A bit of a surprise in the vote for the new troop surge in Afghanistan (or to Afghanistan, I guess), as my congresscritter, who – though I knew he was no Dennis Kucinich, and although he is better than the Republican turd he replaced – has been a disappointment thus far, voted against the $33 billion in new war funding. So, good for you, Dan. But your stance on Net Neutrality and your failure to push for Single Payer still sucks, so no more money from me.
Uran Outfitters is opening a store here. This is apparently a big deal (to be honest, when any business moves into the area instead of out of it these days, it’s good news), as they only build a few stores every year. I’m not really familiar with them, but taking a quick look at their website (which is pretty ugly, IMHO), it doesn’t seem to be my kinda place. For one thing, the “mens” section has categories called “tops” and “bottoms” (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and most of their merchandise looks, well, crappy. To me. It’s no doubt very hip and appealing to the younger folks. As for me, I seem to be spending my money on tools these days (if you’re wondering what to get me for Christmas, the DeWalt 12″ dual bevel sliding compound miter saw would be a nice choice to complement my 10″ Makita miter saw and my DeWalt 12″ single bevel miter saw, though I’ll also be needing a stand for it, which would be a good second choice).
I had some pretty f*cked-up dreams last night, which I don’t have time to get into the details about, but it involved dead twins in a water tower (that I think I had something to do with) discovered by Steve Buscemi, who alerted the police. Pretty creepy, though I’ve always liked Steve Buscemi.
Oh well, time to make the donuts.
Speaking of twins, when I went bowling a few days ago there was a pretty hot pair a few lanes over from me. Amazing. Twins. I love twins.
PJ creeped me out this morning, and I have a high creep tolerance, too– except when it comes to spiders and reptiles. I’ve always wanted to live in a water tower with twins. I’m going back to bed.
Applying new, tougher standards, state education officials said Wednesday that more than half of public school students in New York City failed their English exams this year, and 54 percent of them passed in math.
The results were in stark contrast to successes that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had heralded in recent years. When he ran for re-election in 2009, he boasted of state test scores that showed two-thirds of city students were passing English and 82 percent were passing math.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/education/29scores.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper
Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm expressed growing worry on Wednesday that an oil spill, believed to be among the largest ever in the Midwest, might reach Lake Michigan if efforts to contain the oil were not strengthened.
“It would be a tragedy of historic proportions if this reached Lake Michigan,†Ms. Granholm said.
More than 800,000 gallons of oil spilled Monday into the Kalamazoo River, a major waterway that flows into Lake Michigan, about 60 miles away. The leak came from a 30-inch pipeline that carries millions of gallons of oil each day from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/us/29michigan.html?ref=todayspaper
BP still expects to permanently shut the well as soon as Monday. “It is possible that as early as Monday or Tuesday this well might be killed,†Robert Dudley, the company’s new chief executive, said on National Public Radio. “There’s no precision; there’s nothing guaranteed. I’m hopeful, and I do believe we’ve seen the end of oil flowing into the gulf.â€
BP is planning two methods for sealing the well. The first, which could be executed Monday, is known as a static kill, in which mud, cement and other materials would be pumped in from the top of the well, forcing oil and gas down. Several days later, officials intend to execute the second tactic, in which mud and cement are injected from the bottom using a relief well. That bottom-kill effort could begin as early as Aug. 7.
Leak Continues at an Abandoned Well
Oil and gas continued spewing Wednesday from an abandoned well that was hit by a barge on Tuesday near Barataria Bay in southeastern Louisiana. It was unclear how much oil had escaped from the damaged wellhead. The Coast Guard said that the well was owned by Cedyco, a company based in Houston.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/us/29latest.html?ref=todayspaper
Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/29/shirley-sherrod-to-sue-an_n_663656.html