The Knitting Diary :: Counting on lifelines [Open Thread]

I’ve made some progress on my sweater and I’m binding off the body of the sweater (next step — the sleeves!) … But, it’s been a challenge. Well, the whole sweater has been a challenge. Now that I’m way too far into it to quit, I’m realizing that this isn’t a project for a beginner. [...]

God Bless Oklahoma

From Tulsa World: Members of a Kansas church that protests at military funerals may have found themselves in the wrong town Saturday. Shortly after finishing their protest at the funeral of Army Sgt. Jason James McCluskey of McAlester, a half-dozen protesters from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., headed to their minivan, only to discover [...]

Charlie Rangel walks out of ethics hearing

Politico: Complaining bitterly that he was denied the right to have an attorney present, an emotional Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) walked out of his highly publicized public ethics trial Monday morning, an unexpected twist in the ethics inquiry has tarnished Rangel’s four-decade congressional career. The ethics panel, after an unexpected 40-minute private session, rejected Rangel’s [...]

Accountability before Austerity: Peter Orszag says, “Let’s turn Social Security into a Welfare Program!!”

Ok, he didn’t exactly say that because that would make people mad.  But what he writes in the NYTimes is essentially the same thing: You know, I can’t even excerpt parts of this flaming piece of crap.  It’s so full of misdirection and propaganda that it would be obscene and irresponsible to repeat any of [...]

Monday Morning News

Facebook is taking over the world. The latest news? They plan on coming out with a full email product! At this point the unrolling of an e-mail product is pure speculation, however could fast become a reality if sources are spot on with their assessments. Popular technology blog, TechCrunch, seems to indicate the rumors about [...]

Edsel Obama

Via Politico, the Smartest President Ever: President Obama: ‘Campaigning is different than governing’ President Obama offered a lesson for Republicans that he learned the hard way during his first two years in office. “Campaigning is different than governing,” Obama told reporters Sunday when asked about his meeting with GOP leaders later this week. “They are [...]

35 years ago this week

SS Edmund Fitzgerald (nicknamed “Mighty Fitz,” “The Fitz,” or “The Big Fitz”) was an American Great Lakes freighter launched on June 8, 1958. At the time of its launching, the Fitzgerald was the largest boat on the Great Lakes. It was one of the first boats to be at or near maximum “St Lawrence Seaway [...]

The rain falls on the just and unjust alike

Paul Krugman can say some dumb things for a pretty smart guy: Death Panels and Sales Taxes I said something deliberately provocative on This Week, so I think I’d better clarify what I meant (which I did on the show, but it can’t hurt to say it again.) So, what I said is that the [...]

American business is flying into a mountain

Do you remember the 70′s PBS series Connections?  Each week, James Burke showed how politics, obscure history, necessity, science and opportunity lead to the technological advances we now take for granted.  You never know where you’ll find connections.  So, I’m intrigued when I think I spot one.  See if you agree. In one of his [...]

Sunday News

Good Morning Conflucians!! I’ve been very focused and very busy lately. Which apparently is why I’m feeling pretty chipper. There’s a study out about wandering minds vs. focused minds worth a look: There’s a good chance your mind is drifting right now, suggests a new study. And even if your daydreams are pleasant, you’d likely [...]