Send Them to Church

Those crazy wimmenz and their pursuit of prayer.

Does it count as Godwin's Law if it's not online?

Douche and Douchier.

HINT: Al Franken is not the douche.

The Death of the Public Option

Senator Palpatine Flip-Flops

Consequences for Insurance Lapdogs

"...mandating that all people pay money to a private interest isn't even conservative, free market or otherwise."

Not Health, Not Care, Not Reform

Howard Dean: Kill the Bill

Twenty Questions For Bill Killers

Twenty Answers

Tom Coburn Delays Vote on Troop Funding by demanding that Bernie Sanders read all 700+ pages of his doomed single-payer, Medicare for all amendment. Bernie Sanders, unlike Coburn, is in possession of both a conscience and a brain. He yielded the floor, and it's as if his amendment never was.

Final Word from Senator Sanders of Vermont:

He was against it before he was for it

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There's a 'Brownback' joke in there somewhere...

You're welcome.

Mine is an evil laugh.

My two favorite Congressmen, Alan "I Do Not Yield" Grayson (D-FL) and Ron "Kill the Fed" (R-TX) have joined forces. Together, they've cosponsored and passed an amendment to give the GAO the authority to conduct an actual audit of the Federal Reserve. H.R. 1207. Notably, the bill collected surprisingly bipartisan support. Libertarian crusaders and muckraking progressives unite. Be afraid, Fed. Be very afraid.

Rep. Grayson (check out that tie) questions Fed Counsel Alvarez:




Ron Paul on his decades long quest to end the Fed:

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Stupid Women and Deviants

Many thanks to Jezebel for picking up this story.

There are few places in the world where politics are truly more bizarre than in Texas. And Israel is one of those places. Perhaps the larger story of the day is the Israeli government's disregard for the peace process. On Tuesday, they announced plans to expand settlements inside Jersualem. I wish I could say I was surprised.

But there is another story that shouldn't be ignored: the arrest of Nofrat Frenkel for the terrible crime of wearing a prayer shawl and reading from the Torah at the Kotel (Western Wall). Frenkel is part of a group called Women of the Wall.

Their mission:

Our purpose is both social advocacy – to change the current status quo which prevents women from being able to pray freely at the Western Wall, to educate Jewish women and the public in general about the social, political and human rights issues involved in women’s right to pray as a prayer group; and to empower Jewish women to take control of their religious and prayer lives. WOW stands with other non-ultraorthodox activists in the forefront of the movement for religious pluralism in Israel. WOW offers a unique contribution as the only group reclaiming public holy space by our regular presence at the Western Wall.

The women of the wall are not looked upon kindly by the ultra-Orthodox. From a sermon by Rabbi Yosef:

Teffilin (phylacteries) she must be careful not to lay. There are stupid women who come to the Western Wall, put on a tallit (prayer shawl), and pray...These are deviants who serve equality, not Heaven. They must be condemned and warned of.

You've been warned.

New Mexico

I really, really love New Mexico.



Look how big that sky is!




My host insisted that we visit Carlsbad Caverns. We took the long way in, and I'm really glad we did. The natural entrance turned out to be my favorite spot in the whole thing.




This is The Big Room, the icing on the cake of the whole thing.




A formation called the Whale's Mouth.




More awesome sky!

Abilene

I was pleasantly surprised by pretty much everything in Abilene. I was expecting Lubbock, only with less everything. Instead, I got awesome.





Plus, the drive there from San Antonio took me through the Hill Country.




And with the Hill Country comes Fredericksburg, home to a large number of German immigrants. Doesn't show, really.




Dominating the landscape: wind turbines!




Texas produces more wind energy than any other state in the nation.




With cow for scale. See him? That little black guy at the bottom? My host told me that each blade on the turbine is longer than a semi and has to be trucked in with 'oversized load' signs everywhere.




She also took me to Fort Phantom Hill, part of the frontier system. It hasn't aged very gracefully.




It was only occupied for three years, from 1851-54.




Shortly after it was abandoned, it burned to the ground.




It's seen better days. But it's still pretty cool.




My host's Chevy pickup. How Texas are we?

Provo to The City*

*aka, San Francisco

Miles Traveled: 778

Car Hours: 12.5

States: 3

Time Zones: 2

Miles per Gallon: 29.55, 30.118

Best Proper Noun: Donner Pass.

Driving in The City: FOR THE DAMNED.

Denver to Provo*

*Once again, I'm running behind. I apologize and will try to do a bit of a posting blitz today.

Miles Traveled: 481

Car Hours: 8

Miles per Gallon: 32.126, 34.5, 32.936

Best Proper Noun: The Nauvoo Cafe with (and this is a direct quote) great food to go.

Car Color: Mud. I had to squeegee the headlights at a rest stop. Yeah.

Consume like an American!

