Chicago commuter train hits truck, markets nervous - Yahoo! News
...until they calm down.
Mitt Romney's Epic Health Care Journey: How He Flip-Flopped On Mandates | TPMDC
The element of both laws ["Romneycare" in Massachusetts and, on the national level, "Obamacare"] that is most despised by those on the right is a requirement that people purchase insurance, leaving Romney in the awkward position of fiercely defending his own law's use of a mandate while labeling it an unconstitutional government takeover on a national level.
Purely from a political-theater standpoint, Gingrich brings several really outstanding qualities to this race. For one thing, he’s a legit threat to win the nomination. He wouldn’t be in any normal year, but when the field is Donald Trump, Michelle Bachman and Rick Santorum, anyone who can successfully lick a postage stamp without an instruction booklet is going to be a contender
The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives.
The Library of Congress National Jukebox uses a Flash player which, presumably, makes it unavailable on iStuff ('Pad, 'Pod, 'Phone, 'etc.) but who knows, maybe there will be an app soon. Also, no downloading - the recordings run streaming only. Still, this is an awesomely cool thing. Go library!
Guardian, UK - The US and Pakistan struck a secret deal almost a decade ago permitting a US operation against Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil similar to last week's raid that killed the al-Qaida leader, the Guardian has learned....
Afterwards, both sides agreed, Pakistan would vociferously protest the incursion.
Navy reverses itself on gay marriages on military bases - CNN.com
Washington (CNN) -- The Navy did an abrupt about-face late Tuesday, suspending earlier guidance that could have allowed same-sex marriages on military bases once the Pentagon scraps its present Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
Fox News guest says women ‘are asking for sex if they’re dressing immodestly’ | Raw Replay
Fox News’ Sean Hannity invited Christian pop singer Rebecca St. James to discuss recent “slutwalk” protests....
Overworked? Make a Leap to America’s 10 Least Stressful Jobs - TIME NewsFeed
Audiologist
Dietitian
Software Engineer
Computer Programmer
Dental Hygienist
Speech Pathologist
Philosopher
Mathematician
Occupational Therapist
Chiropractor
OK, list like this are usually pretty uninteresting, IMHO, but this one—the 10 least stressful jobs according to TIME and somebody called Careercast—is a hoot. An audiologist, I think, is somebody that gives hearing tests. So that makes sense, I guess. But philosopher? I didn't even know "philosopher" was a job. I mean, you know, since Aristotle and that other guy, whatever his name was. And what, pray tell, has a philosopher got to get stressed about? How can being a philosopher be more stressful than being an audiologist or a dietician? Dude. Seriously.
GOPers Shame and Glee Club - First Draft
Republicans are in the process of pushing one of the most restrictive voter ID bills in the nation through the WI legislature and it would be in effect for the recall elections...
Wisconsin Republicans solve their recall problem.
NATO Bombs Rock Tripoli, Libya Rebels Advance | Common Dreams
Jets screamed in low over the Libyan capital in the early hours of the morning, carrying out an unusually heavy bombardment over roughly three hours, an AFP correspondent said.
Well, Bunky, it's not. It's using the (wink wink) NATO air force to support the Libyan rebels (rebel army? rebel gaggle? what?) and hoping you, you poor mope, won't notice this "unusually heavy bombardment" (of Tripoli, as in shores of) could possibly have hurt a few poor innocent civilians its ownself, but then since they happen to live in said Tripoli they are out of luck. Also, did anyone mention bullshit?
Police find tunnel under Arizona-Mexico border - Yahoo! News
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) – U.S. border police have found a sophisticated smugglers' tunnel fitted with lights, water pumps and a ventilation system running under the Arizona border from Mexico, authorities said on Monday.
Oh. Wait.
I fired [General MacArthur] because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President. That's the answer to that. I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that's not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail - Harry S Truman
Beach hole gulps Olympic swimmer, spurring rescue - Yahoo! News
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – It took 60 rescuers two hours to free a member of the Austrian Olympic swim team who was buried in sand up to his neck on Florida's Pompano Beach.
Spurring rescue? There was an option? If the guy had been buried, say, only up to his armpits they might have just left him there? What?
Arizona's Plan: Build Border Fence With Online Donations and Prison Labor | Common Dreams
PHOENIX - Arizona lawmakers want more fence along the border with Mexico - whether the federal government thinks it's necessary or not.
They've got a plan that could get a project started using online donations and prison labor...
The Unwisdom of Elites - NYTimes.com
The past three years have been a disaster for most Western economies. The United States has mass long-term unemployment for the first time since the 1930s. Meanwhile, Europe’s single currency is coming apart at the seams. How did it all go so wrong?
Well, what I’ve been hearing with growing frequency from members of the policy elite — self-appointed wise men, officials, and pundits in good standing — is the claim that it’s mostly the public’s fault.
DownWithTyranny!: Is This the Big One? The Flood That Makes New Orleans A Backwater?
The massive surge of water currently moving down the Mississippi River towards the Louisiana Delta may be remembered as the flood that affected New Orleans even more than Hurricane Katrina did. If this is the ‘five-hundred-year flood,’ the one that some say has been looming since 1973, the one that finally overwhelms the Old River Control Structure 300 miles upstream from the current outlet of the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, then New Orleans will be devastated again. By lack of water.
New Florida gun law muzzles pediatricians, health care workers | The Raw Story
A pending law in Florida would make it illegal for pediatricians to ask families whether guns are being safely kept in their patients' homes. Supporters of the NRA-backed measure insist that questions by doctors and other health care professionals amount to an invasion of privacy and a violation of their Second Amendment rights.
Sen. Schumer proposes "no-ride list" for Amtrak trains - Yahoo! News
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A senator on Sunday called for a "no-ride list" for Amtrak trains after intelligence gleaned from the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound pointed to potential attacks on the nation's train system.
Sen. Charles Schumer said he would push as well for added funding for rail security and commuter and passenger train track inspections and more monitoring of stations nationwide.
Sort of a general purpose, universal, 24/7 curfew. Everybody under the bed.
Later: On the other hand, now that I think of it, what a terrific excuse for taking a day off from work! "Honest, Boss, they wouldn't let me on the train."
Democrats, Seduced by Secret Dollars - NYTimes.com
Last year several pro-Republican advocacy groups degraded the Congressional elections by spending at least $138 million in secret donations on advertisements. The public did not know which lobbying interests gave money, or how much, or what they would demand in return. But the donations became a significant factor in the Republican gains in the House and the Senate.
Now several prominent Democrats are abandoning the high ground and have decided to raise millions of their own secret dollars. They have promised they will again try to pass a law preventing this secrecy if they win....
Stop right there.
(Link is to the regrettably paywalled NYTimes. Alas.)
Troops react to bin Laden’s death - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times
Spc. William Baxter, a parachute rigger with the 101st Sustainment Brigade, was...succinct with his thoughts.
“OK, he’s dead, can we go home?” he asked.