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Monday Night TV and Open Thread

I'm probably the only person watching 20/20 and the story behind The Bachelor. Sorry, but it's way more entertaining than Obama and Kucinich and health care. "24" is on too. And "Damages."

Update: How into the 20/20 Bachelor show did I get? I left an ear of corn boiling in water for 45 minutes and didn't realize it until the smoke started filling the kitchen. The water had evaporated, the pot was charred beyond repair and the corn is pure black.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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  • Display: Sort:
    No Reservations (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by andgarden on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 09:13:03 PM EST
    on the Travel Channel. Today he visits Harbin China.

    Is that a good show? (none / 0) (#20)
    by ruffian on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 08:26:10 AM EST
    My Tivo keeps recording it for me, and I keep deleting it. Maybe I should watch sometime. I liked his book about his experiences in the restaurant biz.

    Parent
    I think it's really excellent (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by andgarden on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 09:07:00 AM EST
    I give up (5.00 / 2) (#6)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 10:17:10 PM EST
    No son, I did not know that Ben Franklin was one of 17 children or that he was pretty bad at Math.  Also, the place where seismic waves start is not the epicenter (like I just tried to tell my kid and then he didn't believe me and looked it up).  It is the focus.  I am not smarter than a fifth grader.  I'm not even smarter than a fourth grader.

    between you and J's update (5.00 / 2) (#9)
    by nycstray on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 10:57:55 PM EST
    I'm having a nice chuckle :) Here's hoping I never have to help my great nephew with his homework in 'serious' subjects. I may have aced them all when I was in school, but choosing the creative route, no practice and I'm brain dead in some subjects :-P I'm just hoping he inherited the creative gene in our family  . . .  then I can totally corrupt his brain {evil grin}

    Parent
    Or as my sixth grade tutoree sd. tonight (5.00 / 2) (#12)
    by oculus on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 11:37:09 PM EST
    when I was exclaiming about terms I do not ever remember learning about techtonic plates and plate techtonics:  I am surprised you didn't know that.  Fascinating stuff.

    Parent
    That's so funny (5.00 / 2) (#17)
    by shoephone on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 01:56:08 AM EST
    This year I have a second grade-level tutoree, but last year I had a sixth grader. When it came time to help her with dividing decimals, I looked at the instructions and said, "Lemme get a handle on the way your teacher wants you to do this." After about five minutes she said, "C'mon! You're supposed to be the one teaching ME."

    Parent
    A couple yrs. ago kid (none / 0) (#25)
    by oculus on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 11:21:58 PM EST
    did first long divion probems w/estimated remainder w/no numbers below the problem. I sd. Did you do this in your head. Answer: yes. I started checking it by reg. long division. Time consuming. Kid says: don't worry. It's easier for some people than for others. I then bought a calculator.

    Parent
    Yum (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by CoralGables on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 11:00:55 PM EST
    Blackened corn. You would have made Paul Prudhomme proud.

    please don't use the p word here (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by Jeralyn on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 12:24:55 AM EST
    censor software will block us from law firms and businesses. SeaBos84, Feel free to repost your comment without it.

    I was wondering what happened ... (none / 0) (#19)
    by seabos84 on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07:38:22 AM EST
    and the p word ... 1 I can think of I'd never use, so, the bad word for urine is blockable? wow.

    given it was just a gossip comment - and not my typical high level policy erudition, my feeling won't be hurt.

    Parent

    Castle (none / 0) (#1)
    by Inspector Gadget on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 08:52:56 PM EST
    ...love Castle.

    Castle (none / 0) (#3)
    by athyrio on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 09:58:34 PM EST
    is one of my favorite shows...Sadly tonite is a rerun apparently...

    Parent
    What in the world is Castle? (none / 0) (#5)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 10:05:30 PM EST
    a show on the networks (none / 0) (#7)
    by athyrio on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 10:40:34 PM EST
    about a crime writer working with the police to get additional material for his books...very good show...

    Parent
    Mystery writer shadows pretty homicide (none / 0) (#8)
    by Inspector Gadget on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 10:55:09 PM EST
    detective to assist in crime solving and book plots. He's funny, good looking, and really nice. To make him more adorable, he's a widow with a teenage girl, and has a really funny mom who helps out.

    You can watch an episode online at your leisure to see if you would find it entertaining. It's on ABC.

