arguing that his wife's work as a lobbyist creates "the appearance of a conflict of interest."

Yep. That it does.

Did you hear that Thomas does not report his wife's income as a lobbyist on his tax returns?

Conservative Supreme Court justices no longer bothering to avoid appearance of conflicts of interest

eta:

This odd practice of routinely lying on forms was brought to light by the watchdog group Common Cause, who also recently wrote a letter to Eric Holder criticizing Thomas and Antonin Scalia for attending fancy Koch-sponsored functions before ruling, in Citizens United, that restrictions on corporate electioneering be lifted. Of course, neither Scalia nor Thomas believe that their personal and professional ties to the conservative movement should cause them to recuse themselves from politically sensitive cases. In fact, their attitude tends to be that everyone should just shut up and stop complaining about it. As Garrett Epps writes in The Atlantic, they -- along with Republican fundraiser-attendee Samuel Alito -- are openly flouting years of judicial etiquette. And they don't really care. Scalia generally acts like he'd be much more at home on talk radio than in the Supreme Court. (Scalia's Constitution lesson for Michele Bachmann and the incoming Tea Partiers was scheduled for today, by the way.)

We heard a lot about the puppy in the mail here, because the idiot was mailing it to Atlanta. The article doesn't seem to mention my favorite part: she went back to the post office to ask for a refund for the postage.

The GOP has put out their budget cuts as part of raising the debt limit. Looks like they are largely political.

[link]

Wipe out PBS funding, family planning funding, Americorps funding, and all high-speed rail subsidies. Deep cuts to the EPA, Amtrack, and WIC (though the article says that cut may be misleading since there are some left-over fund).

Hmmm... ain't going to do much to actually reduce the deficit. Gotta go after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Defense in conjunction with tax increases to really make a difference. And have the economy recover.

It creates a conflict of interest, period. But I guess that's plain talk in a place where you have youthful indiscretions at forty and "mis-speak" a lot.

We heard a lot about the puppy in the mail here, because the idiot was mailing it to Atlanta. The article doesn't seem to mention my favorite part: she went back to the post office to ask for a refund for the postage.

The bright side to this article is that the woman was mailing it to her son in Atlanta. It means the kid is not living with her. If I had been in the post office, I would have beaten her about the head with that box.

If I had been in the post office, I would have beaten her about the head with that box.

After taking the puppy out.

After taking the puppy out.

I would have taken the puppy home. I can't watch the video again without wanting to drive over there and choke the shit out of that woman.

Man, the hold music started the opening chords of Don't Stop Believing, and then the outgoing message started. I feel jacked. Sure, it's on my iPod, but I'm trying to listen to every single song on it, and if I keep interrupting it to listen to stuff I want to hear, I'll never finish.

Which seems a little odd all spelt out, but I swear it's perfectly sensible.

Gah. Gina posted this morning on FB about this ghastly situation. Someone found these two dogs [link] on Howard Street Beach having just gone through the ice and pulled them out of the water. On investigation, it turns out the owners didn't want them anymore and just abandoned them at the beach. On Lake Michigan. In the middle of the coldest f'ing January on record.

(Chicagoans, they are in urgent need of a foster home, by the way. I only wish I had the space.)

Oh, god, when I did customer service for the post office, I had a woman ask if she could overnight ship some kittens. She's a breeder and someone had bought the kittens. I still get sick thinking of her. "But people ship chicks!" "Yes, from a few specifically designated post offices in specifically designed boxes with specific handling instructions." I should have reported her. The supervisor I mentioned it to just said, "So?"