Alternate Brain

Heh ...

2012-01-27T15:47:00.000-05:00

Stolen from the Being Liberal FB page.

Why No Responsible Democrat Should Want Newt Gingrich to Get the GOP Nomination

2012-01-27T13:17:00.002-05:00

Robert "Bobby Buzzkill" Reich. He's usually got plenty of sack. Not this time.

Republicans are worried sick about Newt Gingrich's ascendance, while Democrats are tickled pink.

Yet no responsible Democrat should be pleased at the prospect that Gingrich could get the GOP nomination. The future of America is too important to accept even a small risk of a Gingrich presidency.

"Weird" is the word I hear most from Republicans who have worked with him. Scott Klug, a former Republican House member from Wisconsin, who hasn't endorsed anyone yet, says "Newt has ten ideas a day – two of them are good, six are weird and two are very weird."

Newt's latest idea, for example – to colonize the moon – is typically whacky.

Are you kidding me? That's the best of all his whacky ideas!

Even if the odds that Gingrich as GOP presidential candidate would win the general election are 10 percent, that's too much of a risk to the nation. No responsible American should accept a 10 percent risk of a President Gingrich.

Look, Bobby, that asshole's got exactly Zero percent chance of being President, and it's a risk we're willing to take. He will go down at, my guess, 65% to 35% as opposed to Willard at about 53% to 47%. We're lovin' this. Quit harshin' our mellow, dude.

If I was so pessimistic as to think the majority of American voters are as batcrap crazy as the Dead End Quarter, I'd be blogging from Nepal or Botswana or someplace else that is smarter than here.

Headline of the Day

2012-01-27T13:12:00.000-05:00

Cocaine mistakenly sent to UN headquarters

It could only help! I wonder if 35 keys is enough...

GOP begins to think the unthinkable

2012-01-27T11:41:00.002-05:00

Guardian (UK)

It is the rumour that – almost – dare not speak its name.

But, as the Republican nomination race descends into civil war in Florida, some senior figures on the right of American politics are speculating openly about the prospect that none of the contenders should win.

Instead, they argue, several scenarios could play out which would allow someone not currently in the race to step in at the last moment, or appear at the party's convention in Tampa in August, and win the right to fight Barack Obama for the White House.

All the usual suspects. The same ones who stayed outta that race because they saw the handwriting on the wall some time ago. Heh.

This is so good I can't believe it! The whole 3-ring Repug primary circus up to now might get thrown out the window because the money boys know they're all a buncha unelectable clowns.

I'm thinkin' of it as a Hail Mary Circular Firing Squad. Fun ta watch.

And then they lose anyway. Heh.

What's Good For General Motors Is Awful for Rush Limbaugh

2012-01-27T11:17:00.003-05:00

Good. Goes to the point of Fixer's earlier post. There are people whom he thinks will believe him. He's made millions off of lying to them. Maybe he's just getting more and more batcrap outrageous because less and less people are falling for his shit. Media Matters, links and video if you can stand looking at that fat pig. Sorry, pigs.

Why? Simple: If Obama is for the car companies succeeding, the right-wing media have to be against them. Aggressively. (Although, it's funny that when GM ad dollars were flowing Limbaugh's way he sang a very different tune.)
...

Instead, he lashed out at the carmaker, and refused to believe that GM's robust sales numbers were accurate. In fact, he denounced them as an "absolute crock." Because GM and Detroit autoworkers are the enemy of conservative media.

Note to Rushbo: Keep digging. When the hole's deep enough, shovel the dirt in on yourself. Put up a "head closed" sign with the date so no one will picnic there and get sick.

Mixed Britannia ...

2012-01-27T08:40:00.001-05:00

I've been watching this series every Friday for the last few weeks, being that it goes to my roots in England and the colonies. A very well-done piece from George Alagiah of the BBC:

There are several clips from the series at the link. Good recent (relatively) history.

