Saturday, November 19, 2011

Channeling Texas's White-Hot Mama

Ann Richards was a good ol' gal. I can't think of a better person to play her than Holland Taylor, the amoral randy Mom in Two And A Half Men.

Sexy Beast. Well placed!

Taylor(l) and Ann on her hawg.

Actor Holland Taylor's one-woman show pays tribute to Ann Richards, the legendary governor of Texas.

The play is set in Richards’s statehouse office, lined in mahogany, with a commanding desk and a towering chandelier. Done up in an elaborate wig that recalls the former governor’s trademark white pouf and projecting a presence much larger than her diminutive frame, Taylor spends much of the two hours of running time on the phone with aides, lawyers, speechwriters, and her character’s children. Sliding effortlessly into Richards’s archetypal drawl with its strategically lazy cadences and surprising swells (Taylor’s chum Tom Hanks, whose voracious boss she played on his breakthrough 1980s sitcom, Bosom Buddies, made sure she used his dialect coach), she captures the governor’s sly humor, talent for intimacy, and knack for getting her way. Much of the script centers on Richards’s personal life: her alcoholism (she stopped drinking in 1980), her traumatic divorce from her husband of 30 years, Dave Richards, and her complex relationship with her offspring.

Although the play shows her grappling with issues including the death penalty, concealed-handgun laws, and abortion, it is far more character study than polemic. George Bush is mentioned only obliquely, and there is nary a mention of Karl Rove, the master political puppeteer who engineered Richards’s undoing (after the election he attributed Richards’s defeat partly to a speech she made to a Girl Scouts conference in Austin warning young women to beware of “Prince Charming on a motorcycle with a beer gut and a wandering eye”).

Hey! I resemble that remark!

“My pal Stockard Channing calls this my ‘moonshot.’ The one chance to go for broke. I’ve always been a hired gun, and not always so fulfilled by my work. Now I’ve had the chance to be a leader, to do something that’s beyond just myself, something meaningful. Who would have imagined?”

I wish you all success, Ms. Taylor.

Lobbying Firm's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street (VIDEO)

Up with Chris Hayes, this morning, or here. A 'must watch' if there ever was one.. Fullscreen for best effect.

Notable quotes:

"The Empire strikes back..."

"What's contained in this short memo is all the most craven, corrupt, and insidious workings of the status quo coming together to squash Occupy."

"This is just ONE memo from ONE firm that we managed to get our hands on."

They're running scared. They're regrouping. It's ON, motherfuckers.

Jarhead Sounds Off

A tip o' the Brain to Grandpa Eddie via Facebook. Sergeant Vince Perritano USMC sounds off in court after being arrested at Qccupy Chicago:

“In June 2004 I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and over the past ten years the integrity of that document has been severely compromised, and our civil liberties have been gradually repealed. I believe this is because the will of the American people has not been honestly reflected in our policy, and often because misinformation is spread to manipulate the people’s decision-making processes here in the United States. These problems are largely the effects of corporate abuses of American democracy.
...

“I know our domestic and foreign policies would be significantly different if the American people’s voices were legitimately listen to by our legislators and leaders, instead of being drowned out by corporate and multinational lobbyists with billions of dollars to ensure that laws are written laced with loopholes and politicians are elected who will listen to them first, instead of regularly overlooking human rights violations and apartheid, while in other cases strongly condemning them or even greatly exaggerating them in order to create justification for war while hiding the real reasons from the public.
...

“I see the threats this country and the world are facing as an emergency because the form of fascist or corporate rule of the future would probably be much different than the well-known examples from history, but comparable, equal to, or possibly even greater in its scope and capacity for brutality. We have high ideals and values as a nation to be our clear markers to ensuring a free world. Our values and ideals are not obstacles to be gone around in times of crisis, but when they are treated as such, it has the effect of making us a nation we are not. The emergency situation the country and the world finds ourselves in is being addressed by millions of people around the world, in thousands of cities with the tactic of peaceably assembling around the clock in protest and with democratic action for change, and the right of U.S. Citizens to peaceably assemble is a right I am proud to say I defended, along with the rest of the Constitution, and one I will continue to defend.

