort of a 'Big Bang,' you need to look at� the state of Large Hardons immediately prior to the event! What do these 'scientists' take us for, anyway? I'd say the project organizers here have egg or something all over their faces right about now."

Dutch sailor found safe in St. Maarten - thestar.com

Dutch sailor found safe in St. Maarten - thestar.com:

"THE HAGUE, Netherlands–Police tracked down 14-year-old Dutch sailor Laura Dekker in the Caribbean territory of St. Maarten, days after she ran away from home leaving her boat behind, Dutch media reported late Sunday.

Dekker made headlines around the world earlier this year when she unsuccessfully went to court as a 13-year-old to fight for the right to set off on a single-handed circumnavigation of the world in her boat, Guppy."

oh yes, absolutely mature enough to sail round the world

Economist's View: Paul Krugman: A Dangerous Dysfunction

Economist's View: Paul Krugman: A Dangerous Dysfunction:

"Back in the mid-1990s two senators — Tom Harkin and, believe it or not, Joe Lieberman — introduced a bill to reform Senate procedures. ... Sixty votes would still be needed to end a filibuster at the beginning of debate, but if that vote failed,... eventually a simple majority could end debate. Mr. Harkin says that he’s considering reintroducing that proposal, and he should. ...
Remember, the Constitution sets up the Senate as a body with majority — not supermajority — rule. So the rule of 60 can be changed. ..."

Of course Lieberman was also for a public option before he was against it. Will be interesting to see if this ever gets to the floor

Daily Kos: First pass at health care vote breaks 60-40

Daily Kos: First pass at health care vote breaks 60-40:

After months and months and months of striving for the holy grail of bipartisanship, it comes down to this. As expected.

That is what strikes me as well. The amount of dithering and watering down of this bill to snag one or two non-democrats shows the folly of this approach. From here on out it is time to bring the hammer down on the Conservadems and Leiberman. If they want to be seen as obstructionist as the GOP then fine, but let them know that if that happens then they are on their own. You don't get committee chairs and you don't get baskets of money from the party if you aren't willing to toe the party line on the stuff that matters.

Anyone with a working braincell knew that this was going to come down to a 60/40 party line vote and it was delusional to think otherwise. Knowing this, the bill should have been crafted to start out somewhere around Medicare Part E and let it be "compromised" down to a robust public option with good cost controls. If I can figure that out then can someone explain to my why Harry Reid couldn't? I would argue that if he didn't realize the way this would go then it is time for someone with a bit more intestinal fortitude to be leading the Senate.

Yeah, I know. I am such a dreamer

Top US General Bans Pregnancies For Soldiers Under His Command | Video Cafe

Top US General Bans Pregnancies For Soldiers Under His Command | Video Cafe:

The Army general of U.S. forces in Northern Iraq has banned pregnancy among military personnel in his command, NBC News reported on Friday.

Anyone who becomes pregnant or impregnates another servicemember, including married couples assigned to the same unit, could face a court-martial and jail time, according to an order issued by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo.

To me, this means that he has effectively banned heterosexual sex unless one partner is sterile since there is no 100% effective birth control method. Good luck with that.

Worst Border Crossing Ever

From Peter Watts

If you buy into the Many Worlds Intepretation of quantum physics, there must be a parallel universe in which I crossed the US/Canada border without incident last Tuesday. In some other dimension, I was not waved over by a cluster of border guards who swarmed my car like army ants for no apparent reason; or perhaps they did, and I simply kept my eyes downcast and refrained from asking questions.

It gets worse, go read.

via Digby

CNN being stupid

Speaking of VirginGalactic's new toy CNN says the following

The cabin, which seats six paying passengers, is 90 inches -- nearly 9 feet -- in diameter, which provides "lots of room for zero-G fun," Branson's Web site said.

Call me old-fashioned but isnt that damn near exactly 7 1/2 feet?

The helpful explanation "-- nearly 9 feet --" is not on virgin galactic's site, only on CNN's. How fucking stupid do you have to be to think that 90" is nearly 9 feet? I can see "over 7 feet" or "nearly 8 feet" but come on.

Shaking my head.