Stephen Colbert takes on forty years of Sesame Street:



If hulu doesn't work for you, you can see it here.

Ginger, get the popcorn.

Tell me, Tom Kenniff, how's it feel to get smacked down on Larry King by America's first female African American POW and Dr. Phil?



CAN'T FEEL GOOD.

San Antonio

San Antonio was not originally a destination on this particular road trip. However, it had the only open seat for the GRE in the entire state of Texas. But I'm really glad I ended up there. Based on the glut of pictures alone.





The visibility on the first half of the drive from Dallas was not great.




But things got better after I left Waco. [Tasteless cult joke REDACTED]




This is the inscription on the small urn inside of the San Fernando Cathedral. The most unsung hero of the Texas Revolution, Juan Seguín, came back after the fall of the Alamo, scooped up the enormous pile of ashes, and had them interred here. He and Bowie were good friends. When Travis ordered Seguín to leave the Alamo as a courier, Seguín rode out on Bowie's horse.




This is the Governor's Palace! Where the Mexican Governor for the state of Coahuila y Tejas lived. Exception to the rule: Juan Martín de Veramendi. De Veramendi fell out of favor because he was too friendly with the anglos. Case in point: he sponsored Jim Bowie's conversion to Catholicism, a road stop on Bowie's path to Mexican citizenship. De Veramendi later became Bowie's father in law when his daughter Ursula married the land speculator from Kentucky. They lived together in the de Veramendi palace on Soledad street....which was TORN DOWN in 1910 to widen the road. [DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED] Later, when a cholera epidemic threatened, Bowie sent Ursula and their two young children to the de Veramendi home in Monclova. The cholera missed San Antonio and struck the mountains of Coahuila. Juan Martín, his wife Josefa, Maria Ursula, and at least one of the Bowie children all died in the span of a week.





And these are the gardens out back.




I love the gardens.




And you can rent them for special occasions!




A hospital mural as seen from Milam Park.




Epic t-shirt.




This was lunch: ceviche with talapia and julienned jalapeños. And popped corn. I thought the corn thing was weird, but it added a nice crunchiness. Anyway, it was deliciousness. Revived, I went on to glory.




This is the memorial built where the Alamo plaza used to be...it's the kind of big dramatic memorial that the place deserves.




This is the full footprint of the Alamo as it was in 1836. The building that remains is that small cross-shaped in the upper right hand corner.




And here she is!




RESPECT.


For the record, I did get some studying done. Well...enough.

Clovis to Denver

Miles Traveled: 460

Car Hours: 8

Miles per Gallon: 30.167 and 34.043 (YEAH CRUISE CONTROL!)

Best Proper Noun: Hatchet Ranch Road (that needs to be a Western stat)

Mile High Side Effects: Breathing like a overheated pug at the first attempt at exercise. Too many stairs, NOT ENOUGH OXYGEN.

Dallas

Anybody can google a nice shot of Reunion Tower or the AA Center or the Ballpark in Arlington or Jerry Jones' new Colosseum of GREEDY GRASPING OLD WHITE MEN. But I decided to take some pictures of the Dallas I remember growing up.




I'm beginning to doubt Montana's claim to 'Big Sky Country'.




This is Fretz Park, the library I grew up with. I voted for John Kerry in the gym behind the library and took swimming lessons in the pool next to it.




L.B.J freeway!




AKA: 635.




This is the ramp onto 635 from I-35 East South. Not a typo. Driving in Dallas is not for the faint of heart.




I have a lot of issues with my hometown: the Cowboys, the dry precincts, the godawful DISD. But the sunsets are not one of them.

"Would you tell her to be quiet and take it?"

Senator David Vitter from Louisiana was one of thirty Republican men who voted against the inclusion of Al Franken's amendment to deny contracts to defense contractors who bar their employees from seeking justice for sexual assault and harassment in a court of law. Should it surprise us that the good Senator has absolutely no balls whatsoever?



Roll Call of Shame: is your Senator on the list?



Sleep tight, Senators.

Abilene to Clovis*

Miles Traveled: 266 (not including being lost)

Car Hours: 5 (including being lost)

Miles per Gallon: 30.669

Best Speed Trap: 1-20 exit Noodle Dome Road

Best Proper Noun: Noodle Dome Road

Honorable Mention: Earth, Texas

Best Bumper Sticker: "Save a mouse, eat a pussy." Stay classy, black Dodge Ram.

Most Representative Landscape: Garza County. Scrubby fields of pumpjacks overlooked by a mesa full of wind turbines.

* I made this drive a couple days ago, but got distracted with the awesome of New Mexico, including Carlsbad Caverns and flat enchiladas with green chili sauce and a fried egg.

Top ten things I missed about Texas.

