Yeah, that sounds about right

Dan Froomkin, in a typically sunny column about BP's response, drops this little nugget about one of the ways the British petroleum giant may have made things worse.

The "top kill" attempt that shot tons of mud down the well pipe in an attempt to plug it didn't work -- and may instead have scoured the pipe clean of blockage that was keeping some of the oil down. It could also have set the stage for a catastrophic structural failure.

I have no idea if that is true or not, but it sounds pretty much par for the course. Frankly the only way BP could have made things worse was if we found out the broken pipe was a hoax and they were just deliberately pumping oil into the ocean for shits and giggles. I expect we'll find that out next week.

O'Cheap Blogging Crutch 03.17

Catholic Sisters Support Passage of Healthcare Bill
The nuns have weighed in on the health care bill and they find it acceptable. Not only that but they, as is their way, take to scolding those who make "false claims to the contrary" about the abortion provisions of the bill. Who are those who make "false claims to the contrary"? The Catholic Bishops. Don't fuck with the nuns, boys, you'll get a goddamn ruler across the knuckles.

Social Immobility: Climbing The Economic Ladder Is Harder In The U.S. Than In Most European Countries
Dan Froomkin brings to light a study from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development that show s that the capitalist hating, socialist, weak kneed, health care havers in Europe actually foster a society that is more open to generational movement along socioeconomic ladders than the United States of Freedom, despite our full of shit, blowhard claims to the contrary. If you're born poor and want a good shot to make it out of poverty and into the penthouse? Move to Scandinavia. If you're born poor and want to stay poor? Stay here, as a bonus you'll get to hear a lot of hot air about how you can become anything you want while the system conspires against you and tells you you must be lazy or deficient for not beating a rigged game.

Kucinich To Vote Yes On Health Care Reform--Here's Why
Ahh, pity the man with a conscience. Sure Kucinich isn't a fan of the bill and would prefer, ad has worked for, a better health care plan for the people of this country. But unfortunately principled objection puts you on the side of the people screaming about liquefying grandma and doesn't actually improve people's health care. It's a shame he's just not a political nihilist who doesn't care what happens to Americans and is willing to destroy the whole thing in a petty temper tantrum. Then he probably could have gotten what he wanted. You know, like Stupak, Nelson, and Lieberman did. Damn his sense of shame. At the very least he has a very, very hot wife who will console him.

C-Span Puts Full Archives on the Web
Are you like me? A ruggedly handsome, semi-inebriated blogger who sometimes just looks into the sky and scream "Why God? Why can't I find anywhere that has video of a 1990 House Amending Motion to name a Post Office after Audie Murphy?" Well we're in luck, because finally C-SPAN is putting every single shred of video they have online. Get a IV drip and hold open you eyes Clockwork Orange style, because I think we both just found out what we're going to be watching for the next couple of months.

Hawaii Birthers Bill: State May Start Ignoring Requests For Obama Citizenship
How annoying are the Obama birthers who, despite the appearance of Obama's birth certificate and assurances from several Hawaiian officials that the man is a US citizen, still believe he's a sleep agent Muslim from Kenya? Well they driven the Hawaiian legislature to consider a law ignoring all Obama birth certificate requests in the name of saving time, money, and sanity of the people who actually have to respond to these kooks. I think you can see where this is going: the Obama birthers view this move as part of the greater Obama birth conspiracy and redouble their efforts, causing Hawaii more pain. You can't win with these people, Hawaii, you can't win.

Cheap Blogging Crutch 08.12

What Happened to a Public Health Plan?
The New York Times asks several health care experts, scholars, and doctors to ponder why the public insurance option seems to be lying battered and beaten on the side of the road. No one says "because it was fucked to death by elected money grubbing cretins" so one does begin to question if this group is really the experts they say they are.

Stallworth allowed to leave home to train
The tale of Cleveland Browns drunken killer wide-out Donte Stallworth continues. It seems the piddling 30 days in prison he received for killing a man and the subsequent home confinement are too onerous a punishment, he feels. So he has filed a petition to let him out of his house arrest so that he can properly train for a NFL career he's no longer going to have. Ahh, to be a famous athlete. All my drunken killings always seem to come with harsher penalties.

Chevy Volt To Get 230 MPG City Fuel Economy Rating
How's that sound, Toyota Prius? Did America just stick it in and break it off? What, dawg, what? Do something! Now sure, this is GM, so there's probably some awful catch, like it runs on nuclear power, orphan blood, or somehow requires that you burn down a rain-forest to build one, but this is jaw dropping news. It's probably a lie, but still, who ever remembers the truth?

'Evil and Orwellian' – America's right turns its fire on NHS
I wonder how the UK is taking the constant barrage of attacks from Republicans on its National Health System. Oh, not well? It's actually affecting diplomatic relations and angering the government and civil service of England? I wonder why? Maybe it has something to do with the litany of half-truths, lies, and baseless attacks on their superior health care. Still, at least their outrage isn't backed by a staggering number of humiliating statistics on the cheapness, effectiveness, and superiority of their system.

£40m jewels stolen from London store
Gotta love the Brits. They're always good for a debonair, high-class, jewel heist. They used a chauffeur driven Bentley! In fact this jewel heist is almost twice as large as the previous heist record. I eagerly await the impending mediocre Jason Statham movie about this heist.

Our Fuzzy President Is About To Come Into Focus
Dan Froomkin has started his new gig at the Huffington Post with the same style he's been known for: witheringly effective critiques of politics from the left. In his first column he looks at Obama, his health care efforts, and the supposed openness of his government. The general theme being: we're about to find out exactly who Obama is and what kind of President he'll be.