The State Department yesterday announced that the United States will not be renewing Blackwater’s private security contract. According to CBS:

Blackwater executives say the company could leave Iraq within 72 hours of being told to do so, but caution that such a move would cause more harm to the diplomats it protects than the company itself.

Nice of them to be so threatening. Do you think they’ll secretly communicate to local criminals the new vulnerabilities and vital security information surrounding those diplomats just to artificially make their point?

Interesting choice for the RNC Chair, don’t you agree? This man ran for the Senate in Maryland as a Republican in 2006 by printing the above sign. The campaign’s official statement was that they were trying to represent the Democrats who would vote for Steele, but I think it’s pretty obvious that he was trying to confuse folks who didn’t follow politics.

The leader of the Republican Party pretends to be a Democrat when campaigning because that’s more likely to net him votes. And I’m supposed to be made to believe this is a center-right country?!?!

You guys are screwed. By the way, Michael Steele likes puppies and is not a complete hack:

That’s our rule for restaurant meals. And I think it holds up. Wendy’s? Delicious. Applebees? Not so much.

Fast food can be satisfying and fulfilling if you’re basing your meal experience solely on taste. It’s flavorful, savory, and the menu is loaded with just enough options (although Wendy’s does push it to “Paradox of Choice” levels at times). You’re also not falsely hyped up about being adequately serviced by some bitter, underemployed twenty-something–just give me my cardboard boxes and get my order right! Low expectations equals high satisfaction.

Casual dining, on the other hand, is often bland, poorly presented and comes with the added misguided expectation of quality service (though it’s basically fast food with plates and waiters). Since the food is cheap, the service typically sucks and the cooks are not all that interested in their jobs; moreover, the management is so quickly turned over that there are no institutional checks on quality.

Go to any Applebees, Chillis, IHOP, TGI Fridays, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Chevy’s, Hops, Bob Evans, Denny’s, Shoney’s, CPK, Famous Dave’s, O’Charley’s, or Ruby Tuesday (basically any place that hands you a pager when you give them your name). Done? Okay, so were you moved by the experience? Or did you complain about not getting appetizer plates, silverware, a table within 25 minutes, drink refills, your substitutions, your meat cooked properly, etc?

I am of the mind that the only restaurants that provide the full-service experience and the quality food to back it up are going to charge you at least $12.95 for a mid-size dinner, which by the way does not consist of a 2200 calorie bloomin’ onion. Sure, we’re in the middle of The Great Recession, but that just means the only comforts we can really afford are edible by nature.

Set a weekly date night and go out to eat someplace nicer than any of the restaurants listed above. Have an appetizer (it’s a good opportunity to try new foods), get some salad and see if you like a different dressing than good ol’ reliable ranch, drink water instead of soda to save room for the food, maybe order the cheapest glass of wine on the menu, try out a dish you’ve never had, and appreciate having an attentive waiter and an actual chef concern themselves with how much you are enjoying the recreational experience of dining in their establishment. These folks are like amusement park managers and they want desperately for you to keep coming back for the ride.

The bonus of fine dining versus an actual amusement park? No kids menus!

244 Democrats voted for it. 11 Democrats did not. None of the Republicans in the House voted for it either. But now HR 1 moves to the Senate. The math is still in Obama’s favor in the Senate, but the Senate version of the bill is likely to be different enough to give the House one more shot at bipartisan approval next month when they reconcile the two bills.

Politics aside, this thing isn’t exactly what I want from government, Mr. Obama–maybe you know what you’re doing with all these political chess pieces though. Maybe the final product will be what you’d hoped for all along.

Per MSNBC:

Included is money for traditional job-creating programs such as highway construction and mass transit projects. But the measure tickets far more for unemployment benefits, health care and food stamp increases designed to aid victims of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Out of the $819 billion in the package as it stands, divided between spending and tax cuts, there is only about $90 billion in spending on “works progress” style job creation. The rest of the spending portion of the $819 billion, some $454 billion dollars worth, falls to entitlements and programs that don’t create jobs (yet). A remaining $275 billion of the package comes in the form of tax cuts. As the “Republi-Crat” that I am, this is a little disappointing. I hope the Senate version will be a little more bipartisan and focused on actually solving problems instead of applying the band-aid of prolonging available unemployment benefits.

The stimulus bill as it stands isn’t going to fix the problem of an artificially-inflated economy finally shrinking to its actual size, so all Congress and the President should be trying to do this early is make it easier for the innocent to adjust to the new reality wrought upon them by the guilty, filthy rich.

In other words: “gimme my money back or fry the bastards who lied about me having it in the first place.”

Apparently we now have a reaffirmation of what I’ve known all along: discrimination against straight people who merely *seem* to be gay is real. From the LA Times:

After a Lutheran school expelled two 16-year-old girls for having “a bond of intimacy” that was “characteristic of a lesbian relationship,” the girls sued, contending the school had violated a state anti-discrimination law.

In response to that suit, an appeals court decided this week that the private religious school was not a business and therefore did not have to comply with a state law that prohibits businesses from discriminating. A lawyer for the girls said Tuesday that he would ask the California Supreme Court to overturn the unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal.

