It’s been quite a lame duck session for Democrats: They got Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell repealed. They got unemployment benefits for millions of out of work Americans extended for a year. They got the middle class tax cuts extended for two years. They got a economy-stimulating payroll tax holiday put in place. They got major food safety bill passed. They […]

Andrew Breitbart has his conservative panties all in a twist. It turns out — get this, you won’t even believe it — some LIBBER-UHL on Salon.com posted something nasty and inappropriate about (you are not going to believe this) [whispers]Sarah Palin[/whispers]. Can you believe it? It’s horrible: Let’s let Michael Vick keep Sarah Palin as a pet instead of a […]

Historian and syndicated columnist P.M. Carpenter has a new op-ed piece out on CNN’s website called Why right and left won’t cheer Obama“. In it, he attempts to explain the chasm between how President Obama is perceived by those on the left, the right & middle and reality. Here’s how describes how President Obama is seen by those he describes […]

This is, by far, the sweetest eclipse photo I’ve seen of last night’s total lunar eclipse: Total lunar eclipse abovethe Washington Monument.Photo by Katherine Frey | Washington Post The eclipse last night was a rare confluence of a total lunar eclipse with the winter solstice. The last time that happened was in 1638. Be sure to mark your calendars now […]

So, this is kind of cool. GM is recycling used oil booms from the Gulf oil spill into new Chevy Volts. Plastic boom material that soaked up oil in the Gulf of Mexico has found a new use as components in General Motors Co.’s high-tech Chevrolet Volt car. Recycling the booms means producing more than 100,000 pounds of plastic resin […]

President Obama will sign the bill that repeals the odious, discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy tomorrow (Wednesday.) The White House says President Barack Obama will sign the repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay service members on Wednesday morning at a Department of Interior auditorium. With a stroke of his pen, the president will end the Pentagon’s 17-year, […]

Daily Kos diarist, RenaRF, has a fascinating diary up right now (Read ‘Em and [insert emotion here]) that brings out some of the results of a new CNN/Time poll. The results are gratifying to those of us who don’t hate the President. I won’t reprint her entire diary but here are a couple of choice bits: Overall Approval:Do you approve […]

Think Progress reported this past week that the so-called “Shutdown Caucus” expanded to seven members when Representative-elect Steve Womack (R-AR) joined their ranks. Some Republicans, like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, look back at the 1995 government shutdown debacle as a cautionary tale of the practical and political costs of shutting down the federal government. Others view it as a […]

There’s a move afoot to build a skateboard park in Ann Arbor (a2skatepark.org). If you’d like to help, you can vote in Pepsi’s “Refresh Everything contest where the A2 Skatepark is in the running for a $250,000 grant. They are currently in 20th place but that could change. With YOUR help. How? Simply text 104839 to Pepsi (73774) (standard text […]

He doesn’t appear to have any justified objections. He’s just being a dick when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he won’t vote to ratify the START Treaty. Hours earlier, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., dealt a blow to the administration’s hopes for strong bipartisan support, criticizing the treaty’s verification system and expressing concern that the pact would limit U.S. […]

This weekend was all about jammin’ in the Eclectahouse. This past summer we spent time picking Michigan blueberries, Michigan tart cherries and wild blackberries. Yesterday, we made about 100 jars of jam including a magnificent blend of cherry/blackberry. Earthy, tart and sweet, it’s one of the best blended jams we’ve ever made. Photos by Anne Savage. Please do not reproduce […]