Electronic Writer

Today marks a special moment for the GOP “Party of No.” It objected to 97 Presidential nominees in a single day. The idiocy of the Republican Party (as well as the shamelessness) has no ends . . . .

Thanks for the video from the Huffington Post

Cheers to bi-partisan solutions . . . .

One of the first major loves of my life was Joni Mitchell, and it was this album, Hejira, that opened my ears and transformed me from someone who listens to whatever is on the radio to a lover of music . . . .

Thank you, Joni.

Although NASA funding is actually seeing an increase, they are shifting the goals to research, exploration and unmanned flight.  In short, canceling the Constellation program.

First, I must confess: I am a space junkie.  I love everything about it, and have since I was a young kid.  So, I should have guessed that after watching the NASA video about the program would feel emotionally “connected” to the program.

There were those who criticized the program as being “over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation due to a failure to invest in critical new technologies,” but I still feel as if I were losing something that I hold dear . . . .

Some are concerned about the jobs that will be lost at NASA because of the cancellation of the program.  Former astronauts wrote an open letter to President Obama and have cautioned that without a manned-space flight program, we would lose our position quickly as the leader in space exploration (and waste money buying bus passes for the Russian Soyez spacecraft).

My opinion is much simpler.  The program looks so cool–with all of the in-flight docking and rockets and boosters that it is hard to imaging anyone NOT enthralled by the program . . . .

UPDATE: A bit more research uncovered this Popular Science article that put a lot of things in context.  Namely, the goals o NASA have been shifted to help privately-owned American companies to do the grunt work of Low Earth Orbit trips (like supplies and people to the International Space Station), and to take some time an come up with something NEW for going into deep space.  The entire Constellation Program used a lot of existing designs (from the 60s) to meet the time deadline of 2020 to the moon.  There was no time for research and/or innovation.  Every NASA program gets left behind, eh?

Still not sure how you feel about the quirky micro-blogging service?

Well, the Library of Congress has determined that your 140 character posts on Twitter are invaluable to recorded human history.  So, they will be storing all Tweets that were not private–starting from the very beginning back in 2006.

As a result, you might be famous.  Or, your grandkids might be able to gain some valuable insight into their grandfather’s habits and behaviors in his early twenties.  For me, the LOC will now house my real-time recorded collection of transgressions of AC Transit of Alameda County, CA.  (Arguably, not the best example of historical stuff.)

Library of Congress blogger, Matt Raymond, wrote:

I’m no Ph.D., but it boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data. And I’m certain we’ll learn things that none of us now can even possibly conceive.

I have to agree . . . those are some historical documents in the making.

Huffington Post has the full story >>

Remeber when Orly Taitz was the legal counsel representing the Reservist, Stefan Cook, who challenged his deployment orders . . . because he hadn’t seen President Obama’s birth certificate?  Well, we appear to have a copycat offender.  The difference is that this one is a little higher up (and, so far, Orly Taitz is no where to be seen).

According to MSNBCs first read,

From NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski and Mark Murray
U.S. military officials tell NBC News that the U.S. Army will court martial a lieutenant colonel who refuses to deploy to Afghanistan because he considers orders from President Obama to be “illegal.”

A little more digging, and it turns out that Army doctor Lt. Col. Terry Lakin has got a lot of street cred, or at least, he did.  Now, I don’t go around hanging out on right wing blogs, but some of the stuff of the stuff they listed you can’t fake (and no, Fox News, that is NOT a challenge).  Chief of Care and Flight Surgeon for centers and Staff Generals . . . .

But, he is getting court-martialed now.

What’s my take on this?  One of the comments at the Family Security Matters (ugh, I have a hard time typing that) website said it best:

I believe they call that insubordination. It’s my hope that he is relieved of duty, stripped of his rank and benefits and tossed in prison where he belongs for withholding treatment to wounded soldiers in a time of war.  I would have more respect for him if he had moral objections to the wars, but no, he wants to play the right-wing reindeer games instead.  I’m a veteran too, and when I was in, if you disobeyed a lawful order, you faced legal repercussions.

America is watching and noticing the breathtaking hypocrisy of the right wing elements in this country.There is nothing “patriotic” about the hatred and vitriol spewed on an almost nonstop basis by these type of people.

Face facts, you have a black President.

PS. Wanna see our President’s birth certificate?

This has got to be one of my favorite jazz performances of all time . . . .

Last week, Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R) from Kentucky attended a private meeting with Hedge Fund Managers and Wall Street elites in New York along with Senator John Cornyn (R) from Texas, according to Think Progress.  As soon as he stepped out of the meeting (figuratively), he returned to Washington and became a staunch critic of the Financial Reform Bill–which is largely designed to return regulatory control and other preventative measures to Wall Street.

Of course, Mitch McConnell takes massive amounts of money from Wall Street–more than any other sector.

So, today, the media raised a few questions for the old dog . . . about his loyalties–suggesting that it appears as if he were protecting the interests of Wall Street.  He defers the question by telling us how the Community Banks in Kentucky want it repealed–but, I am a bit skeptical.

No one saw him meeting with the Community Banks of Kentucky . . . .

when making fun of Sarah Palin . . . .

It may have already been a Democrat district, but the opportunistic Republicans were looking for another feather in their PR campaign against President Obama–perhaps a repeat of Massachusetts Senatorial race.

The Fox News talk show hosts were salivating–planning parties, and special round-the-clock coverage of yet another group of “disillusioned” voters who want to “take back their country”–a frabrication by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the “shutting the government down,” temper-tantrum-throwing leadership of the Republican Party, and profit-driven former Vice President candidates (in her defense, she might be the only one who doesn’t know the implications of her words–unless there was an article in Field and Stream about it).

All of it, cut short.

According to the NY Timess article, Democrat Wins U.S. House Race in Florida,

Ted Deutch had 62 percent of the vote compared to 35 percent for Republican Ed Lynch. No-party candidate Jim McCormick trailed far behind with just 3 percent.

On the surface, this certainly seems like a mandate . . . albeit, not the one that the Fox news hosts and Republan/Obstructionist party had been seeking.

Guess it is just more of the same old, “Yes, We Can” down in Boca Raton, Florida . . . and, I love it!

Karl Wallinger created the band World Party in 1986–a one-person music project, and recorded all of these songs at his house. And, “Ship of Fools” made the UK Top 40.

It is an interesting, eclectic style of music, and watching the video now, it seems somehow . . . prophetic.

Enjoy.