The Benghazi investigation has been the longest in special congressional investigative history: The House committee investigating the Benghazi attacks is now the longest congressional investigation in history, committee Democrats announced today. As of Monday, the House Select Committee on Benghazi, has been active for 72 weeks — surpassing the record previously held by the Watergate Committee in the 1970’s. Of course, … Read More
Utah Governor Loses In Court With His Attempt To Defund Planned Parenthood
Take that: Planned Parenthood’s Utah chapter won an initial round in court on Tuesday challenging an attempt by the governor to cut off its funding, with a federal judge ruling that the public’s interest favors keeping the women’s health organization open. U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups issued a temporary restraining order barring Governor Gary Herbert from carrying out his directive … Read More
Sexual Misconduct At My Alma Mater
This seems to be right on par with most other universities, i.e., too much. From Tufts University President Tony Monaco, via email: Last spring, Tufts issued a survey to students on all three campuses to gather information about sexual misconduct and to assess their knowledge of campus policies and prevention programs. I am deeply troubled by what we have learned from … Read More
Why I Don’t Stand With Planned Parenthood
I don’t stand with Planned Parenthood because… okay, I DO stand with Planned Parenthood, but my point is I don’t NEED to because I don’t see a serious threat to Planned Parenthood’s existence or funding. Some might consider this naive. After all, there are these videos and congressional hearings and threats to shut down the government… all over the issues … Read More
Kim Davis Secretly Met With The Pope
Not much of a secret anymore: Pope Francis met privately in Washington last week with Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who defied a court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a Vatican spokesman confirmed on Wednesday. Ms. Davis, the clerk in Rowan County, has been at the center of a nationwide controversy over whether government employees … Read More
Departing Boehner Takes A Swipe At Tea Party Congresscritters
The exiting John Boehner is free from his shackles and can say anything he wants. And boy, does he hate the rightwing extremists: Outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) ripped into some of his Republican colleagues on Sunday for failing to be realistic about what the party can and cannot do, and took a jab at bombastic Texas … Read More
When Will We Ever Learn… Oh, When Will Weeeee Ever Learn?
I don’t write much about the Middle East because — Jesus, it’s a clusterfuck and it just gets worse and worse and it is depressing. It’s basically an unsolvable problem and everybody wants to kill each other. But I think I have figure out ONE truism. Intervention on the part of the United States makes things worse for us. I … Read More
The Supermoon Lunar Eclipse Last Night
What actually happened was a confluence of three things. The moon was full and in its closest point in its orbit around the Earth, making it a so-called supermoon. In addition to this, a lunar eclipse occurred. In other words, the Earth lined up directly with the sun and moon, directly between the two. It last happened 33 years ago, and … Read More
Trump Beginning To Lose Hard Right?
Moments ago at the conservative Value Voters summit (which met Rubio this morning to much applause), this happened: Trump booed at VVS when calls Marco Rubio a “clown.” Then he blasts Rubio for flip-flopping on immigration reform. — David Corn (@DavidCornDC) September 25, 2015 To be clear: Crowd booed Trump for referring to Rubio as ‘this clown.’ — Byron York … Read More
KKKKids: Where Are They Now?
Almost 10 years ago on this blog, I wrote about Prussian Blue – the name of the rock group comprised of two twin sisters, Lamb and Lynx Gaede, who sang songs about white pride and nationalism and had a huge following among white supremacists. Here is what they looked like then: As I wrote then, the two girls had been nurtured from … Read More
Breaking: Boehner To Resign From Congress End of October
Breaking News: Speaker John A. Boehner will resign from Congress at the end of October, aides say http://t.co/xNxxzwFxkQ — The New York Times (@nytimes) September 25, 2015 I wonder if this has anything to do with his rift with others on the right — in particular, the pressure from the far right to shut down the government in order to … Read More
How Long Does It Take To Get Hooked On A Show And Start Binge-watching?
Netflix, ground zero of binge-watching, did a study. This is how long it takes to start binge-watching a show, by episode: • Arrow, Episode 8 • Bates Motel, Episode 2 • Better Call Saul, Episode 4 • Bloodline, Episode 4 • BoJack Horseman, Episode 5 • Breaking Bad, Episode 2 • Daredevil, Episode 5 • Dexter, Episode 3 • Gossip … Read More
The Pope’s Speech To Congress (And By Extension, The American People)
He reminds us that “America” is more than the United States, and that we are all immigrants. He calls out the black/white-good/evil mindset in politics and promotes pragmatism in resolving problems. He reminds us of the Golden Rule in calling for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty (as well as a subtle nod to banning abortions). He speaks of … Read More
Tales Of The One Percenters
Honestly. What is it going to take for the people and/or the government to throw these rich bastards in jail? No, not for being rich, but for, you know, breaking laws and regulations that effect the lives of actual people…. when?!? Case Study Number One: Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigned Wednesday as a growing scandal over falsified emissions tests … Read More