Super Mario Crossover

There's no "retro emulation" for the iPhone. Due to Apple's "no 3rd party runtimes" rule, emulators are banned from the iPhone. One guy spent a year writing a Commodore 64 iPhone app, only to have it banned! He even negotiated the right to sell games with his app, but Apple banned it anyway.For the iPhone, Apple 100% controls distribution. It's impossible to install an iPhone app that Apple didn't approve, unless you hack your phone.

Word is that Harry Reid is likely to file cloture on financial regulation today, setting up a final vote as early as Wednesday. But no one is celebrating yet: There are still amendments left to be voted on, including a restoration of Glass-Steagall and the Volcker Rule. And what's going to happen in Conference Committee? Meanwhile, the opposition hasn't found its voice against Elena Kagan, but nor, it seems, have her supporters. The oil spill is still a disaster, but for the first time, we're making some headway against it.

Earlier today, I tweeted the news* that the financial-regulation bill had gotten 60 votes for cloture. The filibuster was broken. "But when it comes down to it," someone tweeted back, "will they get 60 votes to get the bill passed?"

A vote could take place to move to the bill as early as Monday. This suggests a couple of possible outcomes: 1) Democrats and Republicans strike a deal over the weekend and there's no filibuster. 2) Democrats and Republicans don't strike a deal over the weekend but Republicans fold and there's no filibuster. 3) Democrats and Republicans don't strike a deal over the weekend and Republicans decide to filibuster, either in an attempt to increase their leverage or to change the dynamics of this debate.

Senate Democrats will move forward on new gun control legislation Thursday, taking what will likely be their last shot at overcoming Republican opposition.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that he will file cloture on the bill tonight, setting the stage for the Senate to vote on whether it will bring the bill to the floor. 

The plan was for the financial-regulation reform bill to have a vote for cloture -- that is to say, a vote to end debate and move to a final vote -- at 2 p.m. today. But a handful Senate Democrats angry that their amendments haven't been considered derailed that. At 3:15 p.m., Democrats called an emergency caucus meeting. About 30 minutes after that meeting, Majority Leader Harry Reid called for a cloture vote. He lost.