From The Huffington Post:

State of the Union: 9/11 Beat the Clock

Guessing how long it will take before President Bush invokes 9/11 in a speech is one of our favorite diversions at the Huffington Post. The over/under is usually around 90 seconds. Will he best that during his upcoming State of the Union address? Given all the pomp and circumstance, it's not likely. But you never know. We'll have our stopwatches handy.


As far as the Huffington Post 9/11 Beat the Clock game goes, I'll give him 3 minutes.

However, every time I see Dubya on TV, I want to kick my television in, so I probably won't get through the whole SOTU speech.

Coward Roll Call

WASHINGTON (BP)--U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito cleared his final hurdle Monday before confirmation by the Senate.

With 19 Democrats joining 53 Republicans, the Senate voted 72-25 to end debate on President Bush’s nominee to the high court and move to a confirmation vote, which is scheduled for Tuesday at 11 a.m. (EST). The successful vote, known as invoking cloture, ended the possibility of a filibuster and virtually assured Alito would be confirmed to succeed retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

The 19 Democrats who voted against the filibuster were:

1. Daniel Akaka (Hawaii)
2. Max Baucus (Mont)
3. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.)
4. Robert Byrd (W. Va.)
5. Maria Cantwell (Wash.)
6. Thomas Carper (Del.)
7. Kent Conrad (N.D.)
8. Byron Dorgan (N.D.)
9. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii)
10. Tim Johnson (S.D.)
11. Herb Kohl (Wis.)
12. Mary Landrieu (La.)
13. Joseph Lieberman (Conn.)
14. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.)
15. Bill Nelson (Fla.)
16. Ben Nelson (Neb.)
17. Mark Pryor (Ark.)
18. John D. Rockefeller (W. Va.)
19. Ken Salazar (Colo.)

It's Democrats like these that make me think that we'll never be in power again. Spineless wimps.

I quit smoking 2 years ago today!

At least he tried

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has urged his Democratic colleagues to unite and filibuster Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court.

"Judge Alito's confirmation would be an ideological coup on the Supreme Court," Kerry said in a written statement. "We can't afford to see the court's swing vote, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, replaced with a far-right ideologue like Samuel Alito."


From Lizzy:
Unfortunately, the few (sometimes) brave Democrats like Kerry, Hillary, Kennedy and Feinstein aren't going to be enough to stop the Alito machine. But, for today, at least I can say...

Thinking about the weather

My brother, Paul.
Circa: Early 70's


There is something very wrong with the weather. I have lived in Minnesota since I was 2 years old and I cannot remember a winter this mild.

To be able to walk my dogs outside during the last week of January is unheard of here, yet I've done it every day this week. Tomorrow is going to be even warmer -- almost 50 degrees.

Normally, at this time of year we are in the deep freeze. 20 below would not be abnormal. We should also have at least a foot of snow on the ground, yet all we have is an inch.

I'm not complaining - I hate winter. However, if I had a choice between a normal MN winter and global climate change, I'd take the former.


Scientists have said that in 30 years Minnesota will be more like Missouri -- but there is no such thing as global warming, right George?

For my GenX, Baby Boomer (& up) friends...

(Courtesy of Brian, a wonderful Baby Boomer)

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's,

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on (or when dad whistled.) No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chatrooms ..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.(And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.)

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Alito Supreme

Here is my prediction on the Alito confirmation...

Several Democrats and some moderate Republicans will do the (very) wrong thing and vote yes on his confirmation. He will sail through.

However, I do not think the Supreme Court will reverse Roe vs Wade. I believe the Repubs have been using this issue for a very long time to keep their true believers in tow. It works very well for them. If abortion were to become illegal, they would lose their best carrot.

But, I could be wrong...