Hell Of A Shot

Wednesday is the best newspaper day of the week. While the color funnies and the crossword in the Sunday paper are pretty hard to beat, on Wednesday both of the papers that I get (NYT & WaPo) run a food section.

These sections can be hit and miss, which is to say that they aren't always all that they could be. But more often than not the food sections are the best part of the paper (news reporting notwithstanding).

The NYT had this great photo of three top flight New York restaurateurs on the cover of this week's Dining section. Editor Pete Wells took to the internet to describe how they managed to pull the shot off.

Photo Illustration by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

HUNGRY MEN From left: Mario Batali of Del Posto, Sirio Maccioni of Le Cirque and Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Perry St., Nougatine and Matsugen really really want you to visit.

How The Republicans Operate, or Why I Hate Harry Reid

Ezra Klein has this take on Republican obstructionism in the Senate up on his blog and I must say he has hit the nail on the head.

The real question here is why 58 Democrats can't pass the president's top priority. We're learning that the minority still controls the Senate. So long as Republicans fundamentally don't want a bill to pass, they can make virtually limitless demands. The worst that happens is that Democrats simply give up and admit failure to the American people. Put another way: The worst that happens is overwhelming success. The trick is making sure the demands seem reasonable rather than obstructionist. But that's not too hard. Republicans know full well that they won't actually be forced to publicly filibuster the bill and defend their obstructionism while Democrats fan out across the news shows to warn of the economic dangers. Instead, Harry Reid will ask how the bill can be made smaller and leaner and more Republican. And maybe, for this, he'll get the crucial two votes assuring passage of an insufficient measure, the failure of which Republicans will run against in 2010.

I have long been pissed off over Reid's ,and Senate Democrats' in general, willingness to just let the Republican's push them around with the threat of a filibuster.

MAKE. THEM. ACTUALLY. FILIBUSTER.

That would mean that the Republicans would have to get up and talk and talk and talk about why they don't like the stimulus bill while, as Klein points out, Democrats can in turn hit the airwaves and point out that the Republicans want the economy to fail etc etc.

Also, while I am very excited that Obama is our President, Reid and Pelosi have fundamentally failed to deal with Republican obstructionism and I am worried that Obama's dedication to bipartisanship etc has and will leave him and his administration unprepared to fight back against Congressional Republicans either.

Crap.

The Audacity of Idiocy

Just when you thought Rob Blagojevich was done with interviews he managed to get on Letterman.

You can imagine how well that worked out for him...



(via WR)

How Are Those Slots Working Out For You Governor?

Not so well according to recent news reports. Looks like things aren't really going according to plan and the slots won't be generating the promised revenue.

This kind of mess is one of the reasons many people opposed bringing slots to Maryland.

Would Judd Gregg Really Be The Third Republican?

New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg is expected to be announced later today as President Obama's nominee for Commerce Secretary and nearly every media outlet running a story on this development has touted Gregg as the third Republican in Obama's Cabinet.

Gregg is certainly a Republican as is Ray LaHood, the Transportation Secretary and former Republican Congressman from Illinois, but I'm going to take exception to the designation of Defense Secretary Robert Gates as a Republican.

Yes, Gates was appointed by W Bush and previously served in other Republican administrations, but that distinction does not in and of itself make him a Republican. Especially not in a technical sense as Gates remains (and apparently always has been) a registered Independent.

Is this nit-picking? Yeah probably, but it is also lazy journalism at best on the part of pretty much every media outlet there is, so I'm gonna pick it.

Note:
The White House is making reference to Gregg as the third Republican as well.

Read This Now - Martha Washington Was Hot

Most of the time if I post a Read This Now it is wonkier than I am able to get, the article is full of stuff you should know (hence the title) but it is often fairly heavy. This post is different.

Yes I think you should read this now, because it will make you smile and we all need that kind of reading these days given everything else that's going on.

So check out Brigid Schulte's piece from yesterday's WaPo (front page no less) on our first First Lady who, well, had it going on...

You Tube Spot The Difference Game

If you've ever been to a bar that has the little arcade game console with the spot the difference game on it you know two things. 1) I really like that game, and 2) that game is awesome.

For both of those reasons I was psyched to see this new you tube version of the game for the Oscar nominees highlighted on Bloggasm.



Mostly I just enjoyed playing the game, but it is also an interesting adaptation and evolution in the uses of you tube. It has been very cool in my lifetime to watch the internet grow and change and this looks like yet another little piece of all that.

I had to retry the Frost / Nixon one and finally crapped out on level 21 - Vicky Christina Barcelona. How far can you get?

Have fun...