From the New York Times and the "actual governing is hard" file:

Facing a huge budget deficit when he took office in January, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano did not impose a hiring freeze. He did not stop borrowing to subsidize some of the richest school districts in the country. He did not eliminate the Police Department’s beloved mounted unit.

Instead, Mr. Mangano, a Republican who won one of the first upsets of the Tea Party era, did what he had promised: He cut taxes, adding $40 million to the county’s deficit, which has since reached nearly $350 million.

Now, with its bonds suddenly downgraded and a state oversight agency preparing to seize its checkbook and credit cards, Nassau is on the verge of a full-fledged fiscal crisis.

Tucson musical act Apocalypso perform popular music via three steel drummers (apparently, they're called "pannists") and a drummer. It is exactly what it sounds like, but yet with a little extra touch of awesome. Check them out tonight at Sakura on Tanque Verde tonight, starting at 6 pm.

Here is their cover of Erasure's "A Little Respect":

While the filmmakers' claim that this short film didn't cost them very much rings a little hollow (after all, the computers needed to render these sort of graphics aren't cheap), it's still a fun little sci-fi clip that's cheaper than a ticket to Tron: Legacy.

MODERN TIMES from BC2010 on Vimeo.

We have something from both sides of the spectrum of online video this week: another segment in our Secrets of Tucson Bartenders series (featuring Amber from Harvest making a delicious margarita) and a piece from a School of Journalism student on services available for Tucson's homeless this winter.

Secrets of Tucson Bartenders, pt. 5:

Services for Tucson's Homeless:

Finally, U.S. Congressman Barney Frank comes clean about that there Radical Homosexual Agenda.

Frank said the gay agenda is "to be protected against violent crimes driven by bigotry, it's to be able to get married, it's to be able to get a job, and it's to be able to fight for our country. For those who are worried about the radical homosexual agenda, let me put them on notice. Two down, two to go."

There really are blue bananas. Mike Brady, owner of the new Blue Banana Frozen Yogurt in Oro Valley, says they grow in only four places on earth, taste like vanilla ice cream and would be available at the store if he could get a case through customs.

One gets the feeling early on that frozen yogurt is to Brady what fried chicken was to Colonel Sanders. He’s a proud graduate of YoCream University - an educational workshop put on by frozen-yogurt distributor YoCream — and says he looked at more than 200 other frozen yogurt shops before settling on the theme and direction of the store he opened about a week ago.

“A lot of the company stores have a generic ice-cream-store look. They just have a very vanilla, boring look about them,” said Brady. “We wanted to do something different.”

While researching the name, Brady learned that the term “blue banana” also refers to a business and cultural district stretching from Northern England to Milan, Italy. This inspired him to go with a European feel for the interior, with hints referencing various locations within the “blue banana” district.

Brady says he serves all sorts of frozen yogurt and makes his own gelato from scratch. Current flavors include strawberry-champagne, bubble-gum, white-peppermint and orange-chocolate.

The store is located in Suite 121 of Oro Valley Marketplace, on the corner of Tangerine and Oracle roads. Hours: Noon to 9 p.m., Sunday through Wednesday; and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.

Call 820-4537 for more information.

Merry Christmas from a Dutch ad agency called CAKE.

When Shepard Smith and Jon Stewart team up to get something done, apparently it happens. The New York Times has the news:

Under the new agreement, the bill provides $4.3 billion over five years for health coverage to the 9/11 workers, instead of the original $7.4 billion over eight years.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand called the deal a “Christmas miracle.”

“Over the last 24 hours, our Republican colleagues have negotiated in good faith to forge a workable final package that will protect the health of the men and women who selflessly answered our nation’s call in her hour of greatest need,” the statement said. “This has been a long process, but we are now on the cusp of the victory these heroes deserve.”

With lawmakers eager to get home for the holidays, the Senate is expected within the hour to take up the bill by unanimous consent, an agreement made between the parties to bypass any potentially time-consuming debate.

I appreciate vegans embracing humor and gluttony to make their point, but the end product here ranks somewhere between the Epic Meal Time's Worst Pizza Ever and The Greasiest Sandwich Ever near the bottom of the edibility range.

There are days where I think President Obama is on a personal mission to make me regret voting for him, and then there are days like today when I'm reminded why I did. From his remarks this morning before signing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010:

Sixty-six years ago, in the dense, snow-covered forests of Western Europe, Allied Forces were beating back a massive assault in what would become known as the Battle of the Bulge. And in the final days of fighting, a regiment in the 80th Division of Patton’s Third Army came under fire. The men were traveling along a narrow trail. They were exposed and they were vulnerable. Hundreds of soldiers were cut down by the enemy.

And during the firefight, a private named Lloyd Corwin tumbled 40 feet down the deep side of a ravine. And dazed and trapped, he was as good as dead. But one soldier, a friend, turned back. And with shells landing around him, amid smoke and chaos and the screams of wounded men, this soldier, this friend, scaled down the icy slope, risking his own life to bring Private Corwin to safer ground.

For the rest of his years, Lloyd credited this soldier, this friend, named Andy Lee, with saving his life, knowing he would never have made it out alone. It was a full four decades after the war, when the two friends reunited in their golden years, that Lloyd learned that the man who saved his life, his friend Andy, was gay. He had no idea. And he didn’t much care. Lloyd knew what mattered. He knew what had kept him alive; what made it possible for him to come home and start a family and live the rest of his life. It was his friend.

And Lloyd’s son is with us today. And he knew that valor and sacrifice are no more limited by sexual orientation than they are by race or by gender or by religion or by creed; that what made it possible for him to survive the battlefields of Europe is the reason that we are here today. That's the reason we are here today.

So this morning, I am proud to sign a law that will bring an end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” It is a law — this law I’m about to sign will strengthen our national security and uphold the ideals that our fighting men and women risk their lives to defend.

No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who were forced to leave the military -— regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance -— because they happen to be gay. No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder, in order to serve the country that they love.

As Admiral Mike Mullen has said, “Our people sacrifice a lot for their country, including their lives. None of them should have to sacrifice their integrity as well.”

That’s why I believe this is the right thing to do for our military. That’s why I believe it is the right thing to do, period.