^{Strom Thurmond                     AP Photo}

Strom Thurmond, at the time a Democrat, filibustered for over 24 hours in 1957, stalling civil rights legislation. The Republicans threatened to en

Over 5 million Toyotas have been recalled due to potential gas pedal or related floor mat issues. Many Toyota owners are wondering about their own accelerators. Given the rarity of accidents caused by pedal sticking, the chances of your Toyota’s accelerator malfunctioning are slim. If

^{A Simple Steel Spring}

28 January 2010 -- Toyota announced they are extending their gas pedal recall to over 3 million cars and trucks and halted the production of 8 affected vehicle production lines. They said it had something to do with a flawed part supplied by CTS Corp of

So, the Democrats have lost their super-majority in the U.S. Senate because Coakley’s campaign croaked, bigtime. The moaning I’ve heard about this is kind of silly; as if the super-majority was solid in the first place, considering Joe Lieberman, among other Hardly-Democrats. The

I read today that Defne Bayrak, the Turkish wife of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, the Jordanian doctor identified as the attacker who killed 8 CIA agents in Afghanistan said, "I am proud of my husband. My husband accomplished a very big operation in such a war. If he is a

^{Backyard Campfire by Ellie}

I barbecue year-round, relying on the oven in bad weather, so this recipe gets a lot of use. To be perfectly honest, my secret BBQ sauce is famous only within our extended family and among my colleagues. Every holiday season, somebody tells me I

WASHINGTON — President Obama and his wife, Michelle, had a face-to-face encounter with the Sith Lord who sneaked into a state dinner at the White House this week, White House officials acknowledged on Friday. The revelation underscored the seriousness of the security bre

^{Smoke and Laser Mic Prototype}

I'm an engineer. Aside from being somewhat socially inept, that means I like to build stuff, especially things that nobody has seen before. This time around, my new toy is a microphone; a really strange one.  For starters, it's missing the one part

 Go ahead, argue with my rankings here. No matter how you stack the chips, the guy comes up a dipshit.

10. Schmuck sounds better than dick. 

9. Favors more tax breaks for the wealthy. 

8. Wants economic stimulus money in the pipeline diverted to

I read the New York Times in print occasionally, but most of the time on its website. Unfortunately, unless the NYT changes its business model the end is near. Many factors have combined to put the Times into a death spiral: increased costs of printing, distribution and staff, loss

^{Martha's Vineyard Ferry}

Did Robert McNamara live twenty-five years longer than he should have because I hesitated? Sometime in the summer of 1984, I was on the Martha’s Vineyard ferry from Woods Hole, Massachusetts to Vineyard Haven for the weekend. It was a cool, foggy morning with a

^{Head to Head}

Many pundits, bloggers, and even Alaskans are puzzled by Sarah Palin's decision to quit as governor eighteen month short of finishing her first term. Her attorney has warned everybody (not me, I only write parodies though sometimes people have a hard time figuring that out)

 ^{Mike Schwartz, 1913 - 2003}

My father and I were never very close. That’s why I was surprised to learn recently, six years after his death, that Dad prevented Mom from turning my teacher over to the authorities for statutory rape. Dad was a quiet, ex-communist