10) Texas-sized parking spaces. If you can't back your F-350 into it, it's not a parking space. 'Compact' spaces will fit an F-250. What's the point if Grandma can't get her Cadillac in on the first try? Priuses are for pinko commies from Austin. REAL MEN GUZZLE GAS.

9) The churching. I think I passed about twelve in Muleshoe alone. First Baptist, First Methodist, Church of Christ, Catholic Iglesias, little Bible churches, etc., etc. Texans wear their faith on their sleeve. It's a little overwhelming at first, but at least you know where you stand. And where you stand is about two lots away from God, at any given moment.

8) Terms of endearment are for everyone. Sugar, hon, sweetheart, these are all valid substitutes for sir, ma'am, you over there, and just about anything else.

7) The accents! I understand why non-native Texans start at a disadvantage. It's hard to get by when you can't decipher the slang. "She's just so very Dallas" carries a WORLD of meaning all by itself.

6) People will talk to anybody about anything. Conversation is not optional. In Seattle, folks looked at me like I had a second head when I tried to chat with the cashier. Here, it's rude not to.

5) Men in uniform. I know, I know. I'm debauched.

4) NICE. I missed it. A manager at Starbucks comped my coffee when he realized I'd have to wait for it. It's not store policy anymore (DUMB), but his nice got the better of him. Oh, and I got a free mini-scone, too. NICE. It can't be overrated.

3) Being ogled. In Seattle, you'd never when you're being looked at. It's weak, Seattleites! Step up your game. In San Antonio, I got whistled at by a pro. At Starbucks, a cowboy tipped his hat to me and winked. Walking down Soledad street, I got the up-and-down plus a little weird kissy noise. Was it borderline offensive? Yes, yes it was. Was it ambiguous? Subtle as a freight train.

2) Spanish! I didn't realize how much I missed hearing it spoken on the streets. To me, it's as much a part of Texas as the weather.

1) The landscape. It's big. Flat plains of grass, hills of mesquite, green rivers, and mesas studded with wind turbines overlooking oil fields. It's epic in every single way.

San Antonio to Abilene

Miles Traveled: 246

Car Hours: 4

Miles per Gallon: 29.5 (city miles) and 30.26

Standardized Tests Taken: The GRE

Best Proper Noun: NOVICE FIRE DEPARTMENT (Novice, as it turns out, is the name of the town)

Audio Books Finished: Child 44. I took a break from Americana to read an awesome detective novel about Stalinist Russia. Which reminded me how glad I am to be an American. I've just started The Pirate Coast, which is about America's first black ops mission in Tripoli--as in 'the shores of Tripoli'. Wherein a grand military tradition was established: the Navy fucks things up royally and the Marines clean up the mess. Apparently, one Captain Bainbridge was given command of the Philadelphia, despite the fact that he had already surrendered once. Anyway, while Philadelphia was doing her best impression of a one-ship blockade, Bainbridge ran her onto a reef. Without taking soundings, he decided to attempt to drive over the reef by unfurling all his canvas. He beached the ship higher. Then, he cut loose all of the bow anchors, moved all the cannon aft, and chopped down the forward mast. No dice. So he surrendered. They drowned the powder, drilled holes in the hull, and raised the white flag. The pirates, meanwhile, had been harassing them, but never fired a shot. Why? Well, after the ship was evacuated and all of the sailors sold into slavery, night fell. The tide came in and the ship floated free. The Navy couldn't even scuttle her right.

Minnesota

I'm woefully behind on pictures. I'm going to be working on that today, during study breaks.



HOMG! Plum Creek! Can you imagine living next to it in a dugout the size of two parking spaces? With a height of about five feet?






These are the ACTUAL BANKS OF PLUM CREEK!!!






Walnut Grove is, of course, the town where the Ingalls family lived. It was also the setting for the entire run of the TV show Little House on the Prairie. Her little brother, who died when he was ten months old, was born here. It's also the home of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, which is where I bought my bonnet.






When I left Minneapolis, the weather looked like this.






But it made the small towns so beautiful, I didn't really care.






See what I mean?

Texas and Health Care Reform

From The Houston Chronicle

Here are the facts:

• • Families USA recently found that health insurance premiums for Texas families have increased 92 percent — more than 4.5 times faster than income.

• • The US Census Bureau reports that with 24.5 percent of our citizens without health insurance, Texas has the nation's highest rate of uninsured.

• • The American Medical Association ranks Texas 43rd in the number of doctors per capita and reports that more than half of Texas counties have an acute shortage of primary care physicians. This critical scarcity of physicians compelled lawmakers to raise taxes earlier this year to fund projects designed to attract physicians to rural areas.

• • Texas Medicare spending is growing 16 percent faster than the national average. In fact, 10 of the 15 health markets with the highest Medicare spending per enrollee are in states in which the medical and insurance industries successfully lobbied for severe limits on patient rights. Four of the nation's most expensive health markets are right here in Texas.

