Five trains stopped running tunnel in the past two days stranding passengers for as long as 16 hours

Eurostar rail services were suspended for a second day on Sunday as the company investigated why six trains carrying more than 2,500 passengers broke down, five of them in an undersea tunnel linking Britain and France...

...technical faults caused by snow and sub-zero temperatures, Eurostar said.

U.N.P.R.E.C.E.D.E.N.T.E.D.

I give the system designers a B+.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 09:22 PM | Comments (101)
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Scheduled to take place at 1am Eastern, which is seven minutes from now.

Yes, America, this is how laws get made now: written in secret, voted on in the dark of night.

Tonight will be the first of three procedural votes the Democrats need to pass in order to destroy America's healthcare system.

Assuming they get 60 votes for cloture on the Manager's Amendment, the Democrats must wait 30 hours for the next vote (roughly until 7am Tuesday) , which will be an up-or-down vote on the Manager's Amendment. 50 votes required.

Immediately following the vote on the Manager's Amendment there's going to be a cloture vote on the Reid Substitute. It also requires 60 votes. Then Democrats must wait 30 more hours for an up-or-down vote on the Reid Substitute (until roughly 1pm Wednesday) . Only 50 votes required.

Immediately after the vote on the Reid Substitute, there will be a cloture vote on the final bill, ReidCare. 60 votes required. Then Democrats must wait 30 more hours for the final up-or-down vote on ReidCare. That requires only 50 votes and it should take place, if everything goes according to schedule, on Thursday, Christmas Eve around 7pm.

Merry Fucking Christmas.

1:08am So Reid's just yammering on. Can we tweak him for already being off schedule?

1:10am Voting now. Am I a bad person for hoping for a freak earthquake?

1:17am It's done. No surprises. The vote was 60-40 on strict party lines. The clock is now ticking.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:54 PM | Comments (433)
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Sunday all. Stay tuned for tonight's Senate health care vote at 1am EST.

Classic Star Trek Bloopers Video
Okay these have been a staple at conventions for years, but they're always worth seeing one more time. And man did they had trouble with the doors back then.

Posted by: Open Blog at 05:50 PM | Comments (576)
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Rock the Vote is nonpartisan (wink, wink).

Eh. Probably doing the rest of us a favor.

The political advocacy group “Rock the Vote” has a new video out encouraging young people to abstain from having sex with folks opposed to healthcare reform.

Sadly, this isnÂ’t your run of the mill call for celebacy, for the video also instructs youth to use sex to get people to change their minds on this issue.

The group’s YouTube posting asks: “What would you withhold from someone who opposes health care reform? Cookies, a Christmas gift, sex?”

Pretty racy for an organization whose mission is to “give young people the tools to identify, learn about, and take action on the issues that affect their lives, and leverage their power in the political process[.]”

Vid at the link.

Posted by: Ace at 04:22 PM | Comments (213)
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We Are Running Out Of Time.

The best part of the whole AGW thing is how the solutions for reducing carbon emissions dovetail so nicely with lefty desires (World Government, tax the pants off of everybody, etc.).

In the Copenhagen thread below, Cicero answers my plea for a right-wing scam to rival AGW:

Anthropogenic Continental Drift. It's real, the science is settled, and it's got to be stopped before the continents all coliide [sic] in a massive global cataclysm that will threaten the very existence of all of mankind.

Now, everyone knows that continental drift is a natural, ongoing process of the Earth, just like climate change.

The continents, and the tectonic plates they are attached to, shift about and grind into each other, causing mountains to be rucked up into the sky and volcanoes to erupt, and earthquakes, and other geologic shit of this nature.

What you may not know is that this process, while unstoppable, can be slowed down tremendously. We can save lives this way, and more importantly, beachfront property. But we haven't been doing it.
Our inaction in saving lives- and some really sweet bungalows- is tragic. Tragic.

How can we slow down this destructive process?
One word, friends: friction.

How do we enhance the natural friction that keeps these gigantic continents from slippy-sliding all over the place, crushing everyone that you love and burying their wicked bitchin' summer rental cottages in hot lava?

We need to extract the dangerous lubricants that are hiding deep in the Earth.

Right now, under the ground, possibly thousands of feet under your very...uh, feet...are vast deposits of a black, menacingly slippery substance that scientists refer to as 'oil' [TX pron: awl].

We gotta get that shit out of there, stat! Our recalcitrance in this regard is frustrating and downright dangerous. The time to act is now.

No matter the cost, humans must find a way- with specialized pipes and pumps, perhaps- to reduce these vast deposits of 'oil' that imperil us all.

Who knows? We may even find a use for it.

