I Can't Wake Up For This Bullsh*t

I've mostly been hitting the snooze bar on Benghazi, because it is exhausting to try and keep up with the shifting narrative - the "scandal" amounts to a tragedy from which House Republicans and other loonies hope to make political hay. Eight months of fucking that chicken and nothing to show for it. Give it a rest, fellas!

That said, this article actually did catch my eye, and it is worth a read for its clear-headed and sobering analysis of where the House of Representatives may well end up during Obama's second term.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Party of Fiscal Responsibility

Somehow I missed this story last July, but it is still relevant, as House Republicans are pushing to vote for the 37th time to repeal ACA. Fifty million dollars for absolutely nothing.

Reminder: these public tantrums cost money! I hasten to add that this enormous cost isn't at all surprising - anyone who works for a big company can tell you that meetings are expensive. And what is a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives if not one gigantic meeting?

Scaring the Nation With Their Guns And Ammunition

Gabrielle Giffords wrote a sharp and thoughtful essay on the Senate's failure to enact Manchin-Toomey. It is well worth a read. 

This is painful black humor that I must share:

No one in the Republican Party has the slightest fear that these [Manchin-Toomey votes] were risky votes going into 2014 or 2016... We may outnumber the opponents of expanded background checks 9-1, but they vastly outnumber us in the category of "People who'd crawl naked through ground glass to cast a one-issue vote based on gun policy."

Finally, the inimitable Charles Pierce has a great piece on the surreal relationship that Americans have with violence, and how that relationship manifested this week. Go read the whole thing.

100 MPG And Righteous

This is pretty awesome.

Cat - 1; Train - 0

This appeals to me...

200 Calories

I have been slow to write since the election. I could find plenty of excuses - the holidays, the weather, work. Especially work - I've been at it every day, nonstop for two months. But really, I just haven't had that much to say recently. Not sure that I do now, but I've been spotting some interesting links on the intarwebs this week, so for the next few posts, I'm going to use this space to share.

Here's an interesting and at times surprising visualization of the food we eat from a calorie counting perspective: this-is-what-200-calories-of-food-looks-like. I know it shouldn't be, but the peanut butter portion was an eye-opener.

Fuck SharePoint

From the Microsoft Breeding Hostility Dept.:

Error was caused by trying to open a file on a SharePoint server. Of course, it let the file be created, it just can't be accessed. My favorite quote about SharePoint: "I used to find things. Then I found SharePoint."