Net Republican pickup in the House is now 62, with 4 races still undecided.

Ortiz asked for the recount, which cost him $23,500, after the original unofficial count showed him down by 799 votes. Five of the district's six counties had finished by Friday, but Cameron County — which was also dealing with a recount in a county judge’s race — was still finishing recounting absentee and early ballots Monday evening. Officials there expected to certify the vote count Monday night.

So that's three Republican challengers knocking off Dem incumbents in Texas, Flores (TX17), Canseco (TX23), and now Blake Farenthold (TX27).

Too bad we didn't kick Lloyd Doggett in the nuts too.

Bring on redistricting, and also the 3 (maybe 4) new House seats.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:42 AM | Comments (27)
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North Korea fired on Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, west of the peninsula. South Korea returned fire.

Video of fires and exploding artillery:

Two injured and several houses burned down:

South Korea's YTN television said two people were injured, several houses were on fire and that shells were still falling on Yeonpyeong island. Yonhap news agency, quoting a military official, said four soldiers were wounded. The reports couldn't be immediately verified.

YTN said between 1,200 and 1,300 people live in the island, citing an island resident. TV pictures showed black and white smoke rising from the island.

A South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff official said dozens of rounds of artillery landed on the island and in the sea. The official says South Korea fired back. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of JCS rules, said South Korea's military is on alert. He had no other details.

According to the Breaking News Twitter feed, South Korea is on its highest non-wartime alert and has scrambled F-16 jets.

UPDATE: Reuters: The shelling continues. Approximately 60-70 houses are on fire.

UPDATE: Reuters: Fourteen South Korean soldiers hurt, four seriously.

UPDATE: Steve Herman, VOA: One military fatality. Russia warns against escalation. Obama? (Link via Andy Levy's Twitter feed.)

UPDATE: South Korea to consider pushing the U.N. for condemnation. As Andy Levy says, that'll larn 'em good. (Link via Andy and Steve Herman.)

UPDATE: More pictures at the Yonhap News Agency.

UPDATE: Steve Herman, VOA: Two South Korean Marines killed. South Korea warns of "stern retaliation" if North Korea fires any more artillery.

UPDATE: Breaking News Twitter feed: "U.S. 'strongly condemns' attack on South Korea; calls on North 'to halt its belligerent action' - White House statement"

UPDATE: BBC News: "South Korea says it conducted test firing before the exchange at the island - but says it fired west not north, Reuters reports."

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:43 PM | Comments (306)
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I heard this over the weekend but there wasn't a transcript or audio up:

For the past 25 years or so, the amount of money the government has raised through those taxes has been greater than what it's been spending to fund Social Security.

...

The government has invested all that money in Treasury bonds, which are traditionally considered among the safest investments in the world.

But a Treasury bond, remember, is the way the government borrows money. So the government is lending the Social Security surplus to itself. And the obligation to repay those loans is the trust funds.

"They are nothing like any trust fund that any one of us would think of," says Maya MacGuineas of the New America Foundation. "It conjures up an image of really holding savings, and it doesn't do that at all."

Of course the GOP has been saying this since Bob Dole ran for President and everyone acted like it was a big lie, now that a Dem President may be endorsing major changes to Social Security suddenly it's the truth.

crossposted at doubleplusundead.com more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:23 PM | Comments (63)
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Hate when that happens!

Apologies in advance for posting seven minutes of mind-numbing Sunday talk show cacophony. There's really no excuse for this.

The relevant nonsense kicks in around the 3:30 mark if you'd rather skip ahead.

You see, Sarah Palin has been very naughty. She didn't complete the homework assignment George Will gave her two years ago. All she had to do was go back to Alaska to "study" (study what? Shaved-ice menus? Her golf swing? Brackets?), finish out her term as Governor, and avoid "distinctly non-presidential venues" like the Dancing With the Stars studio.

Can she at least throw her hat in the ring first, George? I'm sure at that point she'll have plenty of appearances scheduled for more serious Presidential venues like The View, The Daily Show, or the radio show Ryan Seacrest is rumored to have.

Via Breitbart. Cross-posted.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:44 PM | Comments (109)
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Greeting and salutations Moron Nation! CDR M, reporting for duty. With AceCorp on vacation, the call went out for morons to man their battlestations and pitch in to operate the blog and I other morons answered the call. I didn't do this out of the kindness of my heart but under the promise that Ace was going to give me a Unicorn that can poop out Skittles. Somehow, I sense this will be a regift as I'm sure Ace will just send me the one the President has promised to send him which means, I'll never get compensated for my time. But I digress. On with the shenanigans! Oh, and be gentle, it's my first time (well kinda, if you don't count the NFL threads!).