I left him this:

Well said, Sergeant. I took the same oath you did to defend this country and The Constitution from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. Like you, I never un-took that oath either and will carry it out until the day I die.

Gordon
Former Corporal, USMC, 1963-'66
3rdBn., 8thMarines

Apropos of nothing at all, I reported for active duty 48 years ago today. Sometimes I feel like I'm still on it.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Subtitled for your convenience!

Emmylou with Trisha Yearwood, Sam Bush, John Stewart Randall, Carl Jackson and John Starling. From 1989

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Recipe For Profit And Childhood Obesity



Always check YubaNet for the best 'toons!

Headline of the Day

Arizona Supreme Court Reverses Brewer-Led Impeachment, Reinstates Redistricting Commission Chair

Nice try, blondie. Without Pearce there, you got nuthin'. Heh.

Semper F.U.

Following up on the post below this one.



Some time back I came up with the phrase "No pull trigger, no get food" as a metaphor for the lying lip service to "Support the troops". I was right on the money.

It's a sad state of affairs when a TV comedian does a better job of telling us what's going on than our so-called journalists.

Quote of the Day II

Paul Krugman in a column about the thankfully doomed supercommittee.

So the supercommittee will fail — and that’s good.

For one thing, history tells us that the Republican Party would renege on its side of any deal as soon as it got the chance. [...]

They'll try to weasel out of the 'triggers' that cut their beloved defense spending too.

Willie Nelson: It’s time for the rich to pay up

Via Raw Story

Tough titties, Alabama ...

You hadda have it, you live with it now:

...

Many of the utility companies are barred from turning on the water or electricity unless the homeowner/renter can provide proof of citizenship. Can't find your birth certificate? Go buy some bottled water and flashlight batteries.

A whole lot of yahoos are going to have second thoughts about this law. "Hey, this was supposed to get rid of the beaners, not force me to make three trips to the DMV!"


Good going, idiots.

Quote of the Day

Steve Benen:

...

Of course, Herman Cain makes George W. Bush look like Stephen Hawking.

...

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Bar Hog


Heh.
Thanks to YubaNet

Robert Reich: Mario Savio Memorial Lecture, November 15, 2011

Via YubaNet

I remember Mario Savio and the FSM that got the 1st Amendment put into actual practice. Which the powers-that-be didn't like then and don't like now. Freedom of speech, assembly, hell, any right, freedom, etc. is fine to pay lip service to but you can get hurt if you actually try to do any of them against the interests of the 1%. You - WE - can change things that need changing that the Masters Of The Universe don't want changed.

Drifty sez ...

Neuticles is smaaart!

...

But in this Universe, Newt is the GOP's Total Package, which is why – year after year – the Sock Puppets of Empire like David Gregory keep putting him back in the spotlight.

Because, we are told, Newt is Smart.

Smaaaart.

...

Live stream ...

From OWS downtown.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Click here to die young and happy

Way too late for that (happy, yes, young, bwahahahaha!) so I clicked it. Oh yeah, it's Wednesday...

"And while you're at it, and to hell with the hateful Puritanism that underlies it all, the vile voice that says the body is ugly and the flesh is sinful and it's all a pathetic, shameful thing to be ignored, or heavily medicated, or glutted beyond recognition and finally rejected like so much animal meat. This way misery and conservatism lies.

Yep, conservatism lies all right. Fuck that, he says working his abs by reaching for the popcorn. Many reps!

In my dreams!

Raw Story

Former Bush political adviser Karl Rove seemed a bit flustered Tuesday night after his speech to Johns Hopkins University was interrupted by a group of about 15 protesters connected to “Occupy Baltimore,” who got under his skin enough to get him cursing.

