More Animal Cuteness

to follow up on the great panda escape, here's another clip of a bear cub of the black bear variety (i'm totally guessing here) being freaked out by a lion. i would imagine that this pairing could have potentially become one of those "odd couples" in the animal friendship world.

Bear Cub Scared By Lion - Watch more Funny Videos

All Done

it's finally recess here in congress...meaning the streets and buildings have completely emptied out as congressional staff members take their stockpiled vacation days and bolt the city. and i will follow the masses and take my leave as well.

but this recess has the added bonus...unlike previous breaks, this one doesn't have that sense of pressure, that i was leaving something unfinished. and that is because the century long health care debate has finally ended. sure there will be court challenges and the midterm elections...but behind all the teabaggers and empty rhetoric, health care reform is ultimately finished and the democrats have won. and though we don't know how it'll eventually play out in november, i doubt the world be succumb to armageddon.

and after over a year's worth of toil, we finally have time to reflect on the efforts of the staff that pushed through this effort. and some well-deserved recognition must be made.

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readers of this blog need not know any more context.

We the People

sometimes in a democracy, the other guys win. and i'm hopeful that in a few hours, democracy (however nasty and dirty a game it is) will prevail again and we'll have the votes to pass comprehensive health care reform after a 100 years of struggle.

these people, with their whining, misinformed fox news babble can now afford health insurance, can now be protected from malicious insurance policies, can now realize that they the sky didn't fall down and they can still see their doctor, can now go to their grandparents' houses and realize they're still alive. and 20 or 30 years down the line, when these people become accustomed to the benefits that they derided as socialism today and defend their tax subsidy as they now defend the single-payer system of Medicare, i hope that they can all look back at this snapshot in time as realize that they're giant douchebags.

Escape!

maybe there was just a lusher pile of bamboo on the other side of the fence or some smoking panda chick sprawled over some leaves...but these two renegade pandas have hatched the an escape plan based on "your shoelaces are untied" trick.

now i've seen pandas first hand, and if my brother is any indication, they like to sit and eat and generally are not runners (though i hear that my brother is changing that trend...way to go man). but this just goes to show you that curiosity, the desire for freedom, or just the opportunity to display your cuteness in a youtube world is motivation enough to make a dash for the unknown.

Health Prom

every year, the winston health policy fellowship hosts a ball as fundraiser for itself that also seconds as a celebration of the their fellows for that particular year. it's a formal, black-tie event that is well attended by lobbyist, advocates, and policy folk alike. so every year, the health policy folks who are anybody (or just people who know the right people...ME) dress up and walk the health policy red carpet at the ritz carlton.

so with the context established, the health team of the senate finance committee gathered together in our dresses and tuxedos and marched from our prisons in the dirksen building to the luxurious ballroom of the ritz to celebrate ourselves and to get incessantly lobbied by special interests and industry. all trying to steal a snippet of information about what's going on in the halls of congress as we move forward with health care reform.

though it wasn't the celebratory "we passed health reform so suck it all you republicans in the room" event for us, good times were still had all around. conversation was welcome, drinks flowed from the open bar, and networking was conducted. all and all, it was a good event. hopefully i stay in the good graces of the event planners so to receive an invitation for next years soiree.