UPDATE: News media in Alaska is reporting Stevens was killed in the crash A plane carrying former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has crashed with at least 5 reported dead. Also on board was former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe. At this point it is unclear if Stevens or O’Keefe were one of the fatalities though the two survivors are reported to have ‘serious injuries’.http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=`

And you thought your flight attendant was a bit moody…. To be clear, I know many flight attendants and to a person they are very hard working.

With President Obama off on his summer/birthday holiday I’ve been bemused by how even something as simple as summer vacation can show the hypocrisy that will show up in politics. When President Bush took summer vacations we always heard voices from the left railing about how terrible it was for him to ‘goof off’ when there was important work to be done. These voices were countered by people on the right who defended him. Now that it is President Obama, the roles are reversed. Those...

Note: This is a reposting from a couple years ago This week marks the 65th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the beginning of the end of World War 2. As is usually the case every year, we have the stories of those who attack the incident as a ‘war crime’. These historical revisionists miss (or ignore) the fact that they are looking back with hindsight and applying modern attitudes to historical times. These revisionists talk about how the Japanese were a peaceful...

Want to know why marriage equality is important ? Just ask Sophia

Larry Sabato always provides interesting information along with good analysis. Today is no different. We have the most Senate races this year (37) since 1962. We have the most Governor races this year (37) ever. We have over 400 contested House races (IE GOP and Dem both on ballot) which is one of the highest margins ever. Of course in many cases this is a token campaign but it’s still a record (the GOP is contesting 430 seats, only 5 with no GOP nominee) This goes along with earlier reports...

Correcting my earlier post, based on a CNN report, it now appears the judge wants responses by August 6th (IE Friday) and so it may be he will rule on the stay much more quickly and we could have the ruling in effect sometime this month. It’s gonna be a roller coaster for both sides though

The ruling is not yet on the web but the court has struck down Proposition 8 as unconstitutional on grounds of equal protection

For millions of Americans watching Sing Along With Mitch was part of the weekly routine. He helped to launch the careers of a number of major artists, including Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mathis and Patti Page. It has been announced that Mr. Miller died July 31st at the age of 99. He was before my time but here are a couple videos of his talent. (and yup that’s Bob from Sesame Street)

In 1632 a man named John Tuttle settled in New Hampshire with a grant from King Charles II. In the 378 years since the farm has passed from generation to generation. Until now. Burdened by the recession and competition from larger farms the family has decided to sell the property. Now we shouldn’t feel too bad for them as the property is expected to fetch several million dollars, but it is the end of one of the oldest continually operating farms in the country. Just consider what this farm...

This story is so repulsive I’m just going to provide the link. People like this deserve a special level of hell

With all the bad things we have to write about these days it’s nice to have something pleasant to comment on. Sixty years ago Mary Price Walls was a high school student with a dream, she wanted to be a teacher. The dream seemed quite reachable, after all she was the salutatorian of her high school class and she had applied to a college with a good teaching program. But Southwest Missouri State College not only didn’t admit her, they never even responded to her application. Was it an oversight...

A post over on Red State is well worth reading. A letter from the mother of one of our brave soldiers.

Although it is many ways too little and too late a little bit of justice has been rendered for the 1 million plus victims of the infamous Khmer Rouge. One of the leaders has been sentenced to prison, effectively for the rest of his life. Sadly most of the leaders managed to evade punishment (often by dying first). For those who may not be aware, during a 2 year reign of terror the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot managed to kill over 1 million people in a nation of only 4-5 million. By percentages the worst...

It’s fun if frustrating reading to see what our Congress Critters spend each day using our tax dollars. Try 600,000 on water Or 400,000 on catering Or

In a move that basically concedes the race, West Virginia Congresswoman Capito (R) has announced she will not run for the US Senate this November. This means Democratic Governor Manchin will almost certainly win, probably by a margin approaching 2-1. This election is a special election to fill the last 2 years of Robert Byrd’s term. Capito’s decision is a logical one. She is basically unopposed for re-election to the House (there is a Democratic nominee but a token one). Running for the...

Looks like another GOP vote for Kagan. Sad though that it is news… I miss the pre Bork days (or the pre-Nixon days if you are older)

For those not in California (or perhaps for some in California) who may not be aware, the long serving Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, Ronald George, announced his retirement after 19 years on the court (14 of them as Chief Justice). His reason for retirement, at least in part, was to keep probable Governor to be Brown from naming his successor. Today reports are out that his likely replacement is 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye. If the reports are true...

I was listening to my morning talk show today and they were discussing the Shirley Sherrod case and the fact that everyone was jumping to conclusions, etc. A couple of wonderful bits of irony came out that I just found wonderfully bemusing. The first was the fact that in reporting the story the media talked about how the farmer in the case was deceased but his wife was still alive. Well it turns out the farmer is not dead and there was a wonderful clip (check around 2 minutes) of a CNN interview...

As someone who regularly uses the reusable grocery bags this study was not exactly encouraging. It seems they tested a bunch of bags and many of them were contaminated with all kinds of nasty bacteria up to and including E Coli. To be fair the study was sponsored by the ‘American Chemistry Council’ which presumably has an interest in continuing to sell plastic bags. But in theory we have to run them through the washer, which may cancel out some of the environmental benefits, though I...

July 17th (Saturday) marks the 55th birthday of the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland. Opened in 1955 the park is now 55 years young ! I’d love for us all to post our Disney memories, have a thread we all can come together, regardless of party.

Although I often disagree with the political views expressed on The Huffington Post that does not mean I do not enjoy reading many of the posts there. It gives me a challenge to my own opinions and often provides me with interesting information. Sometimes they even cause me to change my mind. More importantly, the HP has, for the most part, refrained from the nastier aspects of the partisan sites like Kos on the left or Red State on the right. There is some venom from the readers, but a web site...

Ok these people often make me very mad. This one just made me laugh…. Prejudiced idiots versus nerds…. GO NERDS !!

I always wondered if SPECTRE was really behind the bad economy…

If this one doesn’t make you smile (or cry) a little I’m not sure I want to know you..