A reporter for The Johns Hopkins News-Letter said Rove even challenged one of the protesters to a fight.

(Gordon, jumping up and down, waving frantically) "Yoohoo! Turdie! Over here! Pick me! Pick me!"

Report: Military Contractor Overcharged Pentagon For Torturing Iraqi Citizens

America's Finest News Source

WASHINGTON—Pentagon officials expressed outrage when an independent audit revealed Tuesday that defense contractor KBR Inc. had charged them up to five times more than market price for the service of torturing Iraqi citizens. "At a time when our government is facing budget cuts across the board, it is reprehensible that someone would charge $150,000 to grab an innocent civilian off the street, fly him to a prison in an undisclosed location, and deprive him of sleep while forcing him to maintain an excruciatingly painful stress position for 40 hours," said Douglas B. Wilson, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, adding that the service should have cost "$40,000, tops." "Sure, they got this particular individual to talk, but is that any reason to tack on $250 dollars per nipple-clamp used to electrocute him?" The Defense Department later confirmed it looked forward to continuing its work with KBR on projects throughout the region.

The narrowing line between satire and straight news reporting has finally been erased.

Thank God for batcrap crazy Repug primary voters!

I Mean it, too. They're the ones who will keep this from happening and allow Obama to be re-elected:

The Ostroy Report

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and make an early prediction that Jon Huntsman Jr. is going to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012. By all accounts, the odds are I will be proven wrong. But I'm not so sure. I think the former Utah governor and Ambassador to China truly stands an excellent chance of winning.

I've been saying this for a while. Welcome to the limb, Andy. Nice view, huh?

(yada-yada - G)
...

In the end, what it boils down to is this: will early primary and caucus voters ultimately dump the wild girls and bring a nice girl home to mama? Huntsman's smart, witty and squeaky-clean, and with his impeccable bi-partisan credentials, diplomatic and foreign policy expertise, and moderate positions he just may be the prom queen voters want to send up against President Obama next November. On paper, Huntsman certainly has the best chance of beating him.

Luckily for us, the Dead End Quarter places no value on quality or reality or intelligence in a candidate, only ideology, which their candidates are lying about anyway. The DEQ should get 'Obama 2012' bumperstickers because they're the ones that will make it possible.

Unless they wise up. To be charitable, I think they have a, er, 1% chance of that. And oh yeah, the 1% will be picking their nominee, not them. For once in her worthless life, The Skank Of Whom There Is No Skanker Coulter was right and praise God, "...we'll get Romney, then we'll lose".

Quote of the Day

Charles Pierce:

... The intellectual corruption of Scalia, and the pure cussed fk-you-I'm-still-here arrogance of Clarence Thomas, continue to be marvels to behold.

Keith ...

"Mayor Bloomberg now, Mayor Bloomberg tomorrow, Mayor Bloomberg forever!"


Just go watch.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

A Veteran's Response To Fox News

Media Matters

So naturally I was caught off guard when I came upon a Foxnews.com Veterans' Day story highlighting a divide between military members. The story -- headlined, "Generation Gap Felt at Veterans Day Cook-Out in Chicago" -- reported that the VFW "lost about 200,000 people in just the last year. Younger vets aren't joining groups as commonly as they did generations ago." Attempting to explain this, reporter Ruth Ravve forwards the notion that younger veterans are somehow lacking in "patriotism":

They're not lacking in patriotism, of course, but they might blow the whistle on the whole imperialist scam we've been subjected to for the last ten years, therefore they're 'unpatriotic' to F**Noise phony 'patriots' who never served.

Go read the story. I've got a little story of my own.

I am a Life Member of the Veterans Of Foreign Wars by dint of my heroic involvement in the Dominican Republic Crisis in the mid-'60s wherein I singlehandedly scared the crap outta them pesky Dominican rebels* by cruising offshore for two weeks with a coupla thousand close friends and some air support.

