For The Record: This Is Stand-Alone Post #16,000; POTUS Won't Have To Veto Keystone XL Bill This Year -- November 18, 2014

Statistics by "blogger" -- Google -- reports this to be the 16,000th stand-alone post on this blog. There are five posts in "draft" but I doubt I will ever post them.

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Results just in: the Senate did not pass the Keystone bill. 

Results of poll in which we asked whether you thought the Senate would pass the bill:

• Yes: 53%
• No: 40%
• Who cares: 7%

It was on ABC News tonight -- I haven't seen the numbers. I assume it was one vote short.

Posting at Breaking News:

Louisiana Senate candidate Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-LA, on Senate Keystone vote: Democratic Louisiana Sen. Mary 'Landrieu's failure to pass' the bill 'is a perfect snapshot of her time as chair of the Energy Committee - a failure' -

I did not know she was the chair of that very important committee. Wow.  And she spoke up on energy issues less than 70% of the time. Posted earlier.

National Journal is reporting:

For Landrieu, it's another setback in an already low moment. Weeks away from Louisiana's Dec. 6 runoff election and trailing Rep. Bill Cassidy in the polls, Landrieu has hoped to use her steering of the measure through the Senate to infuse new life into her campaign. She got a boost from her party's top brass when they agreed to hold a stand-alone Keystone vote, a step they'd been loathe to take in the past.

And going into the vote, Landrieu had 59 assured supporter her motion, but—despite her assurances she could break a filibuster—it was never clear where she'd get number 60. Democratic Majority Whip Dick Durbin was seen as one of Landrieu's last options, but he voted 'no' on the bill.

I think I remember a House or Senate leader once saying never bring a bill to the floor that you didn't already know the results. Durbin voting "yes"? You have to be kidding. 

For more background to this story, watch the first three seasons of House of Cards, out on DVD, everywhere.

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Global Warming Hits Buffalo, NY

I normally don't watch network television but tonight my wife called me in to watch the weather being reported in upstate New York. If this was the last storm of the season, it would be one thing, but they have to find a place to put all this snow (most of which may melt) before the next storm hits. It could be a long, long winter. It will be interesting to see the natural gas fill rate later this week.

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Keeping Score

USA Today reports that Germany is now the world's "favorite country." USA falls to second place (under Obama's watch, USA Today might have added). After Ferguson blows, the USA could easily fall another notch or two.

For me, I would have voted Yorkshire (large county in north England) as my favorite country despite several "shortcomings":

• it's not a country; at best it's a region, but technically a county;
• it's part of England (not my favorite country);
• everything shuts down after 6:00 p.m. and on Sundays; and,
• too many tourists. 

Also high on my list would be Incirlik, Turkey, but again:

• it's not a country; barely a city in the modern sense of the word;
• it's part of Turkey (not my favorite country);
• everything shuts down one month every year; and,
• too many non-resident green-card aliens.

But just because Yorkshire or Incirlik might be my "favorite country," doesn't mean I would want to live there.

99 Balloons, Nena