TED TV Launches TED-Ed

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TED TV is a must in the pandora household. They offer the most amazing videos on a wide array of subjects designed to make you think. Now they are launching TED-Ed. They are calling on teachers to submit their best lessons, and they're calling on animators to animate these lessons.

Monday Open Thread [3.12.12]

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An ABC News/Washington Post poll indicates that 60 percent of Americans say the war in Afghanistan is not worth its costs, and Republicans are evenly divided on whether the war has been worth it. Indeed 54% say the United States should withdraw its forces from Afghanistan without completing its current effort to train Afghan forces to become self-sufficient. With the recent and disgusting murders by an American soldier, we need to hightail it out of there. And soon.

Tom Carper (D-Delaware of the 1980’s)

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One frequently heard refrain around the liberal blogosphere is “[fill in the blank with name of Democratic congressperson who voted the wrong way on the important legislation of the day] is a bad Democrat; let’s primary him!”
Well, how do you know who really is a good or bad Democrat? David Jarman at Daily Kos took the time to quantify who is a good or bad based upon a combination of the Partisan Voting Index and some congressional ranking services (in this case, Progressive Punch, the National Journal, and DW/Nominate, that determine who is the most liberal or conservative members of Congress based on their votes. Guess where Senator Tom Carper ranked?

Delaware Liberal Tracking Poll Results — Speaker Gilligan

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Delaware enjoys its Democratic House of Representatives, and its Speaker. Bob Gilligan garners a surprisingly high 79% approval rating, making him the most popular politician in the state. This is surprising only because you would think not many people would know who he is, but then again, I am polling the readership of Delaware Liberal, a politically aware subset of the population. I fully expect Speaker Gilligan to brag about these numbers during the upcoming budget negotiations with Governor Markell.

Women Are Not Single Issue Voters And Contraception Is Not A Single Issue

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Lately I've heard politicians of all stripes state that women are not single issue voters. This statement appears when the subject of contraception emerges and the two parties use the line for different reasons. The point is... access to affordable contraception encompasses more than a single issue. Rush Limbaugh and the Republicans act like contraception is something that only pertains to a woman looking for a good time on a Friday night - as a way to cut loose without suffering the "consequences." For 99% of women who use, or have used, contraception, the decision to prevent pregnancy is based on economics. Can we afford to have a child at this time? Are we at a point in our lives where having a child would be a responsible financial decision? Do we even want to have children? (That last question has Republicans taking to their fainting couches.) If we were talking about buying a new car and whether we could afford it, or if spending our money on that was responsible when we were struggling to pay other bills, we would be applauded for demonstrating good fiscal sense. In fact, Republicans normally love to wag their fingers at people buying big screen televisions they can't afford. Pointing out how people are irresponsible with their finances is one of the GOP's favorite pass times. So why don't they admit that household economies are directly tied to family planning?

Game Change Live Blog

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I sense a number of us will be watching tonight. So here is a thread to discuss it. John Cole over at Balloon Juice has some thoughts on watching tonight. He is not sure he is going to. I am going to watch, but I feel the same way he does about Sarah Palin.

Saturday Open Thread [3.10.12]

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Remember, Daylight Saving Time begins tonight. So we "spring" forward, and lose an hour of sleep. Bastards. You know who else are bastards, Republicans. Why? Let Andrew Samwick explain the Republican spin on yesterday's good economic news:
[President Obama] is making inadequate progress getting us out of the hole we dug for you despite our opposition to every program you propose.

The House Limbaugh Built And May Have Burned Down

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Premiere Networks, which distributes Limbaugh as well as a host of other right-wing talkers, sent an email out to its affiliates early Friday listing 98 large corporations that have requested their ads appear only on “programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity).”