House Dems try to halt Congressional pay

 

Washingtonpost.com:

A potential Department of Homeland Security shutdown would directly affect lawmakers’ pocketbooks under a bill introduced in the House this week.

The Democratic measure, sponsored by Reps. Brad Ashford (Neb.), Gwen Graham (Fla.), Scott Peters (Calif.) and Ami Bera (Calif.), would halt pay for members of Congress if they don’t agree to a new round of funding for the agency by Friday, in which case DHS would partially close.

The legislation is similar to several bills that would have halted lawmakers’ salaries during the government-wide shutdown of 2013. Those measures never made it out of committee that year.

Federal statute only allows lawmakers to change the salaries of future members of Congress, so the new House bill would put their wages in an escrow account until the potential Homeland Security shutdown ends.

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Open Thread……………………………………..Saturday, February 28

pregnant rabbit

Areas that get too much snow also produce people with too much time on their hands.  I thought this picture was one of the cuter snow sculptures that has hit the internet.

Are we just about finished with snow for the season?  I seriously doubt it.  Even though today is the last day of February and I have daffodils trying to come up in my front yard, I don’t think we have seen the last of Old Man Winter.

For the record, next Sunday, March 8, marks the beginning of  Day Light Saving Time.  Let my winter depression life!  More day light!

A Vulcan salute good-bye to Leonard Nimoy

spock_0

A Vulcan salute to Leonary Nimoy who died Friday at the age of 83.  Nimoy played half-Vulcan, half human Mr. Spock on Star Trek.  According to his obituary in the Washinton Post:

“Someday,” producer Gene Roddenberry said many decades ago, “I’m going to make a science-fiction series and put pointed ears on that guy.”

The series was “Star Trek,” and the guy was Leonard Nimoy, who died Feb. 27 at 83. A tall, taut-faced actor, he had been laboring in obscurity for 15 years before Roddenberry hired him in 1966 to play the half-human, half-alien space explorer Spock.

Those pointy ears — along with the upswept eyebrows and “five-point” Vidal Sassoon bob — brought Mr. Nimoy enduring stardom in an entertainment and merchandising empire equaled perhaps only by the James Bond, “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter” franchises.

“Star Trek,” a drama about the adventures of the starship Enterprise as it explored “the final frontier” of space, was not a critical or popular hit during its initial run on NBC from 1966 to 1969.
In syndication, however, it became a phenomenon.

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” I feel confident the spirit of Leonard Nimoy continues.

Live long and prosper, Leonard Nimoy.  Live long and prosper, wherever your journey takes you, even if it is where no man has gone before.