*
The 1963 constitution guaranteed civil and individual rights, and endorsed civilian control of the military. These and other changes, such as land reform, struck conservative landholders and military officers as radical and threatening, particularly when juxtaposed against three decades of somnolent authoritarianism under the Trujillo Regime. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church also resented the secular nature of the new constitution, in particular its provision for legalized divorce. The hierarchy, along with the military leadership and the economic elite, also feared communist influence in the republic, and they warned of the potential for "another Cuba". The result of this concern and opposition was an U.S. supported military coup d'état on September 25, 1963.
...

The pro-Bosch rebels, known as "Constitutionalists" for their focus on restoring the constitutionally elected president, took to the streets,...

We were on the wrong-side-right-wing-side once again. We did that a lot. Still do. I like the "took to the streets" part. But I digress.

We had a VFW post here in Truckee that turned away Vietnam and Vietnam Era Vets. I understand this was not uncommon amongst VFW posts. They didn't want them. The WWII Vets (the "tailgunners") didn't think we were "real" soldiers, probably because we "lost" that war. To be fair, they weren't thrilled by Korean War Vets either but they had let them in before they all got old, back when they were fresh back from war and belonging to a Vets' organization was the thing to do, back when millions joined.

I think there was a 'social' element too. It was those old farts' social club and they wanted to restrict membership to their peers.

It worked for them, I guess. Membership dwindled through the attrition of old age and death and they went out of business. I got into it almost by mistake when some Vietnam Vets here in town decided they needed a new VFW post and jumped through all the hoops and got one going. They needed bodies (sound familiar? Heh.) and dragooned my ass into it. A couple of the old members of the previous post showed up too.

Now WE were the old farts! We had fun for a while, did fundraisers and good works. I found out that most VFW posts raise money to fund their pet projects by throwing picnics and selling each other raffle tickets. National HQ raises money from membership fees, but to be fair, they kicked down money to the local posts as well. A big happy circle.

Our post didn't ever have very many members, and interest waned and our post went belly-up less than ten years after it started.

The author of the linked article makes a good point that a lot of today's Vets don't want anything to do with anything that smacks of the military, but might later on in life. The Vietnam Era guys were the same way, and they are the backbone of the Vets' organizations now.

With no post, I'm a "Member At Large". I carry my metal membership card strategically placed in my wallet mostly to ward off RFID theft.

Am I glad I'm still a member? Yes.

I think every Vet should belong to a Vets' organization. You don't have to do anything, and the posts do some good things and have political clout on Veterans issues.

I was a member of The American Legion as well, until one of the big higher-ups came out in support of Bush's Criminal War in Iraq. The AL is open to anybody who wore the uniform. I dropped those fuckers like a hot rock, same as I did the NRA when they went batcrap right-wing. The VFW is smarter than that. A lot of their members have actually been to war.

Unlike the pols who start wars and create Veterans.

Figures...

LATimes

Scalia and Thomas dine with healthcare law challengers as court takes case

Getting their marching orders. "Behind closed doors" doesn't matter any more.

The NYPD Didn't Want You To See Occupy Wall Street Get Evicted

Gothamist. Many links at site.

During our coverage of the eviction of the Occupy Wall Street protesters early this morning, a NPR reporter, a New York Times reporter, and a city councilmember were arrested. Airspace in Lower Manhattan was closed to CBS and NBC news choppers by the NYPD, a New York Post reporter was allegedly put in a "choke hold" by the police, a NBC reporter's press pass was confiscated and a large group of reporters and protesters were hit with pepper spray. According to the eviction notice, the park was merely "cleaned and restored for its intended use." If this is the case, why were so few people permitted to view it?

Because it's wrong and they know it.

Headline of the Day

Columnist: ‘Registering The Poor To Vote Is Un-American’ Piece ‘Indelicately Worded’

I'm sure he heard from higher-higher that letting how they really feel slip out is 'indelicate' indeed.

