Open Thread–12/18/2010

Today has been busy, what with volunteer work and errands to run, but I managed to reply to comments and to keep an ear on the Senate to break the news.  Tomorrow is a holy day for the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb, so I shall probably be meditating on the fall of the Denver congregation to the deepest depths of the infernal regions.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:02 (average 5:16).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From LA Times: The Senate rejected a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants on Saturday, a defeat that pushes any effort to reform immigration into the next Congress where conservatives will have even more influence.

In a 55-41 vote, senators failed to advance the Dream Act, which would have provided a way to legalize those immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children and who attend college or serve in the military. Three Republican senators voted for cloture, but 60 votes were need to advance the measure. Five Democrats voted no.

I expected this, but it’s a shame.

From Washington Post: When the Senate took two of its most highly anticipated votes of the lame-duck session on Saturday, West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin was nowhere to be found.

Manchin, who was sworn into office last month after winning a special election for the seat of the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), was the only Senate Democrat to miss Saturday’s votes on two of his party’s signature pieces of legislation, the DREAM Act and the repeal of the "don’t ask, don’t tell" law banning gay people from serving openly in the military.

He’s going to be a bigger DINO than Nebraska’s Ben Nelson.

From Think Progress: While Republicans quietly snuffed out efforts to compensate 9/11 heroes, they were aided by a quiet lobbying campaign by the powerful lobbying front — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber fought to help kill the 9/11 compensation bill because it was funded by ending a special tax loophole exploited by foreign corporations doing business in the United States.

Now we know the reason for the Republican opposition.  It’s payback for all the foreign money they got to spend on their campaigns.

From me: Do you believe the Republicans appointed Batshit Bachmann yo the House Intelligence Committee?  What a contradiction!

Cartoon:

What’s up this weekend?