Conservative = Stupid

2012-01-27T08:25:00.000-05:00

There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.

...

Polling data and social and political science research do show that prejudice is more common in those who hold right-wing ideals that those of other political persuasions, Nosek told LiveScience. [7 Thoughts That Are Bad For You]

...

We been saying this since we started this blog. It's the only way to explain why we had a moron President for 8 years.

Headline of the Day

2012-01-26T13:56:00.001-05:00

Gingrich pledges moon colony during presidency

There's nothing wrong with that at all, but the words "Neut" and "moon" in the same sentence bring a horridly disturbing visual...

Wingnuts finally understand why we want Neutie as their nominee

2012-01-26T13:21:00.005-05:00

Politico (yeah, yeah, button it). With video.

It’s as if the conservative media over the past 24 hours decided Gingrich is for real, and they need to come clean about the man they really know before it’s too late. This is just a sampling of what’s hitting Newt:

Shorter: simply delicious!

A top conservative media figure said the flood of attacks reflects a “Holy crap, it could happen” moment in the movement, as Republican leaders began to realize after Gingrich’s South Carolina victory that he could become the nominee, the global face and voice of their party and theology.

“It could happen, and it would be a disaster,” said the conservative, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect private conversations. “All of us who were around and saw how he operated as speaker — there’s no one who’s not appalled by the prospect of what could happen. He thinks he embodies conservatism and if he wakes up one day and has a grandiose thought, he is going to expect all of us to fall in line behind him.

“There’s just so much risk on so many levels,” the official continued. “Everyone’s thinking, ‘It could really happen.’ He could win the presidency if there’s a way to win with 45 percent — a second recession or a third-party candidate. The immediate worry is him winning the nomination and losing the election, tanking candidates down-ballot. In a worst-case scenario, you could see unified Democratic governance, and we’d be back where we were in ’09 and ’10. It’s insane.”

Ah, Dungbeetle, what you call "insane" we call "a chance for survival".

Don't worry about it, Repugs. You get Neutie, you lose. We know that and you know that.

You're going to get Willard. You still lose. Deep down, you know that too. So what's the big deal?

Update:

Salon

But a startling new poll underscores what has got to be a maddening possibility for Republicans: It could all be for naught – and there may be nothing they can do about it. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey points to a measurable uptick in optimism about the country’s economic direction, and in the public’s assessment of President Obama’s performance.

See? Things are going in the, er, right direction.

Yeesh ...

2012-01-26T10:47:00.001-05:00

If I won $100mil in the Powerball, the gummint takes their cut right off the top. The Mittster gives $100mil to his kids, not so much:

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If I understand the following correctly, [David Cay] Johnston confirmed with Romney's lawyer that the Romneys paid no taxes on $100,000,000 (that's $100 million) by passing it to their sons as a gift.

...

There is a Club.
We ain't in it.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-26T07:26:00.000-05:00

Geov Parrish:

...

Never, ever think that Republicans cannot get stupider. It's one challenge they're always up for.

...

Oh the outrage ...

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

The GOP and their Outrage Machine have shifted into passing gear:

Republicans saying anything intelligent or compassionate is about as common as the Pope wearing a condom. However these past few days, the GOP and the Teabaggers have gone out of their way to show their idiocy, nastiness and disdain of anything humane can always reach a new low.

...

Comfort Food

2012-01-25T13:16:00.003-05:00

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford going on about Paula Deen, instaheartattack food, da Catlick Choich, and Scott "Workers Suck" Walker. Va-hoo-hahs too! Enjoy.

Behold, Burger King home delivery! That's right, America's No. 3 fast food death machine is testing the bringing of Whoppers, BK Stackers and other grease-related, food-like items that are so full of salt and sugar and fat and synthetic hormones they will make your blood turn into glue and your face turn into Paula Deen, straight to your door!
...