    Parent

    You're right....another rerun already!!!! (none / 0) (#10)
    by Inspector Gadget on Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 10:58:35 PM EST
    Guess I'll get to sleep early.

    Parent
    House Planning to Declare Senate HCR Bill (none / 0) (#14)
    by Dan the Man on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 12:52:43 AM EST
    already passed the House Of Representatives.


    Under the plan, the House of Representatives would approve the Senate bill by "deeming" it to have passed as part of a separate measure governing the rules of a House debate on a follow-up health care measure. That follow-up legislation will be designed to change certain controversial portions of the Senate-passed version, a path more palatable to House Democrats who fear that voting for the Senate bill could backfire against them in elections this fall.

    Here's the shorter version of the trick: the House Rules committee would declare the Senate bill already passed the House.  And since under the Constitution the House can "determine the Rules of its Proceedings", its declaration stands and the bill can go to the President and signed into law.  For details, you can read it in the WSJ here.  This way the House can send the Senate bill to the President without voting for it.

    This is a neat trick, but I don't think the House needs to be this sneaky.  A Constitutional textualist would say the Senate HCR bill (HR3590) can be sent to the President right now and signed into law.  Why is that?  Let's look at the facts.

    The fact is that the HCR bill (HR3590) already passed both houses of Congress.  We know HR3590 passed the House - that's why it's an HR bill.  Also, we know the Senate passed HR3590.  So, HR3590 passed both the Senate and the House.  But then, as the WSJ article points out, the Constitution says:


    According to Article I, Section 7, in order for a "Bill" to "become a Law," it "shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate" and be "presented to the President of the United States" for signature or veto."

    But since the bill HR3590 has passed both the Senate and the House, Article I, Section 7 says we can send HR3590 to the President to be signed into law.  QED.

    Now in the WSJ article it's argued there's a Supreme Court precedent which say the bill must be approved with the "exact text" in order to become a law.  First, this is merely dicta.  But 2nd, it should be pointed out nothing in the Constitution has the words "exact text" or anything close to those words at all.  Therefore, I believe the plain text of the Constitution says since the bill (HR3590) passed both houses of Congress, the bill HR3590 can be signed into law by the President without having to be re-passed by the House.  I therefore essentailly agree with Slaughter although I think she doesn't have to be so complex.

    I'm pretty sure custom and practice say (none / 0) (#15)
    by andgarden on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 01:26:31 AM EST
    that the House has to do what it's about to do. And that's probably the right thing. If it weren't, the two houses would lose their "co-equal" nature--the President could just pick a favorite branch.

    As for the supposedly "unusual trick," meh. It's a regularly used practice, and I'm fine with it. The House can make its own rules, and if it wants to deem a bill passed, it can. Imagine if this weren't allowed: you couldn't pass a bill in the Senate by unanimous consent. Less than nothing would ever get done.

    Parent

    thanks for posting that (none / 0) (#16)
    by Jeralyn on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 01:29:36 AM EST
    it sure is convoluted.

    From what I gather from the documents at McClatchy (and I haven't been following the story the past few weeks) there's no public option, we get the Senate vs. the House bill, and those of us who pay for our own insurance will see our rates go up and maybe have to switch to plans that provide less coverage. The insurance companies don't lose any power. Obama gets to say he created the most impressive social legislation in decades. Yay. (/sarcasm)


    Parent

    That seems an accurate summary to me (none / 0) (#18)
    by shoephone on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 02:02:39 AM EST
    and it makes me depressed. I will not be able to afford the mandated junk coverage. It's not much solace, but at least I get to vote against my disappointing Dem rep and my phony Dem senator in November.

    Parent
    Damages (none / 0) (#21)
    by ruffian on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 08:28:10 AM EST
    Frobisher is back? Really? What's up with that? I didn't need another wildcard in this increasingly convoluted season.

    Maybe just a way to keep Danson ... (none / 0) (#22)
    by Yman on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 08:40:40 AM EST
    ... on the show, as opposed to a genuine plot twist involving his character?

    I turned it on in the middle of the episode, and thought I accidentally TIVOed a rerun of an episode from last year.

    Parent

    me too - it came back after a commercial (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by ruffian on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 08:56:22 AM EST
    and there he was - I thought they messed up the transmission.

    We'll see. I'm always glad to see Danson back. Loved the bit about the name of his book. He's good in those wounded vanity scenes.

    Parent