Political hack. Word nerd. Stays crispy in milk. Oxford Comma user. Blogger since 2001.
Earlier this week and to the surprise of pretty much everyone, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe announced that she would not be running for re-election this year. Snowe has served as Senator since 1994, when she became the first woman to have served in both houses of a State Senate as well as both houses of […]
Last week, I was in the car on the way home to campus when I heard a short blurb on the radio that made my heart skip a beat. The reporter briefly mentioned that a bill that would grant President Obama the line-item veto passed the House of Representatives. I was floored that such a […]
I live in a part of the country where I can see Canada from my house. Until a couple of years ago, that meant frequent trips across the border–for that good Chinese food place, for the better view of Niagara Falls, to go to bars where the legal drinking age is 19–without much of a […]
Last year, some of our writers took on recaps of The West Wing while some of our regular recap shows were on hiatus during the doldrums of bad summer TV. That got me thinking about the show again after a long time, so when the DVD boxed set went on deep discount, I couldn’t resist […]
Earlier this week, President Obama delivered his latest State of the Union address, in which he outlined his agenda for the year. Like every SOTU, there was a lot of cheering and clapping (and pointed non-clapping; I’m looking at you, John Boehner!) and a lot of talk from both sides of the political aisle afterwards. […]
Earlier this week, President Obama officially appointed Richard Cordray as Director of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a relatively new agency designed to protect against the massive loophole-mining and financial excesses that led to the recession. Despite his experience and credentials, Republicans immediately called foul because the President pushed through what’s called a “recess appointment,” […]
I’m sharing all of my family favorite holiday cookie recipes with you in these last few weeks of the year! But by far, my mom’s toffee bars are the quickest and easiest of my top three. If you have the most basic of baking ingredients in the house, you can whip them up in a […]
I think everyone’s grandma has a version of these simple chocolate fudge cookies, but the holidays just aren’t the same without them. They’re like eating hot chocolate in cookie form, and much like my brownie recipe, they’re simple enough that you can do a lot with them.
I recently came across a very interesting post on YouGov, a polling data site, that analyzed whether electability makes a difference in Republican voters’ candidate preferences. Political scientists usually agree that in a two party system, there’s a sophisticated pattern of strategic decision-making that happens when people vote, whether consciously or unconsciously. The prevailing idea […]
Somewhere along the road, I picked up a basic biscotti recipe. I tweaked it a little bit here and a little bit there until I ended up with this particular incarnation, which seems to be everyone’s favorite. The best way to describe the biscotti is that they taste the way Jergen’s cherry almond hand lotion […]
You may have heard by now that yesterday afternoon U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebilius overrode the recommendation of the Food and Drug Administration to make Plan B One Step emergency contraceptive available over the counter without prescription to all women. Per Sebilius’ decision, those under the age of 17 will continue […]
Let’s talk about Newt Gingrich for a minute. Growing up in the 1980s and 90s, Gingrich was at the height of his career right around when I started to pay attention to politics and the world around me. He was everywhere you turned in the newspaper and on television. It seemed that he loomed practically […]
A few months ago, I finally caved and picked up a Sodastream home soda maker. I’d been lusting after one for a while but couldn’t talk myself into spending that much money. But when even my small appliance-averse husband suggested I stop talking about it and just get it already, I figured it was about […]
Late last month, Texas Congressman Lamar Smith introduced H.R. 3261, more commonly known as the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. The goal of the bill is to provide the US Government, specifically the Attorney General, with the tools to crack down on copyright infringement and counterfeit goods. The intent of SOPA seems fair enough. […]
Other reviews will tell you that Hillary Jordan’s second novel When She Woke is a futuristic re-telling of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, with overtones of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. While that’s a good strategy for selling books, and a nice shorthand for giving potential readers an idea of the tone and feel of […]