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If there really had been a Mercutio, and if there really were a Paradise, Mercutio might be hanging out with teenage Vietnam draftee casualties now, talking about what it felt like to die for other people's vanity and foolishness.
--Kurt Vonnegut's Hocus Pocus p151
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9/11 Health Bill Blocked in Senate - NYTimes.com |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
12:47 pm EST, Dec 9, 2010 |
The Senate action created huge uncertainty over the future of the bill. Its supporters were scrambling on Thursday to have the legislation inserted into a large tax-cut bill that Republicans and Democrats are attempting to pass before Congress ends it current session later this month. But whether that happens is in part up to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader. The bill’s backers are counting on Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, a top Reid deputy and a supporter of the bill, to persuade Mr. Reid to go along with that idea. Such a move might complicate passage of the tax-cut package, which contains another provision that Democrats, including President Obama, sought in return for supporting tax cuts Republicans wanted: an extension of unemployment benefits for jobless Americans. In a vote largely along party lines, the Senate rejected a procedural move by Democrats to end debate on the 9/11 health bill and bring it to an up-or-down vote; 60 yes votes were needed, but the move received only 57, with 42 votes against. Republicans have been raising concerns about how to pay for the $7.4 billion measure, while Democrats, led by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, have argued that the nation [has] a moral obligation to assist those who put their lives at risk during rescue operations at ground zero.
Thank you, Republicans. Tax cuts for the fucking wealthy? Check. Having to be cornered in a monkey-knife-fight to extend jobless benefits? Check. Ignoring the sacrifice of thousands of real Americans? Check. I love when the adversary eviscerates their support base. Of course, they learned from the master. -janelane 9/11 Health Bill Blocked in Senate - NYTimes.com |
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The conservative mission to destroy the Constitution in order to save it. - By Dahlia Lithwick and Jeff Shesol - Slate Magazine |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
12:29 pm EST, Dec 6, 2010 |
For a party (whether of the Tea or Grand Old variety) that sees the Constitution as something so perfect as to have been divinely inspired, the idea that it needs to be altered fundamentally is beyond crediting, something like putting the Fifth Commandment up to a popular referendum. But the Tea Party vision of the Constitution has never been one of fidelity to the document itself, or even to the Framers. Instead, it's a devotion to those scraps and snippets of the Constitution they accept, an embrace of only the Framers they admire, and an eagerness to jettison anything that conflicts with or complicates that vision, including the rest of the Constitution.
As if you didn't need another reason to hate the Tea Party (and, their subservient figure-head, the Republican Party)... And as if you didn't need another reason to loathe the spineless liberals and democrats (and, their subversive figure-head, the prez)... -janelane The conservative mission to destroy the Constitution in order to save it. - By Dahlia Lithwick and Jeff Shesol - Slate Magazine |
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Driver to serve 30 days for hitting, killing 6-year-old �| ajc.com |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
2:36 pm EST, Dec 1, 2010 |
The driver of an SUV that struck and killed a 6-year-old girl just 12 days after her family moved to Clarkston from Nepal will spend a month in jail for his crime.
Wow. Apparently in GA, you cross a double yellow line and kill a child, and you're on the hook for just 30 days in the slammer. This is an abject failure of the judicial system. So, kill a 12-year-old and spend 60 days? What if you just maim them -- a week for a leg, a fortnight for brain damage? I'm just glad we have a precedent for this sort of thing. What if you intend to break the law but don't intend to kill anyone, and do anyway? A month. -janelane, sickened by the miscarriage of justice Driver to serve 30 days for hitting, killing 6-year-old �| ajc.com |
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Facing public outrage, the Kardashians cancel their especially sleazy prepaid debit card. - By Annie Lowrey - Slate Magazine |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
11:58 am EST, Dec 1, 2010 |
Faddish consumer products have notoriously short lives. And thankfully, after just three weeks on the market, the Kardashian Kard, possibly America's dumbest financial product, has gone the way of the Pet Rock, the Edsel, and acid-washed jeans.
Long live prepaid uninsured risky financial products! -janelane Facing public outrage, the Kardashians cancel their especially sleazy prepaid debit card. - By Annie Lowrey - Slate Magazine |
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If you can't beat a dead horse, join him. |
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| Topic: Business |
1:32 pm EDT, Oct 14, 2010 |
“According to the RIAA, the Pirate Bay has stolen about 46 times more dollars than actually exist on Earth.”
If you can't beat a dead horse, join him. |
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Wal-Mart Plans Drive to Buy More Locally Grown Produce - NYTimes.com |
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| Topic: Miscellaneous |
1:16 pm EDT, Oct 14, 2010 |
Like it did in the environmental arena, it will begin creating an agriculture-specific index to figure out how to measure waste and efficiency among produce suppliers. It will be asking its biggest producers to answer questions about water, fertilizer and chemical use. The eventual goal is to include that information in a sustainability rating that customers would see, so they could decide whether to choose one avocado over another based on how much waste it had created. Wal-Mart would also use the information when it decides from whom to buy.
Thank you, Wal-Mart, for taking the lead. Your evilness rating has dropped slightly. -janelane Wal-Mart Plans Drive to Buy More Locally Grown Produce - NYTimes.com |
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