Mitch McConnell called a halt to his negotiations with Harry Reid over a continuing resolution and raise in the debt ceiling, so John Boehner could create a bill in the House. The real question is – was McConnell doing it as a courtesy to Boehner, or did he just want to see him fail again so he could whip Republican Senators into line?

Boehner’s attempts resulted in a bill that no Democrat would go near, so he needed his caucus to support him, and, as is now normal, they didn’t. This is why it is worthless to negotiate with Boehner – he can’t deliver.

The Senate will probably have a bill tomorrow, but the only way this can end is for Boehner to put it on the floor for a vote. If he does it, the NRPS whackoes will call for his head, if he doesn’t there will be another financial meltdown.

If he doesn’t want to go down in history for all of the wrong reasons, Boehner should call for the vote, and after it passes, announce his retirement. The job isn’t worth the aggravation.

Today is Ada Lovelace Day – celebrating the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths, which is not really ‘nerd cabaret’, as The Guardian seems to believe.

Ada Lovelace is generally considered to be the first computer programmer, as she wrote ‘code’ for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. The Engine itself couldn’t be built at the time because it required precision in machining that wasn’t available. [IBM later built part of the Engine and it worked as Babbage claimed.]

The ADA programming language, created for the US Department of Defense, was named for Countess Lovelace.

Computers don’t care who writes the code, what they look like, or anything other than the code works. Unfortunately too many people can’t leave their personal hangups behind, so days like this are necessary.