The clip is actually called “Little boy and his dog” but due to the dog’s amazing patience with his little pal, I think the dog should get top billing.
Sweet.
Dogs rule.
Colorado House elects gay minority leader
Colorado House of Representatives Democrats have elected Rep. Mark Ferrandino, an openly gay man, as their minority leader.
If control of the House should flip next year, Ferrandino would become House Speaker.
Though a civil unions bill failed in the legislature this past spring, Ferrandino has indicated Democrats intend to reintroduce the measure again in 2012.
Balanced Budget Amendment would double unemployment rate
In a week, the GOP will again vote on a Balanced Budget Amendment. The vote is part of the final compromise to raise the debt limit, in which President Obama and Senate Democrats promised to hold a vote on such an amendment, despite the fact that such votes have failed numerous times in the past.
Republicans have taken to ignoring the obvious perilous consequences of the amendment even as voices on both sides of the aisle denounce it as the “worst idea in Washington.” The current amendment, former Reagan adviser Bruce Bartlett said, “looks like it was drafted by a couple of interns on the back of a napkin.”
Today, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) added to that criticism, releasing a study highlighting a piece from Macroeconomic Advisers that notes that such an amendment would make future recessions “deeper and longer.”
And according to CBPP, passing a Balanced Budget Amendment now, with the country trying to climb out of the hole of joblessness caused by the recession, would have the exact opposite affect one would expect policy makers to try and achieve. In fact, the budget cuts required by such an amendment now would double the unemployment rate and slide the country back into the throes of recession:
If the 2012 budget were balanced through spending cuts, those cuts would total about $1.5 trillion in 2012 alone, the analysis estimates. Those cuts would throw about 15 million more people out of work, double the unemployment rate from 9 percent to approximately 18 percent, and cause the economy to shrink by about 17 percent instead of growing by an expected 2 percent.
Yet, despite evidence that the amendment would have disastrous consequences for our economy, Republicans — even those who pitch themselves as credible on the economy, like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — continue to support it.
More at ThinkProgress.com
UPDATE: The House fell short of the votes necessary to approve a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in a largely sybolic exercise on Friday afternoon.
The House voted, 261 to 165, in favor of the amendment, which would prohibit federal spending in any fiscal year from exceeding tax receipts for that year. While a majority of the chamber favored the measure, two-thirds of the House — 290 members — is needed to approve an amendment to the Constitution.
Bill Maher’s new book: The New New Rules
Bill Maher’s new book “The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass”
From Amazon: A follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The New Rules, The New New Rules delivers a series of hilarious, intelligent rants on everything from same-sex marriage to healthcare, from Republican agendas to celebrity meltdowns, with all the razor-sharp insight that has made Bill Maher one of the most influential comedic voices shaping the political debate today.
With another presidential campaign on the horizon and a stellar set of real- life characters to have fun with-“New Rule: If Charlie Sheen’s home life means he can’t have a TV show, then I say Newt Gingrich can’t be president”-this enlightening and important book may be the best thing you pretend to read all year.
I never miss an episode of Bill’s HBO show. If you’re a fan, you’ll need to get this. Check it out on Amazon.
Raid on Zuccotti Park, NYC
(via joemygod)
Video: Annie Lennox “Why”
“Why” was the first solo single by Annie Lennox, released in 1992. It was taken from her debut solo album Diva and reached no.5 in the United Kingdom and number thirty-four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The single also reached no.6 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart. The music video won Lennox an award for Best Female Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.
I think Annie Lennox is one of the more important recording artists of the last 20 years.
And I think we should never stop asking “why?”
O’Reilly Jokes About “Gay” Penguins “They Wear Tight T-shirts”
From Fox News – too busy to mention anti-gay bullying, but plenty of time to make stereotypical jokes about gay people.
On the November 17 edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller discussed the story of Pedro and Buddy – two male penguins at the Toronto Zoo who behave much in the same way that a mated couple would behave. The “gay” penguins are expected to be separated in order to mate with females as part of a plan to “help the species populate.”
Unsurprisingly, O’Reilly and Miller could barely get a word out about the story before devolving into gay stereotypes and fits of childish giggling:
O’REILLY: In Toronto there’s a couple of gay penguins I believe.
And I think they’re in Canada legally but I’m not sure because they’re from the Arctic or Antarctica. Now the gay penguins, are they trying to make them straight or what are they trying to make them? What are they doing with those penguins?
MILLER: Well I don’t know but, first off, you can see in that opening shot they’re just like the kids in Zuccotti. They crap on the outside right on the rock. I don’t know. The one –
O’REILLY: Jeez.
MILLER: The one gay penguin’s name is Pedro. And here’s my problem: has anyone seen papers on Pedro? Is he even here legally for God’s sake?
O’REILLY: That was my question. Wait they –
MILLER: Listen, Billy. How do you even know when a penguin’s gay? Is their corner of the penguin habitat inordinately tasteful?
O’REILLY: No, they wear tight t-shirts.
MILLER: Is it well done?
O’REILLY: I don’t know, I can’t say anymore. But they’re trying to – I think they’re trying to make these gay penguins mate with – I don’t know. It’s too confusing.
MILLER: Stop right there. All I know is who’s in a better position to participate in a gay marriage than two creatures who are perpetually dressed formal?
O’REILLY: God if we’re back here tomorrow, I’ll be stunned.
(source)
iPhone’s Siri gets stuck in the middle of an argument
CA Supreme Court says Prop 8 proponents have standing
The California Supreme Court issued its opinion that the backers of Proposition 8 should have standing to defend the measure.
The question had been punted to the California court by the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, who will now take the opinion into consideration while making their own decision on the issue.
The Ninth Circuit will now take the appeal, Perry v. Brown, back under advisement and decide how it wishes to proceed on the federal standing question.
If the California Supreme Court finds the proponents to have a “particularized interest” or “the authority to assert the State’s interest,” the Ninth Circuit could then find the proponents to have standing.
At that point, the appeal of the Perry trial court decision — the “merits” decision from the trial court that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional — could go forward.