From a 'comment':

It's people like this guy who routinely collect the most benefit from the government they elect! His so-called "cheese line" is penny ante compared to tax breaks and corporate welfare enjoyed by the lobbyist-class.

Yes, being given cheese that others have worked so hard to steal is definitely un-American.

Quote of the Day

Comrade Misfit:

...

Funny thing how Catholicism and the Dixie version of Christianity gets themselves all in a tizzy about gays marrying. But all of that stuff that their Savior preached about caring for the poor and the sick and the lame doesn't seem to matter to them ...

When the cops show up ...

At 1 in the morning, no notice, it ain't about cleaning the park:

Mayor Bloomberg is saying that people can return after the park has been cleaned and restored. Many are complaining that the police provided no noticed and discarded personal belongings during the process. This will be a story to follow today to see if the NYPD and city of New York can keep their word ...


I'm watching the local news and the chopper is showing the cops putting up barricades around the park. I don't trust Bloomberg as far as I can throw him ... wait, I could probably throw him pretty far.

Update:

Looks like the OWS got a restraining order:

A New York judge on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order allowing protesters to return to Zuccotti Park only hours after police forcibly removed them, arresting dozens.

...

Monday, November 14, 2011

Election Lesson: Republicans Learn That Americans Aren't Quite as Crazy as They Are

This is 5 days old, which in Blog World means it's a fossil, but I like it.

Guess Whom:

Let's put this in perspective. For the last year, Republicans have been walking around with big hard-ons, sticking them in everyone's face, saying, "Yeah, aren't you so impressed with how big my cock is?" For a good chunk of the year, the media and the public and, indeed, many Democrats have been responding, "Yes, yes, that's a really huge erection you've got there, Cantor." And some of them have added, "Can we get some work done now?" To which the tumescent Republicans have said, "No. We can't get any work done at all until you talk more about how big my cock is with this raging boner." Which would lead to more talk about, oh, gee, just how enormous a hard-on it is. So instead of actually accomplishing anything. all everyone does is sit around and talk about Republican dicks.

Yesterday, voters across the country smacked those erections and said, "Get those fucking things out of our faces."

The lesson here is not that the nation is turning against Republicans, per se, but it is saying, "Whoa, we're not that crazy and cruel." The real lesson is that the Tea Party is dead. The only hard-on it's got left is the one that rigor mortis causes. It's sinking into the ocean like so many boxes of fine Earl Grey. The only thing Republicans need to figure out is if they are tied so tightly to the corpse that it drags them down into the drink, too.

I hope he's right and I hope the Repugs are tied on with a Gordian knot and no Excalibur.

Marine injured in Oakland protest makes public statement

Reuters

"I'm feeling a lot better, with a long road in front of me," Olsen wrote. "After my freedom of speech was quite literally taken from me, my speech is coming back but I've got a lot of work to do with rehab."

The post is accompanied by a photo of Olsen, smiling with a neck brace on and a visible scar on his forehead.

"Thank you for all of your support, it has meant the world to me," he continued. "You'll be hearing more from me in the near future and soon enough we'll see you in our streets!"

Oo-rah!

Ten stories of people moving their money, despite bank efforts to stop them

Kos. Links, photos, videos.

1. "He has a right to speak," said the cop to the banker

When Daily Kos community member marvinborg was distributing flyers outside of local Chase and Bank of America branches encouraging customers to move their money to credit unions, one of the managers called the police on him. When they arrived, the police promptly told the manager off:

"He has the right to speak and the right to hand out flyers. Unless he blocks you or causes a disturbance, he has the right to be here - please don't call the police again if he is not bothering you. If you don't like free speech you should move to another country."

As soon as he got back to the cop shop he was probably directed to go read the bulletin board which had a reminder of who they really "protect and serve". Heh.

