Oy:
The blowout of BP's Macondo well has given the corn-ethanol industry yet another opportunity to push its fuel adulterant on the American consumer. And unfortunately, the Obama administration appears ready and willing to foist yet more of the corrosive, environmentally destructive, low-heat-energy fuel on motorists.
Men march during the Gay Pride parade in Tel Aviv on June 11, 2010, as thousands turned out for the city's gay festival. By Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images. And, no, this isn't replicated in Gaza.
Reihan stands at the crossroads of politics, religion, and race:
One wonders where this leaves the unassimilable or unmeltable ethnics, who choose not to intermarry or to convert to Christianity or some other "mainstream" faith. At present, there are 13 self-identified Jewish members in the U.S. Senate, and two more members with one Jewish parent. In an earlier era, this would have been all but unimaginable. Now we consider it entirely unremarkable, not least because the Jewish community has been part of the fabric of American life for centuries. Can we imagine similar representation of Buddhists or Hindus or Muslims? The obvious answer is no, at least not in our lifetimes. And that's entirely understandable. In any democratic polity, the voting public wants to identify with its leaders. But let's keep the fact that some of our citizens are too exotic for leadership roles in mind before we congratulate ourselves on our tolerance and our embrace of diversity.
What exactly is his problem?
A reader writes:
I work at a semi conductor company in the Dallas suburbs. We ate shit in 2008 after eating shit in painful restructuring of our own doing in 2007. We went from 21 people to 13, with the survivors taking a 50% pay cut for half of '08. The average age of our company has to be close to 60, so a lot of seniors looked at their 401(k)s wondering if there was another paycheck coming or how long they could hold their breath. As the controller I got a front row ticket in the raft going over the waterfall.
The last eight months, however, have been the best in the company's 30-year history. Sales are up 70%. Our pay is back to normal and we hired our fourth new employee on Monday. I attribute our success to pent-up customer budgets and being one of the few surviving competitors in our market.
Another writes:
I dropped a suit off at the dry cleaners on Monday, and noticed this sign – a small but neat gesture from a dry cleaning outfit in Portland, OR
Reuters's lede says it all:
Iceland, the only country in the world to have an openly gay head of state, passed a law on Friday allowing same-sex partners to get married in a vote which met with no political resistance.
There wasn't a single vote against.
Matt Eckel explains.
"It is composed of approx 2000 images watercolor painted one after another (we say Aquarelle in french, way more sexy)."
Breakbot – Baby I'm Yours (feat. Irfane) – HD from Ed Banger Records on Vimeo.
Or is this a poseur alert from BP's PR operation? I mean, seriously:
Watching the captains weave the long black boom as seamlessly as a professional ballet troupe performs an intricate dance, I found it difficult to believe that the rehearsals only started some weeks ago.
From the relative comfort of a large square deck with a cold bottle of water always in hand, and an air-conditioned TV room with comfy sofas a level below, I witnessed beauty preparing to face the beast. Miss Jasmine, the most experienced local shrimping vessel, beautifully painted with a colourful dragon streaming along her sides, pulled the folded boom in place. Then gently pulling along her side, another vessel took on a rope from Miss Jasmine. With barely a pause, the two boats moved apart at the same speed, spreading the boom into a v-shape just like birds form in the sky.
As this unfolded, a Navy skimmer craft attached itself to the point. Gently caressing the sea surface, the three vessels circled and swirled, guiding the boom without changing the design.
A ballet at sea as mesmerising as any performance in a concert hall, and worthy of an audience in its own right.
The Dish 