PA GOP, Furries, and Sexual Predators

Pennsylvania GOP Senate Whip Jane Orie recently fired one of her top aides for being a furry, or maybe just for being a sexual predator. Apparently the guy, a member of that scurge of the internets - Furries, was trying to make arrangements with a 15 year-old for some "yiffing." What is yiffing? you might ask. With any luck, this video will help you.

Coup in New York Senate

At 3pm yesterday, the New York Senate Republican caucus and two Democrats staged a coup in an effort to change the chamber's leadership. This comes amid controversial pending legislation, including a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage and another involving tax increases that would balance the state's budget. The Democratic leadership asserts that the vote was illegal as the Senate had already ajourned and intends to fight the coup in court.

Why the black box should die

The black box was developed in the 1960s. With iPods now possessing thousands of times of the computing power of the Apollo lunar lander, Clive Irving asks why we don't let the black box die and move on to a newer, safer future with digital compression and realtime transmission of airplane data.

Commission: poor oversight for war contracts

An independent commission has concluded that oversight for wartime contracts has been abysmal. There is no central database for keeping track of contracts - who they've been awarded to, for how much, and what they're doing. The new Wartime Contracting Commission reported to Congress that, since 2001, there has been "poor management, weak oversight, and a failure to learn from past mistakes as recurring themes in wartime contracting."

Of great concern is the poor quality resulting from some of these contracts - brand new buildings that went way over budget with cracks in the foundation and generally shoddy workmanship. KBR alone billed the US $100 million for private security in spite of the fact that the contract specifically prohibited for-hire guards.

This article is just a small part of a laundry list of wasted taxpayer money and abuses.

The end is near for Minnesota senate race

The Minnesota senate race has been dragging out for months as appeal after appeal is filed. The Supreme Court of Minnesota is now reviewing the case and legal experts more or less agree: it's not looking good for Republican incumbent Norm Coleman.

XKCD: Period

"413 nanohertz, by the way."

Domestic terrorist warns of further attacks

Domestic terrorist Scott Roeder, alleged assassin of abortion doctor George Tiller, called the AP from prison and warned that more violence was planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal. Sounds like an imminent threat against the lives of Americans - so does this mean we get to waterboard him to find out? He's probably just crazy, but his computer indicates he was in daily communication with anti-abortion groups, providing him with Tiller's movements, and better safe than sorry...