Best part: you barely have to lift a finger. Just enough to tap a few buttons on the site/app, and within an hour, not-so-fast food will be killing you and your family faster than you can say "Damn liberals stop telling me what to eat!"

In related news, Taco Bell has reportedly developed a method of cramming its patented, fake taco meat into .44 caliber bullet casings, which, for $.99 a round, it will shoot straight in your heart over and over again, until you collapse. The Taco Bulleto™ is coming soon to a drive-by near you.

Rejoice, Paula Deen! Paula Deen is America's greasiest, butteryest, lyingest Southern-fried sweetheart! Paula Deen appears to openly despise you and does not seem to care if you get fat and sick and perhaps die from eating her bacon-wrapped deep-fried mac-and-cheese butter-dipped donut logs on a stick!

Actually, deep-fried oddball food-like substances that can kill you, morbid obesity, and early death are grand Southern traditions like racism and ignorance, but ones that I for one would never change. Why not keel face first into something that's so incredibly scrumptious that you'll never get up from the table after eating and couldn't care less? Go Paula! Kill dem crackers with love!

SOTU

2012-01-25T12:35:00.002-05:00

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) January 25, 2012 – In what some critics are calling the most radical tactic ever employed in a State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama risked alienating congressional Republicans last night by repeatedly using facts.
...

After the speech, a furious Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, "It's been a longstanding tradition in our politics not to use facts in a State of the Union Address, a tradition the President chose to ignore in an outrageous way tonight. I won't stand for it and the American people won't stand for it."

"We want to work with the President for the good of the American people," added House Speaker John Boehner. "But he's going to have to take facts off the table. That's a deal-breaker for us."

This ...

2012-01-25T09:20:00.000-05:00

Is one of the best things to come out of the State of the Union:

(CNN) -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will head a task force to investigate housing practices, a senior administration official said early Wednesday.

During Tuesday night's State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said he was asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to create a special unit made up of prosecutors and state attorneys general to "expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages."

Obama also said a "Financial Crimes Unit" was in the works. The group will be charged with cracking down on "large-scale fraud" in an effort to protect the public's investments.

Let's hope they don't neuter him under pressure from their donors.

Dear Egypt ...

2012-01-25T08:45:00.002-05:00

Personally, I don't give a damn what government you elect. You want to live under Islamic law, fine. You want to subjugate your women, fine. It's your country and you threw out your dictator so you could have the government you want. I applaud that. Thing is, though, since a great portion of your national wealth is derived from the tourist industry, if you go 'full Sharia' on us, I, and whole buncha other tourists sure as hell ain't gonna spend their money in your country. As I said, I really don't give a shit what you do in your own country but if you don't want to end up as some 12th Century throwback (see: Afghanistan), you'll practice the basic human rights the rest of us all take for granted.

Ultraconservative Islamists, known as Salafists, have emerged from the first stage of Egypt's parliamentary election as a powerful political force.

...

However, since the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February, they have turned to electoral politics as a way to try to further incorporate Islamic law, or Sharia, into legislation.

...

In parliament, al-Nour is expected to press a socially conservative agenda, including plans to phase out non-Islamic banking, alcohol sales and revealing swimming costumes on beaches.

...

So, if I go there on vacation to see the wonders of the Cradle of Civilization, my wife and I would not be allowed together on the same beach? I would not be able to get a beer in that hot ass climate of yours? My wife would not be allowed out in public without a head covering? Fine.

Guess what? I'll spend my money somewhere else and so will a couple million other people. Enjoy the 12th Century.

Cross-posted at Worlds.

Heh ...

2012-01-25T07:11:00.000-05:00

WASHINGTON -- In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

...

As the SEALS approached the compound on foot gunfire broke out, the U.S. officials said, and several of the militants were reportedly killed. There is no word that any of the Americans were wounded.

The SEALs gathered up Buchanan and Thisted, loaded them onto the helicopters and flew them to safety at an undisclosed location. The two hostages were not injured during the rescue operation and are reported to be in relatively good condition.

