Imogen Heap - Ellipse - streaming now available

I really think that she is one of the most innovative artists making music today.

A new study is out that Mozart died of strep throat. I can't help but feel that if Mozart were alive today this is the kind of music he would be experimenting with, developing as many sounds as he could and trying to make complex arrangements.

Anyway, here's Ellipse. Sounds pretty good so far. Enjoy.

Mass goes to Little League World Series with Walk-Off Grand Slam

Something a little more wholesome after that previous post.

The team from Peabody, MA came back from losing 6 to 2 to Rhode Island in the 4th only to tie it up at 7 in the bottom of the 6th (Little League only goes 6 innings) and ended with this...

I found a little asian version of me!

OK, maybe I wasn't as bad as this kid, but still...

Note: This clip crosses the line a lot and is not appropriate for children or anyone in my family with the exception of my sister. Please don't play this clip if you're not prepared to cross the line with me.

Husband and wife duo James Carville and Mary Matalin square off on health care

Back from vacation. I'm tired but looking forward to the next couple of months.

I think Carville is right here, both politically and policywise. Aside from policy matters, there is no use wasting all of this political capital on something that you don't want in the first place. Also, not having a full vote on this allows scared blue dog Dems to not vote for the thing even if they really support it.



For the record, I don't necessarily support a public option as proposed. I think the government should offer a basic plan that everyone should be required to have or the insurance companies through regulation must be required to offer a basic plan and then people can purchase supplemental insurance on top of it.

I also don't think it's fair to just tax the wealthy. My dad feels that the government should increase payroll tax for all income brackets by 1%. Everyone should contribute funds to something that I believe everyone should have access to.

What we really need to focus on is funding end-of-life care and those who have really complex terminal illness. We can afford regular checkups and the random stitches and illnesses that the large majority of people go through.

Guess who conservatives like being interviewed by the most?

In somewhat of a shocker, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart.

"He always gives you a chance to answer, which some people don't do," says John Bolton, President Bush's ambassador to the United Nations and a Fox News contributor, who went on the show last month. "He's got his perspective, but he's been fair."

Wax Fonzie and Tom Cruise go for a ride

This is hilarious.

Is Cash-for-Clunkers as environmentally friendly as we think?

Perhaps not as much as we thought. The Green Lantern of Slate explains.

Like Obama, McCain has some secrets

(Secrets)

Right wingers cause a ruckus in town halls

Lately many "constituents" have shown up to town halls to shout away healthcare insurance reform.

Here's a clip below.



Remind you of anything?

Bill Clinton is the Man

Looks like Bubba got the job done. He was able to secure "special pardons" for Current TV journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. Reports suggest that the two could be on a plane home to the U.S. tonight (perhaps even with the former President).

Obama could have gone with Richardson, but something tells me his Secretary of State convinced him that another Bill would be good for the job.

Although of course, officially, the White House has no comment regarding this "private citizen's" trip to North Korea.

But you've got to hand it to the man, two American citizens have gone from a possible 12-year sentence in a labor camp to being on a plane back to the U.S. because of William Jefferson Clinton. Republicans should seriously think about getting a congressional resolution going to forgive the man his oral in the oval.

New David Gray album coming soon

The album is called Draw the Line, comes out September 22nd and I can't wait. Here's a taste of the song "Fugitive" behind the scenes in the studio.

What to do about Cash-for-Clunkers program

So apparently the $1 billion program in the stimulus has run out of funds in a few weeks. The program provides up to $4,500 for qualifiying car purchases from trading in cars that are less than 25 years old with low mileage standards to new cars with higher mileage standards.

The House recently approved a new appropriation for $2 billion to be allocated for the program. I do not know if that is new money or just a bigger slice of the stimulus. Also, rumor has it that Senate Republicans and Blue Dogs are looking to kill the new House appropriation of funds.

Overall, I think this is an idea that is working. The fact that it ran out of money in a few weeks shows that it's working. And I think this shows where government can be effective if it's targeted well. The consumer gets $4,500 towards a new car which will save them money in the long run. The government gets old gas-guzzlers off the road and newer more environmentally friendly ones on, and to top it all off, the car companies and local dealerships get an increase in business, which hopefully sustains employment, or perhaps even increases it.

I can buy that perhaps the $4,500 per family may be a bit too much. The housing credit is $8,000 and that's for buying a house! So maybe in the Senate version they can approve the appropriation but perhaps lower the credit to $3,000, thus allowing more families access to this program. But I think killing it would be a bad idea.

Let me know what you think. I've posted a poll.