In 2008, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) was created as a barely-noticed add-on to the 2008 Farm Bill, signed into law by George W. Bush. What sounded like a good idea — funding the use of waste biomass (sawdust, etc.) for biofuels and other uses — turned out to be not such a good idea. Complaints about the program […]

The latest viral video. Ya know, cuz all the cool kidz are will be doing it. It’s a New York blizzard in 38 seconds. I’m just sayin’…

The last couple of days, it’s been Rachel Maddow admitting she was wrong on President Obama getting DADT passed in the 111th Congressional session. Tonight it was Ed Schultz talking about the slew of bills passed in the lame duck session: “I may have been wrong on this tax thing. That’s a lot of victories” Must be something in the […]

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 […]

Fer cryin’ out loud, was that so hard? Rachel Maddow tweeted it second best: Who tweeted it best? Lt. Dan Choi of course: What’s he talking about? At Netroots Nation last year in Las Vegas, I was privileged to watch history being made when Lt. Choi gave Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid his Westpoint ring along with his discharge papers, […]

Politico is reporting today that Michigan Gov. Granholm may become part of the Obama administration. It comes as part of an overall shake-up of the White House staff that will give David Plouffe, mastermind of the 2008 Obama for America campaign, a more central role as senior advisor. He will replace David Axelrod who will move into campaign management mode. […]

In an op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday, U.S. attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and secretary of health and human services Kathleen Sebelius make a compelling case for the Constitutionality of health insurance reform law. Roughly 20 cases question the new law’s individual responsibility provision, which says that Americans who can afford to must maintain basic health coverage. Federal […]

Via Think Progress: Earlier this year, Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, an 17-year Army veteran, refused to report for duty at Fort Campbell, KY because he said his orders emanated from an illegal President who is not a natural born U.S. citizen. As such, Lakin said he had “no choice” but to disobey the orders and that he would “gladly deploy” […]

Terry Jones is the bigoted anti-Muslim troglodyte that wanted to burn the Quran to demonstrate his utter fail as a Christian. He wants to take his hatred and shame to the United Kingdom. They’re thinking about banning Terry Jones from coming to England: Britain’s interior minister said Sunday she will consider barring from the country a Florida pastor who threatened […]

On my way to work I pass by a town called Hell, Michigan. This morning it was frosty, frozen and snow-covered. Now I know why. Charles Krauthammer points out what so many on both sides of the political divide seem to have missed: the tax cut/unemployment extension deal negotiated by the Obama administration achieves more progressive goals than it does […]