6. "Management is nervous"

'Bout fuckin' time.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

NBA: Owners to Move Operations Overseas
Foreign workers will be paid twenty-five cents an hour to play basketball.

GOP Wants to Crack Down On Voter Fraud
Suggests poll tax.

Wealth Gap Between Older, Younger Americans Widest on Record
Parents advised to change locks on doors, hide car keys.

Like Governor Perry, Americans commonly forget the 3rd thing on a list. Here are the most commonly forgotten 3rd things:

1. Orange juice
2. Tomato juice
3. Vodka

1. Car keys
2. Grocery list
3. Wallet

1. Put out guest towels
2. Spray air freshener
3. Flush Toilet

1. Fold beach umbrella
2. Gather towels, beach toys
3. Count your children

1. Review talking points
2. Comb hair
3. Take your meds

But of course ...

The Penn State child abuse was the Liberals' fault. I got shit to do this morning but I'll send you over to Drifty's to enjoy his takedown (as usual) of the idiotic tool Bobo Brooks:

...

But of course, powerful people lying about matters of life and death is not material about which Our Mr. Brooks "reports", but instead is the contaminated water in which he swims.

From his full-throated support of the Operation Iraqi Clusterfuck and contempt for the filthy hippies who opposed it...to his full-throated support of the Scooter Libby and contempt for the filthy Lefties who opposed him...to his full-throated support of the Oligarchs and his contempt for the filthy Occupiers who opposed them..to his full-throated support of Paul Wolfowitz and his contempt for the filthy anti-Semites who questioned him...Mr. Brooks' career has had one, utterly consistent and very profitable theme: Afflicting the afflicted and comforting the comfortable.

...


Later.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Headline of the Day

Missoula, Montana, Votes Against Corporate Personhood: "Corporations Are Not Human Beings"

Thank you, Missoula. It's gotta start somewhere.

ATLAS SHRUGGED DVD Recalled Because Of Ideological Error

Yes, I know the whole goddam book and movie was an ideological error and should have been delivered to Montag for, er, processing. Read on.

Badass Digest

Remember Atlas Shrugged, the blink-and-you-miss-it adaptation of Ayn Rand’s unwieldy novel of ultimate evil? The film has hit DVD (which means you can attempt to watch it in your own home, where you have easy access to booze and razors), but the producers are recalling the remaining copies on store shelves (probably all of them) because of an error on the packaging.

The error is in this sentence. See if you can figure out what it is:

“AYN RAND’s timeless novel of courage and self-sacrifice comes to life…”

Yes, the word ‘self-sacrifice.’ Seriously. [...]

Heh. Bungled that one, din'tcha?

The new covers will read:

“AYN RAND’s timeless novel of rational self-interest comes to life…”

The company has a web page where you can register to get a new version of the cover. Oy.

Oy is right. Due to the slightly sub-fantastic popularity of that turkey, the recall is projected to cost upwards of ten dollars.

Quote of the Day

Clint Eastwood from a column by MoDo on J. Edgar:

Referring to the grumpy, prejudiced dinosaur he played in his last role, he grinned: “In this p.c. era, I’d be the ‘Gran Torino’ president.”

Me too, Clint, except I'd be more of a non-prejudicial equal-opportunity ass kicker.

Stupid Republicans ...

...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry got a big round of applause from the crowd when he said, “The foreign aid budget in my administration for every country is going to start at zero dollars, zero dollars — and then we’ll have a conversation in this country about whether or not a penny of our taxpayer dollars needs to go into those countries.”

...


So I guess they've written off the American Jewish vote?

What I wrote on the Facebook:


Well, the Republican idiots did it this time. They're saying "foreign aid should start at zero". Have any of them talked this over with AIPAC? You know, being Israel gets the largest chunk of American foreign aid? And these are the people who say President Obama is dissing Israel? I wonder how loud they'd scream if Obama cut off Israel's foreign aid? Idiots.


Bloody twats.