News?

I thought we knew about this three years ago:

Emails released by the House Republicans show that in 2009, the White House struck a deal with a major pharmaceutical lobby in order to overhaul the health-care system. In the deal, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America agreed to give $80 billion for health reform in exchange for protection from policies that lower the cost of prescription medication.

From The Daily Beast, here.

If you're running out of things to read…

…the State Department has here a whole series of e-books covering U.S. foreign relations from 1946 to 1976. They are free and they come in several e-books formats.

If it's work avoidance you're after, this may well be the nuclear option.

Here's the link.

Just think of it as a little game

Atlanta (CNN) -- Federal health officials say 14 people in six states have been sickened by the same strain of E. coli over the past couple of months.…

Cases have been reported in Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Florida, according to local health departments and media reports. The CDC would not reveal which other two states were reporting cases.

Really? Won't reveal the other two states? And apparently aren't saying why.

Oh well, here's the rest of the story.

Leftover broccoli

Is that a terrifying prospect or what? I'm sitting here looking leftover broccoli and thinking, no. No way. Maybe tomorrow. Perhaps. I know it's good 4 U.

So why don't U eat it?

Bricky

Bricky, a photo by Ted Compton on Flickr.

Some actual information here

Private sector employment is indeed increasing, as the Obama administration claims, but it is still nowhere near what it was four years ago.

See the chart here.

Never stop hating, says churchy guy

Or else…

The president of The American Family Association said during his radio show on Tuesday that he views Christianity and homosexuality as so completely incompatible that if he and fellow Christians ever stop hating LGBT people, they just may become the target of similar hatred, or worse.

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Please tell us more

From a story about laws restricting voters rights (from PBS, no less) this:

“This is almost unprecedented,” said Lawrence Norden, deputy director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, which tracks voting laws and which published the analysis. “We have not seen this number of restrictive voting laws pass probably since the end of the 20th century. Certainly, this is the biggest rollback since the civil-rights era in terms of voting rights.”

Really? "Almost unprecedented"? Would that be something like a little bit pregnant?

And what's this about "since the end of the 20th century"? When exactly was the end of the 20th century? A week ago last Tuesday, wasn't it? Can't they afford calendars at NYU?

Well. If you want to read the whole story, it's here.

Wisconsin stays bought

Well, I'm from Chicago and I can appreciate a guy who stays bought, although this is the first time I remember a whole state doing so. The big Democratic vote came from Madison, of course, but it wasn't enough to outweigh Milwaukee and the Republican lakeshore. Right now, all the networks and major newspapers seem to agree Walker has survived the recall vote.

Well then. A lot will be made of this being a preview of November, but I'm not sure I put much weight on that. The presidential race is very close and will remain so, and the vote is still a long way off.

I can wait.

Oh, go ahead, tell us what you really think

PARIS - The boundless admiration that some have for the diploma machine that is Harvard worries me by its lack of hindsight. Of course, this private university - the richest in the world - does not lack laurels, but do not forget that laurels grow well on manure.

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You were saying?

When the country is run by a bunch of freaking fifth-graders…

The close relationship between the president and the attorney general became the subject of envy for the other cabinet-level advisers, sources told Klaidman. “Of all of the 12 cabinet members, why does the boss like Eric the most?” one of the administration’s advisers asked sarcastically. “We should all throw him in a pit and kick him.”

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…it's time to put somebody new in charge.

Nobody has a corner on creepy

President Obama's re-election campaign is reportedly building a massive database of information about potential supporters.

The database seems to bring together information about supporters gathered from all branches of the campaign — everything from an individual's donation records to volunteer activity to online interactions with the campaign — aimed at allowing the campaign to personalize every interaction with potential supporters.

Pro Publica

Self portrait

Self portrait, a photo by Ted Compton on Flickr.