Monthly Archives: September 2014

Quote of the Day

“If the latest round of polls is accurate, Democrats will lose nearly every competitive Senate race, giving Republicans full control of Congress for the first time in 10 years.

This is excellent news for Democrats.

Instead of another two years of the same old gridlock that has turned voters off of both parties, Democrats will get to kick back with a large tub of buttery popcorn and watch the Republican soap opera hit peak suds.

In the House, the Boehner vs. Tea Party plot line will heat up, as several anti-Boehner party rebels are expected to win seats now held by more genteel Republicans. The Senate may end up more like a classic sitcom: Can two grandstanders like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz run for president at the same time without driving the majority leader crazy?

The inconvenient truth for the Republican Party is that it’s not ready for prime time, yet it’s on the verge of fully sharing with the president the responsibility of running the country.”

Bill Scher, “Good News Democrats, You’re Going to Lose!,” Politico

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/good-news-democrats-youre-going-to-lose-111467.html#ixzz3EpMWX08G

Quote of the Day

“The reality is that this [Ebola] epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better.  But right now, the world still has an opportunity to save countless lives. Right now, the world has the responsibility to act, to step up and to do more. The United States of America intends to do more.”

President Obama

I wish he’d given this speech sooner, but I’m glad we’re finally getting more involved.  There’s certainly plenty of other awful stuff going on in the world, but Ebola has to be a priority too.

The Last Surviving 9/11 Rescue Dog Returns to Ground Zero

 Thirteen years is a long time in the life of a dog, especially a big dog, and of the hundreds of rescue dogs who worked at Ground Zero after 9/11, only one survives — Bretagne, a 15-year-old Golden Retriever from Texas.  She and her owner/handler Denise Corliss returned to the World Trade Center site this week for the first time since they worked there after the attack.  Bretagne retired from rescue work six years ago, but still works as a therapy dog with special needs children.
 
 
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Bretagne, the last living Ground Zero search dog, visited the former World Trade Center site ahead of the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Courtesy Denise Corliss Enlarge
Bretagne was just 2 years old when she traveled to New York City to search Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Andrea Booher/FEMA
The 9/11 mission with Corliss and Bretagne's first together. They spent ten 12-hours a day on the pile. Courtesy Denise Corliss

McDonnells Guilty!

Former VA Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen were found guilty of corruption stemming from more than $170,000 in gifts and loans they got from snake oil salesman Jonnie Williams of Star Scientific.

He was found guilty on 11 counts, she on 9.  Sentencing is set for January 6, 2015.  They plan to appeal their convictions.

I guess the jury didn’t buy their BS claim that they couldn’t have conspired because their marriage was dead and they were barely speaking, a defense stolen from an old episode of L. A. Law. 

Recall that McDonnell rejected a plea bargain where he would have pled guilty to a single felony count and she would not have been charged with anything.