Mean Harry Reid Might Make Senators Do Some Work In December

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is one mean grinch. Because the Senate, as well as the House of Representatives, has been so busy not working all year, Reid's threatening to murder Christmas vacation, which for most Americans ismaybea day or two, but for the lazy sacks of lazy in Congress is usually about three weeks.

  Facing down a daunting list of tasks, ranging from funding the government past Dec. 11 to approving a number of new ambassadors, and less than two weeks to do it before Congress’s target adjournment at the end of next week, the Nevada Democrat said that the lame duck Congress’s work may require senators to stay in Washington for an extra week — and may even threaten Christmas.

  “We may have to be here a third week and everyone should understand that. Our most important task at hand is to pass bills to fund out government, keep it from shutting down,” Reid said on Monday afternoon shortly after the Senate began its last work period of the 113th Congress.

  “We have a lot to do. And there isn’t much time to accomplish it. I urge all senators to work hard to complete our work in a timely and efficient fashion. We may have to be here the week before Christmas … and hopefully, not into the Christmas holiday,” he added.

  You can count for yourselves just how many days the House and Senate have been "working." It doesn't take much time on account of how they don't do much work. But gosh, it sure would be so cruel of Reid to cut into senators' December vacation to keep this government thingy kinda sorta running, even if it means they only get two whole weeks of vacation. Because avoiding a government shutdown seems, like, a little bit important. And a little bit part of their job description. So maybe it would be a good idea to really put those congressional noses to the grindstone for a few extra days. If it's not too inconvenient.

• BRB, moving to Australia and changing voter registration:  

  It could be a case of finally getting lucky for Fiona Patten, the long-time sex industry lobbyist who wants to pull back the covers on Victoria's political debates.

  Early results are pointing to Ms Patten and her Australian Sex Party securing the last upper house seat in the Northern Metropolitan Region. If she does, she could form an important voting bloc with Labor and the Greens. [...]

  The party was launched in 2009 as a political movement for the adult industry to counter the influence of religion in politics. The electoral commission even held a special hearing to determine if using the word "sex" in the party's name was obscene.

  Since then, the party expanded to encompass a broad range of socially progressive policies. Ms Patten has led unsuccessful campaigns in both federal and state elections, but the 2014 Victorian election campaign felt different from the others, she said.

•  You've been warned:  

  

•  Oy:  

  Rupert Murdoch has defended the decision to cast white actors in the lead roles in Ridley Scott’s new Egypt-based film Exodus: Gods and Kings by claiming that all of the Egyptians he knows are white.

• Damn shame he was never brought to justice, but it's hard to imagine anyone will be crying any tears over a dead Nazi:  

  A leading Nazi hunter said on Monday that Adolf Eichmann’s top lieutenant, long one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, died at least four years ago in Syria, where he had escaped justice and may have advised the government.

  Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office, said the lieutenant, Alois Brunner, was responsible for the deportation of 128,500 Jews to death camps, and described him as Eichmann’s “right-hand man.”

• It sounds like science fiction, but it's just science:  

  The Earth is surrounded by "killer electrons," and it turns out one of the only things protecting us from them is an invisible force field of the type usually seen in sci-fi flicks. [...]

  “It’s almost like theses electrons are running into a glass wall in space,” professor Daniel Baker, director of CU-Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and lead author of the study, said in a news release. “Somewhat like the shields created by force fields on 'Star Trek' that were used to repel alien weapons, we are seeing an invisible shield blocking these electrons. It’s an extremely puzzling phenomenon.”

• Looking for the latest bewb tube shenanigans and snarky recaps of your favorite teevee shows? Go show some love to our gone-but-not-forgotten kid sister Happy Nice Time People. And be sure to follow Happy Nice Time People on Twitter.