President Obama has announced his support for legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Certainly his move is partly motivated by politics, he needs to appeal to the GLBT community and he knows that the bill may not pass out of Congress anyway. However I think it is also based in his sincere belief in equality as well as recognition of the fact the bill is blatently unconstitutional and would be unlikely to survive the current legal challenges.

With word coming out today that Iraq is expected to request several thousand trainers but no troops after the end of 2011 we take another step on the slow process of getting out of Iraq. A similar road is being followed in Afghanistan although there it looks like we won’t be out until 2012 or 2013. Of course as is always the case with briar patches the withdrawal may not be as easy as we hope. Many are objecting to the decisions saying they are moving to quickly while others say that the timetables...

For your enjoyment, especially if you’ve ridden Soaring Over California Rollercoaster Safety with Patrick Warburton – watch more funny videos

With the passing of Peter Falk I am taking the evening to watch a couple Columbo episodes via Netflix streaming. I may follow it up with a few episodes of the Brady’s or Gilligan in respect for Sherwood. I’m a junkie for shows of the 60′s and 70′s (and to a lesser degree the 80′s) and when I watch I can’t help but marvel that this was network programming. When you look at the crud that is top rated today (with exceptions to be sure) I can’t help but wonder...

Nate Silver over at 538.com has offered an interesting, if not shocking, analysis of the GOP House membership.

President Obama today presented the second Medal Of Honor awarded to a living recipient for service in the war on terror. During operations in 2008 Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry was leading a team of Rangers on a rare daytime operation in Afghanistan’s Paktia Province. They came under heavy fire and Petry was shot in both legs but he continued to lead his team and helped a wounded comrade to safety. Now you’d think this is pretty amazing but it gets even more unreal. As they hunkered down...

Part of our collective childhood is gone. Sherwood Schwartz, creator of Gilligan and the Brady’s has died. Sing a little of Amazing Grace to the tune of Gilligan’s Island theme….

Today voters in California’s 36th district will go to the polls to elect a successor to former Congresswoman Jane Harman. The district is heavily Democratic (in 2008 President Obama won 64% of the vote) and most observers had expected it to be a dull affair from a partisan standpoint. In fact under California law it was possible for the race to boil down to 2 Democrats. The rules are that you hold an initial vote with all candidates of all parties on the ballot and if nobody gets 50% of the...

Your moment of geek For the first time since it was discovered by humans in 1846 the planet Neptune has completed an orbit around the sun.

President Obama has named West Point graduate Brenda Sue Fulton to the Board of Visitors of West Point. The board, which operates under a 1972 law is empowered to “inquire into the morale and discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and other matters relating to the academy that the board decides to consider.”. It is made up of seven members of Congress and six Presidential appointees. Her appointment is historic and a symbolic step forward...

The former First Lady has died at age 93. In addition to being one of the most down to earth and kind people to serve as First Lady she also made news herself on several occassions. Her openess with her battle with breast cancer helped bring a formerly taboo subject into the light and is credited with saving thousands of lives. Women who would not have otherwise asked their doctors about it did so and many were saved. The Betty Ford Center for Substance Abuse has also saved many lives. By all accounts...

Talk about a dream lawsuit and an idiotic reaction from the bank. The story is that 28 year old Ikenna Njoku received a first time homebuyer tax credit and asked the IRS to deposit the refund in his Chase bank account. The IRS sent the $ 9,000 to Chase but Njoku’s account was overdrawn, so Chase deducted the amount he owed and sent him a check for $ 8,400. He took the check to Chase to cash but the teller was suspicious and questioned the validity of the check. In fact it took so long that...

Just when you thought they could not get lower. The story is of a Syrian teenager arrested in the recent protests. Ordered by guards to call President Assad his “beloved President” he responded by using a phrase from the protests, asking for “freedom and the love of God for his country” The teen was already bound by the hands but the *eight or nine* guards responded by beating him repeatedly on the arms, legs, back, genitals, head and feet until he bled from the nose, ears,...

The Space Shuttle Atlantis has lifted off and is headed into space on the last ever shuttle mission. After 30 years of service the program is at an end. This means that the US will not have a manned program for a while, though we will send people up via the Russian program. Having heard some commentators complain about the ‘waste of money’ that NASA is I feel compelled to point out that the entire NASA budget is roughly 0.4% of the budget (in other words for ever dollar we spend less...

The last shuttle launch is on the horizon. The schedule calls for a launch at 11:23 am on Friday (Eastern Time) but the weather does not look to cooperate (70% chance of a scrub). But I do expect a launch this weekend Details can be found at the NASA website

A quake with a magnitudeof 7.8 has struck off the coast of New Zeland prompting a series of tsunami warnings for New Zeland and Tonga. The poor people have already suffered greatly, prayers that this does not result in any more suffering.

A 3 judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court Of Appeals has just ordered the stay on the court ruling that struck down be lifted. This could mean that the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy would have to stop within a matter of days, however oral arguments on the broader issue will be held at the end of August so things are not complete yet. Details to follow

A wonderful article from CNN on why equality is so important.

The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that the Democrats and Republicans can choose one candidate to run in the special election to fill the vacancy in the 2nd Congressional District. This election came about when Congressman Heller was named to replace resigned Senator Ensign. In short the ruling says that the parties may each choose their nominee without a primary, which means the GOP candidate will be former State Senator Mark Amodei and the Democrats will run State Treasurer Kate Marshall. Had there...

She was found guilty of providing false information to law enforcement officers but was found not guilty on the key murder, manslaughter and child abuse charges. Sentencing will be Thursday

A few factoids to wrap up our Independence Day celebrations 1. The resolution on Independence was actually passed on the 2nd 2. The first public reading was on the 6th. 3. John Hancock, the first to sign, did so on August 2nd and nobody but the Congressional secretary was there to see it 4. The last signature didn’t happen until as late as 1781. So really we can keep celebrating for another month…………..

A perfect commentary on how government works these days

In 2-1 vote the US 6th District Court Of Appeals has ruled that the mandate provision of Health Care Reform is valid. As a bit of background, the Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to ‘regulate commerce among the several states’. It has been determined that this allows them to regulate any activities with a significant impact on interstate commerce. One of the key cases that set down this rule was Wickard v. Filburn which had to do with government regulations on wheat farming....

UPDATE: JURY FINDS BLAGO GUILTY ON 17 COUNTS Experts are now commenting on possible sentence for Blago, looks like he’ll be looking at about a decade behind bars. The jury has convicted former Governor Soprano on 17 of the 20 counts against him. He was found not guilty on one count and they hung on two counts. He was found guilty on all counts related to the alleged (or perhaps no longer alleged) effort to sell President Obama’s US Senate seat. Some of the charges he was found guilty...

It isn’t done but it’s over. The 33rd Senator just confirmed a YES vote New York stands up for freedom ! ************************************ Amendment has passed 36-26 AP reporting ‘Veteran GOP Senator to vote Yes’ That should give us vote #33 ************************************************ The debate is currently proceeding on an amendment to provide protections for religious organizations and the assumption is if it passes the bill will too. The amendment would mean churches...