The appeals court called its decision “narrow,” but lawyers on both sides of the case said it would protect private religious schools across California from such discrimination suits.

Kirk D. Hanson, who represented the girls, said the “very troubling” ruling would permit private schools to discriminate against anyone, as long as the schools used their religious beliefs as justification.

Staggering, isn’t it? The girls were discriminated against for being “characteristic” of lesbians. Apparently private religious schools, despite charging tuition to students who may not practice the same views, are not considered “businesses” by the courts in California.

It’s concerning that school officials anywhere would get involved in the personal relations between students like this. Yet across the country, the situation is still grim for GLBT Americans. For instance, as long as there is no federal protection against employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, even those who appear gay can be legally terminated from their jobs in 30 states. What does orientation have to do with the quality of a person’s work!?!?!

Congress, pass ENDA now! President Obama has already promised to sign it!

…because this cover of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” is dead-on and heartwrenchingly good. Wayne, where were you hiding all this talent and why are you taking every gig your agent gets you!?!?!

A hearing on DC voting rights kicks off at 10 a.m. today in 2141 Rayburn and will include testimony from Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), (non-voting) D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C. National Guard Iraq war veteran Yolanda Lee and former Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh.

The last time this came up was in 2007, when the measure passed the House but died in the Senate. This time we have a strong Democratic majority in both houses and a supposedly sympathetic White House. Is DC about to throw away all of its “Taxation Without Representation” license plates?

Totally unlike the rest. Crazy good hook going on there, too. And who doesn’t love when the whole band sings in harmony?!?

Apparently they’re running negative campaign ads disguised as “news” down in Florida. Read the full article here, but I thought I’d post some of the highlights:

Earl Rynerson is an openly gay businessman with a history of curious legal problems and an apparent penchant for bondage pornography. And he thinks he’s just the man to be your mayor.

That’s the opening paragraph! Suggestion, innuendo and the irresponsible use of the word “apparent” in what is supposed to be a news story. And then the “oh my God, not MY mayor” fear-grab to finish it off!

His legal wrangles, according to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, include a kitchen remodeling he didn’t like, a $1,350 fence he had built around his yard but didn’t want to pay for, a $6,000 trip to Africa he said wasn’t up to snuff, work on his car that didn’t meet his standards and other disputes. Rynerson, who owns a tile and stone store in the city, said he was often left unhappy but never gave up without a fight. “I am a person that if I don’t receive services, then I make an issue out of it,” he told the Sun-Sentinel. “I’m making my stand and I’ll continue to press the issue.”

The rest of the article suggests he leaves bills unpaid and is therefore fiscally irresponsible, but it sounds to me like he could just as easily be painted as a hard-ass who wants to get his money’s worth so he keeps suing everyone, something I’d admire in a government official once in a while. Nobody likes a rubber stamp.

Here’s the gem though:

Drawing more eyes is his apparent predilection for porn and his membership in an anonymous sex site. While not illegal, they are possible dark spots on the resume of man who is running a campaign to “polish up the city” of Fort Lauderdale.

So they acknowledge that paying for online porn and joining seedy website communities is “not illegal” but then still refer to them as “dark spots” and then don’t let us know the source of the “polish up the city” quote. And to whom are these considered “dark spots?” They seem like private choices to me that affect nobody but Mr. Rynerson.

Rynerson’s credit card bill included at least 3 monthly payments to “Access 4M4M site,” the billing name of a “men for men” sex site based in New York. “The m4m4sex website is for men looking to meet other men for sex,” the Web site declares in plain English.

Another charge on his card provides a phone number for the International Masters Association, which “unites the Leather community online and [brings] Masters and slaves together,” providing services for people “interested in Leather, Gear, Bondage, Rubber, Watersports and other fetishes.”

Jeez, what an intrusion! Did he use public funds? Did he break the law? Was his credit card bill stolen by a journalist? It seems to me the only “crime” being committed here is having the courage at age 56 to be sexually self-empowered (regardless of whether others might find your behavior odd).

Oh, and have you shredded YOUR credit card bills lately?!?! Get on top of it if you plan to run for office someday…

The only thing sleazy about this story is that it got published!!!

…from a public policy standpoint, doesn’t it make democratic sense to reconfirm carry-over appointments from prior administrations? As far as I know, Robert Gates is automatically still Defense Secretary. I’m curious what legal scholars think of this?

And I’m bawling a teeny bit at the scenes just before the end. This film was very well done. When her dad says, “Someday you’ll be back here kiddo…on your terms,” it just gets you right HERE.

*points to heart and sobs a little*

The first weekly presidential address is below. President Obama (!) outlines his plans for the economy and references the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will be introduced as H.R. 1 on Monday. He also discusses the unprecedented efforts at public disclosure underway via Recovery.gov, also an integral part of the legislation hitting committees on Monday.

H.R. 1 seems to touch on every major element of contemporary American life and will offer sweeping changes. I’m pretty sure the legislation doesn’t detail how it will be paid for, and thus, we should expect massive deficits to continue. View a list of provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by clicking here.