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Said Schakowsky:

This amendment goes far beyond current law which already bans the use of federal funding for abortions. It goes far beyond the language already in this bill that guarantees no federal dollars are used for abortion. This amendment says that a woman CANNOT purchase coverage that includes abortion services using her own dollars; middle class women, using exclusively their own money will be prohibited from purchasing a plan including abortion coverage in every single public OR PRIVATE INSURANCE PLAN in the new health care exchange. Her only option is to buy a separate insurance policy that covers only abortion – a ridiculous and unworkable approach since no woman anticipates needing an abortion. This amendment is a radical departure from current law and will result in millions of women losing coverage they already have.

This health reform bill is about improving access to care, not further restricting a woman's right to choose. Our bill is about lowering health care costs for millions of women and their families, not further marginalizing women by forcing them to pay more for their care. This amendment is a back door way of overturning Roe v. Wade; it is a disservice and insult to millions of women throughout our country. I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment.

Obama... this isn't good.

The CrunchPad, TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington's entry into the gadget business, is still missing in action.

Are higher-than-expected costs to blame?

One story we heard from a few people on a recent trip to California is that the CrunchPad is supposedly being delayed -- perhaps indefinitely -- by increasing expenses.

Arrington has said he wants to sell the device for as little money as possible, but that could be proving harder than originally planned. The story we've heard goes that Arrington's suppliers have come back with quotes significantly higher than they had initially predicted.

That could explain why we haven't heard a peep about the CrunchPad since the summer. Arrington told the New York Times in July that he would host an event "at the end of July or the beginning of August to make a big announcement about the CrunchPad," and that the device would go on sale "as soon as possible." It's now November, with no event and no gadget.

Mike did not reply to an email seeking comment, but a delay due to costs would not be surprising. The same thing happened to the "One Laptop Per Child" effort, which tried to build a $100 laptop and ended up with a $200 laptop. (To be sure, the hardware industry is a very tough one to crack. For a taste, read "Piloting Palm," co-authored by David Pogue, for an idea of how hard it was to build Palm Inc.)

The difference here is that the CrunchPad is not aimed at developing countries, but at Silicon Valley nerds. And if it's going to cost $600 or $700 for a CrunchPad, which only supports Web surfing, it's going to be tricky to compete with better devices from tech giants that cost just a few hundred dollars more. (For instance, the forthcoming Apple tablet, which could cost less than $1,000.)

When Arrington first mentioned the CrunchPad effort in July, 2008, he was aiming for a $200 price tag. In April, 2009, when he already had some prototypes built, he said "you can sell it for $300 and probably not go out of business." In July, he told the New York Times it would cost "less than $300." That may no longer be possible.

(One other wacky guess: That Arrington -- who has been very cozy with Google lately -- is waiting for Chrome OS to launch the CrunchPad.)

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Sad, but I certainly thought this might be coming.

The temporary closure of the Pirate Bay had the unforeseen side effect of forcing torrent sharers underground and causing a 300% increase in sites providing access to copyright files, according to McAfee.

Whack-a-mole, as I've said before.