More than 100 drivers in Austin, Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control, after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle-immobilization system normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto payments.

And why do we have to pay for bread at all? We need basic foods to survive, far more urgently than we need health insurance. Maybe it would be better if the government took over the bread industry. Think of all the money wasted on packaging and advertising, which could be saved if the State distributed Obama Bread in plain white wrappers that said RYE or WHEAT in simple block lettering. Our wise politicians could then decide if all those different varieties of bread are truly necessary.

When you think of cutting edge, 21st-century workplaces, chances are a county government bureaucracy does not come to mind. But the Human Services and Public Health Department of Hennepin County, in Minneapolis, Minn., is engaged in about as radical an experiment with flexible work as exists.

“So I thought that, as a Peruvian, it would be interesting to surf with a unique animal that represents Peru.”

“But using it every day could get embarrassing. Would you really want the man next to you on the bus to know if you’re turned on?”

“I just couldn’t believe what he had done in that space of time. He was there one minute, inside it the next, like a magician’s trick.”

In a bizarre experiment, foetuses threw their arms around when their mothers watched a feel-good clip from The Sound of Music – but became subdued during a sad scene from The Champ.

The decision not to fly the flag is an embarrassment of weakness on the part of Obama.  Our nation has conducted relief efforts for decades through our military, saving millions of people from death, disease, and starvation.  Like France, Britain, and Croatia, we have flown our flag during those operations not to note occupation but to represent the American people’s solidarity with those suffering from disaster.  That historical record is answer itself to the lunatics in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and even France who indulge in paranoid hysteria.

One of the things that gets debated quite frequently is the role of political parties in our system of Government.

We can surely debate whether or not our system is broken, but the reality of the current situation is that a politician’s political party is a critical thing.

My current Congressman, Harry Mitchell, is not a bad guy.  He’s a so-called “Blue Dog,” or “Moderate” Democrat, and quite honestly we probably align on at least 50 – 70% of issues.  (I haven’t done a detailed analysis.)

However, he’s still a Democrat.  And that matters.  So even though I think he’s probably a nice guy (we’ve never met, but he seems nice enough), and we agree on quite a bit, I have to work very hard to see that he’s not re-elected.  Because he’s a Democrat.

It’s not just about Harry Mitchell.  It’s about his party, and the damage they are doing to this country.

Jim Geraghty explains it better than I can, so I’ll quote him quite liberally (pardon the pun):

Remember, These ‘Centrist’ House Democrats Voted to Empower Pelosi

A note on some of these pro-life, or “conservative,” or “centrist” Democrats in the House…

Periodically I’ll discuss with Cam the value of just how un-conservative a Republican you can stand, compared to a relatively-conservative Democrat. The NRA, for example, endorses plenty of Democrats, because they emphasize that they’re a single-issue organization. They focus on gun rights; you could be a raving socialist on all other issues, but they’ll still back you. Howard Dean, for example, got an “A” rating from the NRA.

I understand the logic of that position. As a nonpartisan organization, it makes perfect sense.

But there’s a catch. For even the best, most pro-Second Amendment House Democrat, the first vote they cast in the House is to make Nancy Pelosi the Speaker of the House, ensuring the floor schedule is controlled by a woman who is scored an “F” by the organization. And her speakership ensures that F-rated John Conyers of Michigan chairs the Judiciary Committee, and that liberals, often but not always anti-gun, control the important committees.

Meanwhile, if that A-rated House Democrat were beaten by some squishy C or B-rated Republican, his first vote be would make A-rated John Boehner (or perhaps some other Republican) the Speaker.

This goes well beyond the gun issue, obviously. Heath Shuler, John Barrow, Dan Boren, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and their ilk may completely disagree with the way Pelosi shaped the health care bill and this insane plan to use the Slaughter rule. But all of them were key to putting Pelosi in position to do this.

So you see, it can’t be about just Harry.  It’s bigger than him.  As long as Harry Mitchell is in Congress he is one more member of the Democrat majority.  He may be a moderate, but because of Harry we get Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Waxman, and Chairman Conyers and on and on and on.

Now, I do want to point out that there are many more reasons that Harry doesn’t deserve re-election.  He’s been a coward and the opposite of a leader on this health care debacle.  He’s proven to be a liar, saying he’d vote one way and then changing his vote under pressure from his party. But that wasn’t the point of this post.  I just don’t want anyone to get the impression that Harry deserved re-election.