This is hardly a ringing endorsement for Texas as a model for the nation.

From Bay Area Houston

In 2003 the Republican controlled Texas house ushered in sweeping tort reform, limiting medical malpractice suits to $250,000. These limits were supported by the insurance industry, some of the medical community, and their front groups calling themselves “Texans” and “Citizens” against lawsuit abuse. As they are doing today with national health care reform, they promised lower health care costs, lower insurance rates, and expanded health care availability. Instead, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured in the nation and our cost of health care and insurance has skyrocketed out of control. Tort reform didn’t work in Texas. It won’t work on the national level either.

Rabid Republican and former Texas Congressman Dick Armey is now spearheading the 'tea-bagger' movement against health care reform. This is what we call 'privilege'.

Dallas to San Antonio

Miles Traveled: 300

Car Hours: 5

Miles per Gallon: 29.543 (Dallas driving) and 31.345 (much better)

Best Proper Noun: Pflugerville. I bet it's a lot of pfun living there.

Temperature: High of 76F (24.4C)

Humidity: 68%

Most Nostalgic Element: 102.1 the Edge. Jessie is still doing the three o'clock threesome! And the signal came in loud and clear until Hillsboro. Impressive.

Resemblance to Dallas: eerie. I stopped at Pei Wei for dinner yesterday. And it could have been a shopping center in Plano. They had a Merle Norman. A MERLE NORMAN. I thought that was some freak Dallas phenomenon. I was wrong.

I'll have some pictures up later, after I've studied a little for this GRE business.

Oh yeah! I fixed the commenting thing. Sorry about that. Swedes and computers.

...and the iMeme rolls on.

See the supporting evidence here.

RELATED: a classic Colbert clip.

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Des Moines to Dallas

Miles Traveled: 760

Car Hours: 12

Miles per Gallon: 32.8, 33.79

States: Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas

Best Proper Noun: Sanger, TX. I couldn't help wondering if my favorite Red State knew they were naming their town after a hero of feminism and women's health care. Suckers.

Best Rest Stop: Southbound I-35 in Blackwell, Oklahoma. The counters were granite. There was a tourism bureau lady, in a wood paneled lobby. Also, there was a National Guard member outside with an adorable dog. A+

Best Car: Maroon suburban with OU flags flying and a message written on the back window: "HONK IF YOU EAT BEEF!"

Iowa City to Des Moines

Miles Traveled: 115

Car Hours: 2

Miles per Gallon: 34.0

Best Proper Noun: Montezuma, IA. (Prairie City, that I understand. But...Montezuma?)

Random Life Decision: Really, who wouldn't want to take the GRE in the middle of a road trip? I mean come on.

and people wonder why my generation gets their news online.

OTHER PLACES TO GET NEWS:

Rachel Maddow (the sanest news anchor on TV)

Crooks and Liars (politics, with fact checking)

Jezebel (women, feminism, and the mass media)

The Daily Show (for media criticism and slapstick comedy)

The Colbert Report (for media criticism via slapstick comedy)

Any other suggestions? I mean, for the love of dog, the media is just crazy making.

South Dakota

Snow...I feel like I'm becoming kind of a frozen precipitation magnet.



It's the main drag in Deadwood! And it's still snowing.



Ah yes. The not-so-Black Hills. Very pretty, if a little slow going in the slush.



And it didn't look like I was going to get a break, weather-wise. So I elected to ditch my Mt. Rushmore plans and get back to I-90. And of course, as soon as I got on the freeway, the sun came out.



De Smet! Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her husband "Manly"!



One awesome thing about South Dakota: the bumper stickers. Better even than Texas.

Minneapolis to Coralville (provided you are contrary...)

Miles Traveled: 270

Car hours: 5.5

States: Two

Miles per gallon: 31.34

Best Proper Noun: Spring Valley, MN. [Sentimental reasons]

Weather: Big, fat, wet, non-sticky snow.

Words of Wisdom:

People, if you go out to a Zombie Pub Crawl and one of the undead offers you food and beverage of unknown provenance, JUST SAY NO. Do not, under any circumstances, yell BRAIIIIIINZ and continue eating/imbibing. It will only end in tears. Tears that your sorry, dehydrated ass can ill afford to shed.

More photos to come this evening.

Wyoming is Cattle Country: EAT BEEF*

*I must have seen twenty of those on I-90. I-90, by the by, has become the highway that I cannot escape. All roads lead to I-90. I was a little frustrated, but now I'm totally going to miss it.

One of the bajillion things named after Bufallo Bill. This is the Reservoir. And it is BEAUTIFUL.



The fabulous sign in Cody. I have no idea what the parrot has to do with the fairy or vice versa.



The sky is actually those colors. Real, actual, shades of blue.


Blitzen, my noble steed! In the pass along the way to South Dakota. I love that car.