Everyone go tell Matt Welch congratulations.
Radical “Radical Hunters”
Cathy Young confirms my suspicions about the UCLA radical hunters.
A Rare Occurrence
Rare are the moments when Hugh Hewitt and I agree completely and totally on something, but this is one of those times. Hugh has devised a questionnaire for any Republican who wants to be elected to Leadership, and I have got to say, the questions are great:
Thank you for applying for the position of Majority Leader. Please return this completed form to NZ Bear.
Part I. The Money Stuff
1. Does Jack Abramoff have your cell-phone number in his Blackberry?
____. Yes. (You may skip the rest of the questions.)
____. No.
2. Did you have signature privileges at Signatures restaurant?
____. Yes. (That's it. You're done. And you might want to get a lawyer.)
____. No.
3. In the last four years, have you accepted greater than $10,000
in campaign contributions from Abramoff clients?_____. Yes. (Thank you, that will be all. We know it isn't fair,
but elections aren't fair.)_____. No. (Are you sure about that?)
Read the whole thing. I hope it is not too jaded of me to wonder if anyone in the GOP can successfully complete that form to my satisfaction.
Read The Bill
I support this:
ReadtheBill.org is a new national organization dedicated to forcing Congress to post all proposed legislation online for 72 hours before it goes to the floor of Congress. We call this the “72 Hours of Sunshine Rule”. It is needed because Congress has degenerated into chaos. The House of Representatives still has a rule on the books requiring proposed legislation be available to members for three days. But the House waives this rule routinely and rubber stamps huge bills in the middle night, clueless of their content or cost. Senate rules are fuzzier but the result is the same. This chaos in Congress costs every American. Provisions and giveaways slipped through Congress are one reason that the U.S. has a national debt of $8 trillion. These sneaky provisions also invite plain-old corruption.
Posting all proposed bills online for 72 hours is the single most powerful reform to change the way Congress operates. It’s also simple. The short-order cook who reads the breakfast orders, the accounts payable clerk who scrutinizes invoices and most other working Americans understand that they must read certain papers to do their jobs. Amazingly, in the U.S. Congress, lawmakers do not believe they need to read proposed laws before they are considered on the floor of Congress.
I would increase it to two weeks if I had my way (I like a slow-moving government most of the time- even if it would be a colossal pain in the arse for Congress), but 72 hours is a nice start.
Wow
This is pretty damned amazing:
Just 12 hours after giving birth, a Houston firefighter popped a painkiller and took a promotion exam.
Beda Kent felt she had no choice because Texas state law requires everyone to take it at the same time. She would have had to wait two years for the next one.
Despite just giving birth and getting only two hours sleep, Kent got 104 out of 110 on the test and expects to return from maternity leave in March as a captain.
That is great and everything, but why are the promotion exams set up that way?
(via Fark)
Open Thread
Some links to tide you over while John works out technical issues with his work computer and I at least pretend to get something done in the lab:
* Wal-Mart has a wine label coming out soon, but they haven’t announced a label name yet. Which came up most often in customer surveys? Gay Orbit has the scoop.
* Highlights from the great Franklin-Bush debate.
* Rooftop ads have become popular since the advent of Google Earth, but this one strikes me as a bad idea.
* A new explanation for those embarrassing early morning passes at the mailman.
Have at it.
Quick Links- Arts and Leisure Edition
Not in the mood to post much today, so if you want to check something new out, go check out this art gallery grand opening that frequent commenter sinquanon has passsed along:
Robert Dowling announced the Grand Opening of Dowling Studios & Gallery today, during which a singular and extraordinary group of artists show their works, including Dowling himself. The Grand Opening Exhibition at Dowling Studios & Gallery will feature Robert Dowling’s remarkable surrealistic paintings as well as studio artist’s work from Chris Knox and Aaron Horvath. Visiting artist Aja-Ann DeLand Apa-Soura is also featured with her impressionistic paintings of the transitional female. The exhibition and opening will occur at Dowling Studios and Gallery, 407 Main Street, Bangor on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 3 p.m. – 10 p.m for the public.
Additionally, a private, by invitation only preview for the press will take place from noon – 2 p.m that day. The show can be viewed live via web-cam today by accessing Dowling’s website. Dowling’s groundbreaking paintings have caused a stir in the art and collector communities with their poignancy, playfulness, emotion, darkness, brilliance and boundless, unconstrained uniqueness and creativity. For more information and to contact the artists, see this link: Dowling Studios & Gallery Grand Opening & Exhibition.
If that doesn’t tickle you, then please go help Jay Caruso name his blog. If you name the blog, you win a DVD. Works for me.