Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
Two halves; get the camel’s nose in the tent first, and its enormous dingleberry-coated flea-bitten ass in later.
The White House and Senate Democratic leaders, seeing little chance of bipartisan support for their health-care overhaul, are considering a strategy shift that would break the legislation into two parts and pass the most expensive provisions solely with Democratic votes.
The idea is the latest effort by Democrats to escape the morass caused by delays in Congress, as well as voter discontent crystallized in angry town-hall meetings. Polls suggest the overhaul plans are losing public support, giving Republicans less incentive to go along.
Democrats hope a split-the-bill plan would speed up a vote and help President Barack Obama meet his goal of getting a final measure by year’s end.
The important person behind this story is one Senator Grassley of Iowa, who has lately upset the democrat talking point about the angry-town-hall-people being just a bunch of drunks and bigots and gun nuts who can’t stand having a black President. Looks like that dog won’t hunt no more.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley, a key Republican negotiator in the quest for bipartisan health-care reform, said Wednesday that the outpouring of anger at town hall meetings this month has fundamentally altered the nature of the debate and convinced him that lawmakers should consider drastically scaling back the scope of the effort.
After being besieged by protesters at meetings across his home state of Iowa, Grassley said he has concluded that the public has rejected the far-reaching proposals Democrats have put on the table, viewing them as overly expensive precursors to “a government takeover of health care.”
Grassley said he remains hopeful that he and five other members of the Senate Finance Committee can draft a better, less costly plan capable of winning broad support from Democrats and Republicans. But as the group, known as the Gang of Six, prepared to continue talking via teleconference late Thursday, Grassley said the members may be forced to reassess the breadth of their efforts in light of public concerns.
Lost in the din is the connection between whatever is to be done, and a solution to a problem. Why are we doing this again? Something about the status quo being unacceptable?
How many times in human history has a status quo been rejected because of its unsuitability, so that a “fix” may be implemented that is even more unsuitable…much discomfort ensues, and those with long memories wax nostalgic for the formerly-unsuitable status quo. We like to pretend that’s never ever happened, I notice, when in reality it’s happened quite a lot.
When I listen for people saying “When we do X, it will solve problem Y because of effect Z” all I hear is crickets. The solution itself is entirely undefined, and once it is defined it will be a solution in search of a problem if there ever was such a thing. All that’s been solidified is that action is required, nobody knows what, but the entity to do the acting is Congress. And it’s gotta do something really big, right now.
You know, there’s no way in this universe this can possibly be a good thing.
Kind of like grabbing the stupidest monkey that can be found, strapping him into the pilot’s seat of the mightiest Harrier jump-jet available, making sure it’s gassed all the way up, and doing whatever it takes to get the primate airborne in sixty seconds or less wherever the population density is the thickest.
Update: The Onion presents us with the happenings in an alternative universe in which, perhaps, the situation is just a little bit happier:
After months of committee meetings and hundreds of hours of heated debate, the United States Congress remained deadlocked this week over the best possible way to deny Americans health care.
“Both parties understand that the current system is broken,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday. “But what we can’t seem to agree upon is how to best keep it broken, while still ensuring that no elected official takes any political risk whatsoever. It’s a very complicated issue.”
“Ultimately, though, it’s our responsibility as lawmakers to put these differences aside and focus on refusing Americans the health care they deserve,” Pelosi added.
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