Our Scientists are currently investigating how anthracite deposits may also be accelerating Anthropogenic Continental Drift.
Don't worry, enough grant money and they'll come up with something. Because that's how science is done, old boy.

UPDATE: Cicero points out that The People's Cube came up with the ACD theory. Sorry about stepping on toes, guys. It was an accident.

Oddly, their explanation of the cause of ACD is diametrically opposite mine. Let's all call them Denialists.

UPDATE NUMERO TWO-O: From 'random' in comments.

One thin September soon
A floating continent drifts
Oh SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very nicely done, random.

Posted by: LauraW at 02:24 PM | Comments (168)
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I've been live blogging the anti-ObamaCare rally in Omaha that started at 3:00pm CST, in case you're interested. 2,500 people showed up at the Omaha Music Hall Civic Auditorium on less than 24 hours notice. Mike Hukabee was the keynote speaker. His petition for Senator Nelson to "just say no" is here. Senator DeMint's petition for Senators to "Read Every Page!", here.

See also Michelle Malkin:

Sunday showdown: The SenateÂ’s Demcare treachery

and RedState:

The Extraordinary Measures Needed to Kill the Bill

This thing ain't over, yet. Fight!

RELATED:

Desperate measures are also being taken by pro-ObamaCare forces , as reported by Newsbusters:

Rock The Vote Encourages Youth To Use Sex To Pass ObamaCare

Posted by: Open Blog at 01:44 PM | Comments (82)
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NFL open thread.

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:56 PM | Comments (106)
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I've just finished separate articles by Patrick Michaels of the Cato Institute, and Lawrence Solomon of the Financial Times. Together they describe the two distinct but strategically reinforcing tactics in manipulating both professional and public opinion.

(UPDATE on Wiki below the fold) more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 10:44 AM | Comments (54)
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Yeah, the gang's all stuck in a staff meeting. Openbloggers, if you've got something to say, now's the time.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:43 AM | Comments (124)
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or

Disappointed Warmists Cry Big Salty Tears of Unutterable Sadness Which Fortunately Does Prove To Be Utterable, After All

Lumumba Di-Aping, chief negotiator for the G77 group of 130 developing countries, said the deal had "the lowest level of ambition you can imagine. It's nothing short of climate change scepticism in action. It locks countries into a cycle of poverty for ever. Obama has eliminated any difference between him and Bush." [emph. me -ed.]

John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: "The city of Copenhagen is a crime scene tonight, with the guilty men and women fleeing to the airport. Ed Miliband [UK climate change secretary] is among the very few that come out of this summit with any credit." It is now evident that beating global warming will require a radically different model of politics than the one on display here in Copenhagen."

Lydia Baker of Save the Children said world leaders had "effectively signed a death warrant for many of the world's poorest children. Up to 250,000 children from poor communities could die before the next major meeting in Mexico at the end of next year."

Uh-huh.
Big surprise.

Well, maybe next year in Mexico, if you fly in more jets and use more limousines and consume more of the finest food and drink, that will finally save some poor child's life somewhere in the world.

Well, maybe not, but you're sure gonna give it the ol' Harvard try, aren't you?

Negotiators will now work on individual agreements such as forests, technology, and finance – but, without strong leadership, the chances are that it will take years to complete.

GODDAMMIT.
The sacrifice, people. I don't think you right-wing three-toothed squirrel-eatin' dumbasses appreciate the frustration here, and how hard this is going to be for our lefty 'negotiators.'
We're talking years, here. YEARS.

Years and years of this painstaking luxurious drudgery ahead of them. Yeeeeears of attending conventions in exotic locales and sucking cognac and caviar off seventeen-year-old hookers' inner thighs.
The bill eventually footed by wageslave scum such as yourself, of course. As it should be.

Sigh.

On a personal note, directed right at YOU; how come none of you idiots ever think up a fantastic scam like this? The Hell is wrong with you? I know many of you are capable of being just as clever and morally confused as anybody on the left.

Don't you think ol' lauraw would like to go on a plane ride once in a while? Huh? Or maybe drink something that doesn't have the word 'value' somewhere in the name? Yannow what I mean? It would be nice, is all's I'm sayin'.

No, don't talk to me about Principles, and about Truth and Honor, OK?

Because
Principles + Truth + Honor = lauraw can't have nice things.

That's fine. Really. I hope you're happy with yourselves.
It's fine. Fine.

Found from following sweasel's link. If you go over there, be sure to click on the link at iamfelix's 5:27 comment. Nice pic of anti-warming protesters.

Posted by: LauraW at 09:38 AM | Comments (110)
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