Oh hey, Texas isn't the only state that used to be its own republic! [link]

disingenuous bullshit

That pretty much covers what gets me upset about the Republican pledge.

Well, the deal with the healthcare reform stuff was that a bunch of the large insurance companies said that as of today, they would not cover children under a single policy (meaning, just the kid independent of a family policy), because of the whole can't-deny-care-to-kids-with-preexisting-conditions thing.

So the reporter (maybe Robert Siegel? doesn't matter) asked Pelosi what the hell (well, the swearing was implied) could be done to sanction/punish the companies that are doing this. And she chirped out this bullshit reply that, when the "healthcare collectives" start -- IN 2014 -- then *maybe* those insurers would be not allowed to join those collectives. So (she chirped), since *maybe* (though no guarantee) those insurers might be left out for being dickheads, they'll be "punished" 4 years from now for their dickheadedness now, because they'll miss out on those millions of new policies and revenue, PROVING (she chirped) the "bargaining" power of the American public.

Which, frankly, is BULLSHIT. I mean, *seriously*??? A gigantic insurer is going to behave right now, in 2010, because of the potential -- remember, she said *maybe,* not definitely -- that they won't be able to participate in the healthcare collectives FOUR YEARS FROM NOW?!?

Which is basically what the reporter asked, with a definite tone of "You have GOT to be shitting me, Madam Speaker."

And her reply was to parrot (chirp) exactly the same goddamn thing she said the first time. No promise, no guarantee, just that MAYBE in 4 years they won't be allowed to participate.

Somehow I think that "maybe" will be forgotten in 4 years.

But regulation of an industry is bad. Of course. Because we saw how well deregulating the financial juggernaut worked.

And that (in conclusion), is why I'm honked off at the Democrats and, in particular, Madame Disingenuous Bullshit Speaker.

One of the ones I added for Oklahoma specifically excludes any judicial system "based on international or Sharia Law." Are you fuckin' kidding me?

Totally crazy, but I guess it's a good strawman to fire up the base. I wonder how crazy a strawman one could get away with, "We need a law against fucking goats in public, the Democrats have had control of congress for years and have never passed any legislation to prevent public goat fucking. It's about time we stood up for family values and put an end to this."

I wonder how crazy a strawman one could get away with, "We need a law against fucking goats in public, the Democrats have had control of congress for years and have never passed any legislation to prevent public goat fucking. It's about time we stood up for family values and put an end to this."

As Jon Stewart said earlier this week "I'm hoping that people attend our rally with a prior understanding about the immorality of child molestation."

One of the ones I added for Oklahoma specifically excludes any judicial system "based on international or Sharia Law." Are you fuckin' kidding me?

I wonder if it can also be used to disallow any legal defense based on these laws, as in preventing someone from invoking Sharia law in defense to an honor killing.

as in preventing someone from invoking Sharia law in defense to an honor killing.

Isn't it already the case that you can't use "my religion told me too" as a defense for murder/assault/etc?

There should be a big penalty for that, Tep. At the very least, I'd let Sebelius climb up their asses with a toothbrush.

Hares Can Get Pregnant while Pregnant

The researchers used selective breeding and high-resolution ultrasonography to demonstrate that a male hare can fertilize a female during late pregnancy. The resulting embryos will develop around four days before delivery of the first pregnancy. The embryos don’t have any place to go at that time, however, since the uterus is occupied by the embryos’ older brothers and sisters. So the embryos hang out in the oviduct, rather like when you wait in your car for a parking space to open up. Once the uterus is free, the embryos move in.

The result is that a female hare can shorten the time between litters from 42 to 38 days and deliver up to 35.4 percent more offspring during a breeding season.

And, Parrot Arrested for Serving as Lookout for Drug Cartel

According to environmental authorities, Lorenzo the parrot was trying to tip-off a local drug cartel when officers conducted an undercover raid early Wednesday.

“This parrot was sending out alerts,” said police officer Hollman Oliveira. “You could say he was some sort of watch bird.”

Authorities claim Lorenzo is one of nearly 1700 parrots seized by officials after being trained by drug traffickers to act as lookouts.

Lorenzo caused quite the stir on Wednesday as he was presented to journalists. The well trained creature even showed off his look out skills as he yelled out: “run, run you are going to get caught.”

Isn't it already the case that you can't use "my religion told me too" as a defense for murder/assault/etc?

Correct.

The researchers used selective breeding and high-resolution ultrasonography to demonstrate that a male hare can fertilize a female during late pregnancy. The resulting embryos will develop around four days before delivery of the first pregnancy.

Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster humans don't work like this.