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Chris Fitzsimon reminds us today that no matter how much money the Puppetmaster spends to put on his show, the serious work of governing is for adults, not three-year-olds.

• Pope and Luddy may be able to buy an election but their money can't change reality. The more the plans of their Gang of Five are scrutinized, the more absurd they seem. Hogwash doesn't begin to describe it.

I was supposed to begin the long-delayed series of PTSD stories I’ve been planning, but before we begin, I need to tell y’all about something that just happened in my house.

For us it wasn’t a matter of life or death, but it is the kind of story that explains, perfectly, why we need to reform the health care system we have today—and for that matter, it’s also a great explanation of why a single-payer system would be a giant step forward for everyone in this country, whether you’re insured today or not.

It’s also hilarious and sad and frustrating, all at the same time—which makes today’s story a pretty good allegory for the current American way of doing health care.

So follow along, have a good laugh…and at the same time, take a minute to consider what could be, and how much less irritating things should be.

It was a good feeling to finally make the past several months of campaigning official by filing today for the NC Senate, Dist. 15, at the Wake County Board of Elections.

The Republicans were there in force, but I had Democratic Party company after a while. At this point, I am the only Democrat running for the party nomination, but I won't know for sure if I will be the nominee by virtue of being unopposed until filing ends on February 26. I may make it and it would save money and time to be able to focus soley on beating the incumbent, Rep. Neal Hunt, in November. Yet, a qualified Democrat has a perfect right to run and who am I to begrudge democracy running its course? What will be, will be.

Who wins this one will make a big difference in how the people are represented. It is up to the people to say no to the Republicans, who now lick their chops with the expectation of taking of control of the Senate and House in NC.

This is the coolest scientific article I've read in months, sent along by one of our BlueNC community members.

There is a growing sense that the properties of the universe are best described not by the laws that govern matter but by the laws that govern information. This appears to be true for the quantum world, is certainly true for special relativity, and is currently being explored for general relativity. Having a way to handle energy on the same footing may help to draw these diverse strands together.

Pay special attention to the comments. Good stuff all around.

What happens when Republicans run things? Squandered resources. Chaos for parents. Imminent tax increases. All hell breaks loose.

Hat tip to Progressive Pulse.

Apologies if this has been posted; did a search and did not find it. From the Feb 22, 2010 edition of The Nation -- I believe it sums up the feelings of many progressive voters very well:

How to Get Our Democracy Back

If You Want Change, You Have to Change Congress
By Lawrence Lessig

We should remember what it felt like one year ago, as the ability to recall it emotionally will pass and it is an emotional memory as much as anything else. It was a moment rare in a democracy's history. The feeling was palpable--to supporters and opponents alike--that something important had happened. America had elected, the young candidate promised, a transformational president. And wrapped in a campaign that had produced the biggest influx of new voters and small-dollar contributions in a generation, the claim seemed credible, almost intoxicating, and just in time.

Including its two Democratic Senators:

Virginia could become the first state on the Eastern Seaboard to open its coast to energy exploration since a decades-old federal drilling ban expired more than a year ago.

The new Republican governor, Robert McDonnell, pledged to make Virginia the "energy capital of the East Coast" at his swearing-in last month. The state's Democratic senators, Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner, are also urging the Obama administration to begin selling leases next year for drilling 50 miles offshore.

Last December Senator Richard Burr co-signed a letter to the EPA requesting that they not designate coal ash as a hazardous waste material. The letter expressed that the costs of the reform would be a burden on utility companies and eventually the average consumer. The Senator seems to be ignoring the blatant dangers associated with coal ash ponds.

A quick update on our first week of Candlestick, where the NC Sierra Club leads the pack on grant-gathering with their disciplined cross-posting. The top Sierra Club post garnered 286 reads. Planned Parenthood also earned grants last week with their welcome coverage of the threats to women's freedom in Apex. Their top post had more than 400 reads. For those non-profits who may have missed the Candlestick announcement, the details are posted again below.

Courts today are seeing an epidemic of bankruptcies among older adults, a direct result of eight years of Republican profligacy and disdain for the middle class. Richard Burr and Virginia Foxx think "the cure" is to keep on doing what George Bush did.

The average age for filing bankruptcy has increased, and the rate of bankruptcy filings among those ages sixty-five and older has more than doubled since 1991. The implications of a sharp rise in the proportion of older Americans in bankruptcy are particularly problematic because, unlike their younger counterparts, older Americans typically have fewer years left in the full-time workforce. Consequently, they will have a far more difficult time recovering from financial collapse.

From the dark side:

A Davie County Republican is urging fellow state lawmakers to stop wasting time and money on the state’s climate change commission and support energy policy he says will have a tangible impact on the state. Brock also wants to look into building a refinery in eastern North Carolina to jumpstart economic development in distressed counties.

The human brain, for all its power, is suspicious of difficulty. Effective marketers, politicians, and sales people all know to keep it simple.

Now that corporations can buy elections, do you think they'll establish a "returns" policy in case the purchased candidate doesn't perform as expected? When a rich guy spends a hundred grand on an unknown nobody who turns out to be a lecherous drunk, surely a refund would be in order.

Say these five words aloud:

I am an independent Democrat.

How does that make you feel?

What is it about Sarah Palin that so appeals to the fringe right in America?

Listening to her keynote address to the national Tea Party convention on Saturday, the answer seems blindingly obvious. She's everything the right wing loves in a leader: A cheerful simpleton, unencumbered by objective reality, telling them with ringing conviction exactly what they want to hear.

Details are unimportant and largely undesired. Statistics are for liars. Anything that contradicts what Everyone Knows is of course just manufactured evidence from crooks, idiots, and socialists.