Another Savage Halloween

In what's becoming a Halloween tradition, we like to see how Dan Savage handles the "holiday." Two years ago, he wrote one of the funniest things I've ever read. John posted it here with this excerpt:

I sharpened up six big wooden stakes to plant along the walk up to the house. I wanted to go buy a six cheap kids’ Halloween costumes, stuff ‘em, and impale ‘em on the stakes. I wanted it to like we’d been murdering every, oh, 50th trick-or-treater that came to our house....

This year, Dan tells us how to deal with those older trick-or-treaters. You know, the ones who are really too old to be out there, but still want the candy:

For these trick-or-treaters—older kids who aren't in costumes—we lay in a few bags of peeled-and-wrapped garlic cloves. We mix 'em into the bowl with the rest of the candy so they're handy, but we're careful to only give 'em to older kids who don't come in costume. The garlic says, "My, you're getting up there," and, "Gee, you could at least make an effort." We think everybody should do it.

I think he's onto something.... Read the rest of this post...

Krugman: Polls show it's dumb to focus on the deficit

More precisely, polls show that voters have no clue what really goes on with the budget deficit, and even when you eliminate it entirely, which Bill Clinton did, they still think he created a massive deficit. Lesson: If you focus on the deficit, the voters will still punish you. Read the rest of this post...

French make world's largest tiramisu

Since Chris is away with the Mrs. this weekend, I post this in his honor.

Weighing in at nearly 1,076kg (2,372 lb) the giant tiramisu - which means "pick me up" in Italian - used 300kg of mascarpone cheese, 60kg of cream and 192 kg of sugar.

It also contained about 180kg of biscuits, 12kg of chocolate and nearly 5kg of cocoa powder.

Read the rest of this post...

Will Net Neutrality be the new "Death Panel"?

Of course, our favorite paranoid teenager is leading the charge. Read the rest of this post...

By visiting our war dead, Obama passes Dover test

Mark Shields writes a moving column about how President Obama passes the Dover Test that George Bush failed:

President Obama, during his winning campaign, promised to make Washington more "transparent" and more "accountable." At 4 a.m. on Oct. 29, as he stood silently by as six soldiers carried the remains of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind., back to American soil and to those who mourned him, President Obama made both himself, and the national government he leads, more responsible and made the reality of war more transparent.

At Dover, he personally met with and consoled — in their time of profound sorrow — the families of 18 fallen Americans. No form letter or phone call. Just human being to human being.

As John Glenn said: "It's easy to see the flags flying and the people go off to war, and the bands play and the flags fly. And it's not quite so easy when the flag is draped over a coffin coming back through Dover, Delaware." Barack Obama, by choosing the "not quite so easy" path, has earned his nation's thanks.

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A right-wing rapper raps about teabagging. It's bad.

Okay, first, this video isn't a joke. It isn't a parody. You'll just think it is. It's a right-wing rapper. Yes, right-wing rapper. He's bad. And, I mean bad in the traditional sense, not the hip, cool sense. And, of course, he throws in the requisite gay-bashing. It's just bad:

These are the people who rule the GOP now. Read the rest of this post...

Teabaggers have forced moderate GOP candidate to quit race in NY-23

The teabaggers now own the Republican Party. The GOP candidate for Congress in New York's 23rd CD, Dede Scozzafava, has suspended her campaign. Scozzofava was under assault from the hard-core wing of the GOP because she was pro-choice and supported lgbt equality. The local paper has the story and an excerpt from Scozzofava's letter to her supporters announcing the decision.

The hard-core right wingers have rallied around the Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman. A poll released today showed Scozzofava had dropped to a distant third place:

Today's hotly anticipated Siena poll confirms the race for the seat vacated by former Rep. John McHugh in NY-23 has become a too-close-to-call fight between Democratic nominee Bill Owens and Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman, who are tied at 36-35.

The Republicans' pick, Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, who started out as the frontrunner, is now at 20 percent. Nine percent of voters remain undecided.

There is no room for different ideas in the modern day GOP. The teabaggers rule their world. Read the rest of this post...

In Afghanistan, the political situation is unraveling. Not good for the U.S.

As if things aren't bad enough in Afghanistan, it's could be getting worse. The presidential run-off election is on the brink of collapsing because the challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, probably won't participate:

A presidential run-off election planned for Nov. 7 seemed headed for collapse Saturday, with the main challenger to President Hamid Karzai, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, widely expected to pull out of the race.

That's not good for Afghanistan. And, it's a problem for the United States:

A canceled or marred runoff would also further complicate matters for the Obama administration as it nears a decision on whether to significantly expand its military commitment to the war against Afghan and al-Qaeda insurgents.

"Further complicate matters" seems like an understatement. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Happy Halloween. And, it's a final get-out-the-vote weekend in Maine, Washington State, Kalamazoo, Virginia and New Jersey.

Here's the closing ad from the No on 1 side in Maine. On, Tuesday, the state's voters have a clear choice:


What's the news? Read the rest of this post...

Spanish winemaker faces the environment

The wine business is one of those industries that feels the effects of the climate variations more than many others. (Agriculture in general faces this issue, of course.) One progressive producer in Spain is making an effort to act responsibly today and plan for the possible changes tomorrow. It's a very interesting ready even beyond the climate change issue as he discusses how he runs the family business and what he considers fair to all of his workers.

Production of pinot noir and chardonnay at 1,200 metres above sea level has already started, showing no less quality than the wine produced on the gentle hills of the Penedès region, just south of Barcelona. Fears are growing, however, that lowland areas could be reduced to dust in a couple of generations. "Temperatures have already risen by one degree," Torres says. "If they increase by five, southern Europe will be full of arid steppes." This one-degree rise has already brought forward the harvest by 12 or 13 days, he says. "Vineyards are very sensitive."

Torres has donated €10m (£9m) of his own money to environmental issues, and is aiming to reduce the output of CO2 in the winery by 30% by 2020. He has a hybrid car and has bought them for his staff, invested in a wind park and is experimenting with the capture and use of CO2 from wine fermentation.

The businessman has not used synthetic chemicals in his vineyards for more than 20 years, instead using insect traps baited with sex pheromones secreted by females to trap the males and thereby stop reproduction.

Read the rest of this post...

Nine more banks, closed

115 banks this year. Read the rest of this post...