Congress hasn’t voted on it yet, but President Obama, John Boehner, and a bunch of knuckleheads in Washington hammered out an agreement to raise the debt ceiling so we won’t default on any of our financial obligations this week. I hate to be Debbie Downer, but our government sucks right now. I won’t go so far as to say all of them. There are some very bright, once-determined, once-idealistic, once-enthusiastic members of both the House and Senate who believed in trying to make a difference … [Read more...]
Today’s cup: Winklevoss, Japan vs. Chernobyl, SB 1070, Huffington, and Bachmann
The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 killed two men from exposure to high levels of radiation on the day the explosion occurred and another 30 people in the months following, though thousands of deaths from cancer and other illnesses in the ensuing years are often attributed to the nuclear fallout. Monday, Japanese authorities assessed the damage from the Fukushima plant, damaged after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and increased the level of severity to that of Chernobyl. Gavin Blair at the … [Read more...]
Today’s cup: Somali pirates, Charlie Sheen and National Pancake Day
Looks like Newt Gingrich will be the first Republican to officially admit he wants to be elected president in 2012. His minions are scouting locations in Atlanta for the former House speaker to confirm he is starting an exploratory committee sometime this week to weigh his chances of winning the GOP nomination. Let the games begin. Violence continues in Libya as opposition forces succeed in fending off pro-Ghaddafi fighters in Zawiyah near Tripoli. Looks like the ax will fall today as … [Read more...]
Weekly wrap up: Facebook, Shirley Sherrod and “Damages”
Facebook topped 500 million users this past week. Twelve-year-old founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to shoot for the stars and get that number to a billion by the end of next week. Maybe he said next year, I can’t remember. Are you a friend? Will you be mine? Agricultural Department employee Shirley Sherrod was caught saying some pretty racist stuff at a NAACP banquet and got herself fired. Oh wait. No, no. That’s not right. Actually, she was sharing an enlightened moment about … [Read more...]
Everyone should have a gay ex-fiance…
…which is easy for me to say because I’m now happily married with three children. Eighteen years ago, when he broke up with me (I know, can you imagine anyone breaking up with me?), I was devastated. And it wasn’t as if he left me on the altar while he smooched with the best man. It was more complicated than that, and so was my recovery. But recover I did. I trudged ahead with my life and eventually the trudging became a happy stroll which turned into a run; lucky for me, too, because I met … [Read more...]