The defections underscore dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party. 
In Alabama, four Democrats announced last week they were joining the GOP, giving Republicans a supermajority in the House that allows them to pass legislation without any support from the other party. The party switch of a Democratic lawmaker from New Orleans handed control of Louisiana’s House to Republicans for the first time since Reconstruction.

In Georgia, six rural Democratic state legislators—five from the House and one in the Senate—have switched allegiance to the GOP since Nov. 2. In Maine, a House Democrat flipped; in South Dakota, a Democratic state senator.

Most of the party swaps are in the South, where GOP rule is becoming more entrenched and Democrats—many of them already more conservative than their counterparts elsewhere—are facing what looks like a long exile in the minority.

In Georgia, the GOP swept every statewide office this year and brought, in the words of state Rep. Alan Powell, “an effective end, at least for the foreseeable future, to the two-party system in state government.”

Powell, who served in the House for two decades as a Democrat from a rural district in North Georgia, joined the Republican caucus this month after concluding it would allow him to get off the sidelines and again be a player on key issues. The 58-year-old real estate agent has been outspoken in his criticism of both Republicans and Democrats and expects to maintain an independent streak in the GOP.

Twenty-one state legislative chambers in 16 states moved into GOP hands this year, and for some Democrats keeping a seat at the table means trading a “D” for an “R.” Others, like Mike Millican of Alabama, one of those who joined the GOP last week, say that as the national Democratic Party has moved to the left, they’ve found themselves more in line with the Republican Party’s political ideology.

Read the whole thing here.

<sigh> ... SC just didn't come to play.  And so here's my top X as of this morning

1.  Stanford.  Is ANYBODY playing better than them right now?  Do NOT wanna face them in a bowl.

2.  Oregon.  Because I've had them up here all season.

3.  TCU.  REALLY wanted to see the TCU D vs the Oregon blur.  I'm starting to become a playoff supporter.

4.   Ohio State.  Yes I'm prejudiced.  But I think they belong here .... they'd beat a VERY good Wisconsin team at a neutral site, and they'll get an at large BCS bid.

5.  Auburn.  I'm finally coming around, but I'll be cheering for Oregon to nail Scam Newton.

others worthy of mention:  Boise St., Alabama,  Oklahoma.

So the BCS pits Oregon vs Auburn.  Ducks by 7

Rose will be Wisconsin vs. TCU.  Toads by 7

Fiesta is Oklahoma vs Arkansas?  Revive an old Big 8 rivalry.  Sooners by 2-3

Sugar gets the top two picks.  Stanford vs OSU?  Cardinal by 7

Orange is Virginia Tech vs U Conn. Who really cares?  Hokies by 14+.   Big East should lose the automatic bid.  Throw in one more at large anbd life the "two per conference" rule.  Huskies aren't even in the top 50!

Marketing in the future is like sex. Only the losers will have to pay for it.

– Jon Bond, quoted in Fast Company magazine

"Are we driving by a LOT of stinky stuff .... or is that you?"

from my lovely wife.  It WASN'T me!

from the daughter of James Lileks:

“Don’t make eye contact,” Natalie said when we walked in. “Just don’t.” Clowns! They can smell fear.

or did I try this once before?  Quote of the day.  Drawn from a wide variety of sources ... sometimes timely, sometimes piquant.....and sometimes just silly.

for today, one oft misquoted or taken out of context.  Patrick Henry, before a vote was taken on resolutions he presented in support of joining the other colonies in a war for freedom, spoke without any notes in a voice that became louder and louder, climaxing with the now famous ending,

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Have we come so far from those words and the meaning of liberty itself, that we are now a nation of people who would accept chains in return for a government providing for our every need?  Are we a people who would give up our principles and perhaps most of our own sovereignty in exchange for peace defined as not having to take any individual action or responsibility?

Tobacco policy blogger Michael Siegel picks 10 finalists for his Lie of the Year Award, which goes to "the anti-smoking group which disseminated the most egregious lie during 2010." Six of the finalists are statements regarding the health hazards of secondhand smoke. Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, for example, claims "there are virtually no health disparities between active and passive smoking"; "the risks of heart disease associated with secondhand smoke...are virtually indistinguishable from those associated with active smoking"; and "just thirty minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers." The winner is the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, which recently warned that "even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause cardiovascular disease and could trigger acute cardiac events, such as heart attack." It also asserted that "inhaling even the smallest amount of tobacco smoke" can "damage your DNA, which can lead to cancer."

from

Tobacco policy blogger Michael Siegel picks 10 finalists for his Lie of the Year Award, which goes to "the anti-smoking group which disseminated the most egregious lie during 2010." Six of the finalists are statements regarding the health hazards of secondhand smoke. Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, for example, claims "there are virtually no health disparities between active and passive smoking"; "the risks of heart disease associated with secondhand smoke...are virtually indistinguishable from those associated with active smoking"; and "just thirty minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers." The winner is the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, which recently warned that "even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause cardiovascular disease and could trigger acute cardiac events, such as heart attack." It also asserted that "inhaling even the smallest amount of tobacco smoke" can "damage your DNA, which can lead to cancer."

from

Most bad commercials are, to me, simply a minor annoyance. But after viewing the newest (at least to ME) I was screaming, rating, raving ... and had to post immediately.

Young girl (5?  7?)  askes where breakfast comes from.  Mother concocts fanciful tale of gants an magic wands and crap.  Girl the asks where SHE came from.  Wha Whaaaa.

Why in the WORLD would you not simply explain food production to the child.  Farmers.  Harvesting.  Hard work.   Instead she's told food production is "magic" (which i guess on SOME level it IS) And as an adult she'll waste it.  Not appreciate it.  And she'll be one of THOSE people.