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This morning, I saw three news items I'd like to share with you, then offer my thoughts:
LARRY WARD: 55 Votes: The filibuster fix nobody's talking about, Human Events
Lowering the filibuster to 55 votes is an interesting idea. It doesn't go all the way to a simple majority, yet it retains the concept that some buy-in from the minority must be obtained. Is it worth looking into? Maybe . . .
Amazon’s Hunt for a New ‘James Bond’ Narrows to Some Fresh Faces, BleedingFool.com
The actor said to be in the running looks like he just graduated from high school. They said they wanted a fresh face, but one fresh from the womb? I don't think so.
I recommend Tom Ellis, AKA Lucifer Morningstar. He has the dashing good looks a James Bond should have, and has good comedic timing for those pithy one-liners Bond is famous for.
When I was a senior in high school, my physics teacher brought in an odd-shaped rock. She asked the class, "Can anyone guess what this is?" No one could. Finally, she said, "It's a fossilized dinosaur dropping."
I lost it! I couldn't stop laughing, and eventually, everyone else in the class laughed, including the teacher. You see, I found the concept of a dino turd surviving for millions of years to be absurd, yet there it was.
And this morning, I read about "regurgitalite," which is fossilized barf. And yes, I had the same reaction - laughter, especially when I read this line: "The tight position suggests the prey items were consumed and expelled as a cohesive mass."
I guess scientific discoveries can happen in odd ways, but some are odder than others.
Oh well, that's all for now.
Discussion (20)
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On James Bond and how old actors look:
Face it, Stad, EVERYBODY's looking younger to us older guys these days. A new (female) dentist joined the dental practice to which I go, and I thought she looked like she should still be in high school.
As to James Bond in particular, I am no more than a casual observer of James Bond movies, but to me the character requires that we believe he has some substantial experience under his belt. His character has to have experienced some significant successes, and also some significant losses to get to where he is today. Otherwise, I don't think some of his decisions and actions make sense. (Of course one could counter with, since when does anything in a James Bond movie make sense. But I don't think a "fresh out of school" James Bond would be even remotely believable.)
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Being as how Tom Ellis was the only reason I watched Lucifer I'd be a yes vote on him. And he's young enough that he wouldn't age out soon.
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On the filibuster:
I don't like that the filibuster can now be used to completely prevent a vote on legislation. I preferred the "talking filibuster" that was a mechanism to ensure the minority had opportunity to make its views known.
If you don't like the "talk-a-thons" that used to go on in the Senate, there are probably ways other than just continuous talking to construct a "filibuster" that ensures minority voices are heard. But the procedure as a rule should not completely prevent a vote from ever taking place.
But outside the procedural rule, it would bolster public confidence in the institution if Senators recognized that big changes in the law should be implemented only if there is some type of supermajority. You should have a supermajority vote to completely rewrite medical insurance. But you don't need a supermajority vote to change a tax rate a couple of percentage points. Trying to write that distinction into a rule would create more problems than it solves, so implementing the idea would depend on custom. And on good will, which seems to be getting shorter in supply with every passing year.
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I'm just happy they seem to have given up on race or gender swapping James Bond. I'll take any of those guys.
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I watched a few episodes of Lucifer. The opening of the first episode with that music hooked me. It sounds really good on my AV system.
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