Whatever Happened to Shorties Jane?

Harry? Wrong time for compromise, Senator Reid.

Patrick, on the other hand, has figured it out. Senator Patrick “Go **** Yourself” Leahy has said what I have been telling you Senator Reid should have said: we can talk about Mr. Gonzales’s successor once we’re done investigating Mr. Gonzales.

Some ideas worth considering: Alternet offers 10 reasons they feel pot should be legalized.

Maybe we can pass a hat for him. Dan Brown comments on Poor Tony Snow, making $168,000 annually and that’s just not enough to support the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed. Yeah, I wonder if he gets to keep his federal health benefits as he battles cancer.

Is he actually a licensed, you know, Doctor? It turns out that the latest nominee for Surgeon General is even a controversial figure in his own church.

Short Version: “It’s Icky!” isn’t reason enough to say it’s immoral, so how about we stay out of one another’s bedrooms. A conservative offers a truly conservative view on homosexuality and Senator Craig’s little mishap.

We don’t want no help around here. Have you ever seen a child stubbornly refuse too accept assistance, insisting he or she “can do it myself!”? Well, turns out the Feds are refusing help too. On one hand, one can see where officials might not want Joe Average offering “negative help” — help that creates more work or actually does harm. On the other hand, it sure looks like a small group of motivated helpers can, in the right circumstances, do more than the pros.

Baka hashi wo suru no hito. [stupid chopstick-using person] Ill-mannered ways to use one’s chopsticks.

Chancellor. CEOs. Queen. Secretary of State. Executives and Ministers, Judges and Senators. Forbes presents the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.

Just because I like to eat them doesn’t mean I hate animals. Neil the Ethical Werewolf offers this commentary on being omnivorous and still doing your part to reduce cruelty to animals.

Take MaxSpeak off your favorites lists and add Econospeak. I will miss Max, no question. But his co-bloggers have already set up shop at Econospeak. Check out this item on a possible Middle Way in Iraq.

Um, when was the last time you saw a movie on an airplane? In my case, that would be never. I have never, in all my [REDACTED] years been on a flight that had a movie. Never ever. But apparently I could be watching some really racy and/or violent films. Parents are shocked, just shocked I tell you. Apparently they never got the memo that they are responsible for seeing to Junior’s entertainment on the plane.

Happy Labor Day. I have two items for you, one from Kim Pearson and one from the always eloquent Maya’s Granny.

Obligatory Housing Posts. Matthew Yglesias asks if real estate is such a great investment, how come the government has to give us tax breaks to buy it? Elsewhere, BondDad evaluates the possible upcoming scenarios. Next up, a fellow who feels the Bush plan is a bad joke.

Welcome Back Congress. Have a good vacation? You realize that’s more than Joe and Jane Average get, right? Good. Now get back to work and clean up that FISA mess you left on your desk.

Contractors Helping Contractors. I hesitate to point out that the Army may have to hire contractor medical personnel to take care of the other contractors in Iraq, because the fact of the matter is that there are many many medical contractors working on military bases right here Stateside. Maybe they ought to look into why they are having a hard time recruiting enough medical personnel in the first place, eh?

Making America Safer for Criminals. The Department of Justice has been “hollowed out” over the last few years, pushing experienced people out in favor of rookies that will toe the party line and Do What They Are Told.

I hope our President is as logical. If you have been poking around the Leftosphere this weekend, you have heard rumblings of invading Iran within a week. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn’t think so. In fact, he says that he’s an engineer, and he’s used his science and math skills to determine that America does not dare attack his nation. Oh yeah, and he’s got faith in Allah to that effect as well. It seems clear to me that he thinks our nation will act rationally, and I’m just not sure that is true anymore.

You mean people will pay good money for a book of ads? Someone did the math, and determined that over 700 of Vogue’s 800-someodd pages are advertisements.

At least he’s being honest about it. John Edwards has announced that his mandatory health insurance plan will include mandatory preventative care. Hey, kudos for calling it a “mandatory” plan instead of a “universal” one. But I must say I don’t like the idea of mandatory preventative care. First, how dare “the government” say I have to get X test done. Some of these tests are expensive and controversial. I assume that if I decline any of these tests — or simply don’t have the time to get them done — I will be on my own should something serious come up? This is the kind of thing people point to when they accuse liberals and progressives of favoring a “nanny state.” Frankly, as long as I pose no health hazard to others, it should be my choice what preventative care I choose to avail myself of. Second, I don’t see where he’s mandating that our employers give us the time off to make these mandatory appointments and have our mandatory care done. I hope Mister Two-Americas has thought that far ahead Corrected: I have now read the Edwards proposal as it appears on his website. I should have read it before saying anything, and I apologize for not having done so. I still don’t like that employers are the cornerstone of coverage, but here’s what it says about preventative care:

Health Care Markets will offer primary and preventive services at little or no cost. Incentives like lower premiums will reward individuals who schedule free physicals and enroll in healthy living programs. Edwards will also support community efforts to improve health, such as safe streets, walking and biking trails, safe and well-equipped parks, and physical education programs for children.

Dog Trainers Wanted. Open Left is looking for people to profile a few so-called Bush Dog Democrats. As you know, I prefer to call them Democrats in Name Only, or DINOs. Of course Liebermensch, my original DINO, has already been neutered. I also like that DINOs make it easy to distinguish DEAN-ocrats.

Two years later, we are still talking about this. Cleaning up New Orleans, that is. Mind-bogglingly enough, guys like Tom Tancredo are in essence saying “Ok, Waah Waah. Clean up your own mess and stop playing the pity card already.” Frankly this attitude boggles my mind when you consider everything that was done to thwart people from cleaning up and getting things back to normal. There are people who are still trying to get their insurance companies to cough up the money they are owed so they can clean up and get things back to normal (while still paying the mortgage I might add). And that’s to say nothing of the fact that almost no funds have gone towards rental housing, that some people have cleaned up the best they can only to find their homes bulldozed, that in some cases people have been physically prevented from returning to their homes at all. Mr. Tancredo? You want to stop “helping” these people? Good, stop preventing them from helping themselves, and help them line up the resources to rebuild it themselves instead. It sure is easy for some guy with “reported assets of between $530,000 and $1.1 million” to talk about not waiting for other people to help out.

I could be wrong, I could be right. Last but not least, a lengthy interview with Johnny Rotten.