Political Cartoon of the Day

more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:06 PM | Comments (709)
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I thought I felt a tremor in the force with the Dance With The Stars Post and the Dark Side calls me to counter this imbalance with a first ever, MNF Football Thread. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 04:12 PM | Comments (137)
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Dancing With the Stars is on tonight at 8:00 EST on ABC. I've never see the show and certainly don't plan on watching tonight, however I do plan on sending in a text message vote for Bristol Palin.

As I've made clear in the comments, I am not a huge Palinista, but the death threats , DWTS insider who said that the show's integrity would be harmed if she won, the ex-elected official in Vermont who shot his tv leading to a subsequent stand off, the fake anthrax letter sent to the DWTS studio addressed to Bristol Palin, and now the death threats directed at her partner as well having resulted in increased security tonight, have changed my views on sitting idly by.

I plan on voting tonight. I'm not advocating you do it but...do it. It'll be worth it if for no other reason than to twist the knife that was plunged into the Liberal psyche on November 2.

Think of it this way. How many of your favorite shows were ruined when the writers decided to inject their liberal politics into the story line? Isn't it time we got a little revenge?

I'm not sure how the voting works. I assume it is at the end of every episode. Maybe someone in the comments can crack an egg of knowledge on my head. I'd be happy to put the details up.

Standard commenting rates apply. So may sure you get your parents permission before commenting.

Update: Darin H in the comments says the number is 1(800)868-3407 and Y-Not directed me to the voting rules page at ABC. Y-Not also mentioned that texting votes might only work for AT&T customers and to vote online you have to register. Voting begins at 8pm EST, 5pm PST. You can vote as much as you'd like.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 03:41 PM | Comments (208)
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Wow, trying to accurately assay the Political Dolt of The Week was difficult. Even though the weekly “dolt” is rarely awarded outside of the Obama carnival, it still is a difficult contest to judge with such a vast number of democrats crowding the field.

AOSHQ is not in this to disappoint and we are always up for the heavy lifting . . . it’s in our cognition and gilded edged intellect, and on top if it all, we don’t “Bogart” our analysis. For we are givers. In fact here, take a hit. It’s OK, really . . . we’re writing this at the moment in Los Angeles, at our super secret Sunset Strip location . . . It’s all good.

And now on to the Dolt of the Week. Even though it's only Monday, the Dolts, so far, have been aplenty and after a quick virtual meeting, we decided to immediately announce the winner.

It was a toss-up between Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The two are clearly in over their heads and just donÂ’t realize it, yet - a veritable theme of Team Obama. If ignorance is bliss, Team Obama must have some very happy campers in its ranks.

OK, I’m getting thirsty and my Gin and Tonic is up . . . so if I told you the dolt of the week was none other than the insufferable ‘Big Sis’ Janet Napolitano, would you be surprised? Did the TSA frisks kinda give it away?

So letÂ’s all give Big Sis a big hand as our weekly Dolt winner. Assume the position folks, and thanks for flying along with us.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 03:04 PM | Comments (69)
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I'm old enough to remember when "Tommy" by the Who came out -- and, in fact, I still have my original vinyl copy. An OK "rock opera", its basic premise is that Tommy, molested and abused as a young child, develops psychosomatic deafness/dumbness/blindness. He achieves a form of enlightenment (a lightbringer!) and becomes not just a 'pinball wizard' but a messianic figure. He seeks to impose his enlightenment on others through a highly-controlling regimen -- and in the end, his followers revolt.

And that close-to-final song, "We're Not Going To Take It" (which starts at about 2:30 into this clip from the wonderfully awful movie version, but it's worth watching the lead-in) keeps running through my mind as I watch the outrage over the government's ever-increasing intrusions increase:

Fix bayonets, indeed.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 01:15 PM | Comments (178)
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Unfortunately(or is it fortunately?) I'm not a lawyer, but Gabe passed this gem along. I won't try to offer much, if any, analysis. I'll leave that to the JD's in the comments.

It appears as though the Obama administration, particularly the DOJ, is openly admiting that they are sabatoging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Don't Ask Don't Tell cases by offering a, shall we say, less than stellar defense to law suits.

AAG West is quoted:

"I think that the best example -- let me give you one -- in the Defense of Marriage Act -- you'll notice that we have not only discharged our responsibility to defend the constitutionality of a congressional statute, but we've done so in a way which reflects the policy values of this administration," West said.

"We disavowed some arguments that we believed had no basis in fact, and in fact we presented the court through our briefs with information which seemed to undermine some of the previous rationales that have been used defense of that statute," West added.

"We believe that's being an honest broker with the court, and that's the way we'll continue to discharge our responsibility," West said.

I think the take away is that the Obama DOJ is intentionally sabatoging the defense of these laws, because they cannot overturn them through the legislature.

Again, I'm not a lawyer, but I was under the impression that the DOJ is required to defend laws passed by the Congress to the best of their ability regardless of their personal political beliefs.

H/T Gabe. Please read the entire article at Talking Points Memo.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 11:47 AM | Comments (119)
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