...

Believe me, I don't give a damn about the fate of pirates. Hope we killed a lot of them.

Hey, news flash! Willard's rich!

2012-01-24T15:22:00.003-05:00

Greg Sargent

What timing: On day of Obama’s big inequality speech, Romney reveals massive income, low tax rates
...

I’m not sure the Obama campaign could have scripted this more perfectly. In a remarkable bit of good timing, President Obama is set to deliver a State of the Union speech focused on income inequality and tax unfairness on exactly the same day that Mitt Romney will reveal that he made over $40 million in the last two years — all of it taxed at a lower rate than that paid by middle class taxpayers.
...

— Income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million in 2011, virtually all of it from profits, dividends or interest from investments, and none from wages.

Without lifting a finger. He has people to peel him a grape...

Romney doesn’t just disagree with Obama on these fundamental issues; he personally symbolizes virtually the entire 2012 Democratic message. He is the walking embodiment of everything Dems allege is wrong with our system and the ways it’s rigged in favor of the wealthy and against the middle class. Yet this is the standard bearer the GOP seems set to pick.

Heh. Between Willard and Neutie, looks like the battle is between the 1% and the Dead End Quarter.

Yo, Barry, go ahead and fix the crib up. You got yer 4 more years.

Heh...

2012-01-24T14:20:00.002-05:00

Thanks to YubaNet.

It Depends on What the Meaning of "Lobbyist" Is

2012-01-24T14:02:00.006-05:00

El Rude-o loves him some Gingrich, which, IMNSHO, strikes me as being very similar to "Santorum" albeit without the creamy texture and delightful flavor, basically just plain old fecal matter, peanuts, corn, plastic bags, high-heaven stench, and all.

Everyone knows it's lobbying. And why does that matter? Because that means that Gingrich is a bought and paid for corporate whore. He's just one of those chatty whores who wants to talk about his kids before he sucks your cock. You listen only because he sucks it so good.

It was essentially a money fight on the stage in Tampa last night. The really rich fuck versus the really, really rich fuck. But, and the Rude Pundit's not proud about this, Romney landing a blow that actually rattled Gingrich gave him a momentary thrill, a bit of wood, even. It was fleeting, yes, but goddamn, it's sweet to see someone punch that white-domed phlegm globule right in his cash sack.
...

Everyone knows what Gingrich has been doing for the last dozen years. He doesn't even bother to wipe the semen off his upper lip.

Reminds me of the guy whose snowmobile broke down out in the boonies. Mechanic comes, looks it over, says "Looks like ya blew a seal." Rider replies, "Nah, that's just some frost on my moustache."

Dear God let that asshole be the Repug nominee. If you got the balls to go against Wall St. that is.

Thank you...

2012-01-24T13:46:00.004-05:00

...to whomever is in charge of the weather around here for finally realizing that there are different snow requirements between ski hills and my driveway. The guy you had last year sucked.

I'm very happy with my one foot of snow outta the three storms over the weekend. It let me go play with my toys enough to commune with nature without much effort, but boy, am I sore. Usually by this time of year I'm accustomed to it, but I've had the last two months off and went soft. Plenty of winter left to catch up, I guess.

The ski hills are also very happy, with up to six feet of fresh, money-generating snow at the higher elevations. The motels, restaurants, and merchants in general are happy as well.

This is a good plan, Weather Entity. Stick to it.

"The best government money can buy is not a good government at all."

2012-01-24T13:16:00.003-05:00

Al Franken on PIPA, lobbying, and campaign finance reform:

Hi. My name is Al Franken. I am a Senator from Minnesota. A proposed bill in the Senate, PIPA, threatens to treat the concept of free speech in much the same way that totalitarian regimes in China, Iran and North Korea do. This bill is why so many internet sites have 'gone black' in protest. It was written for lobbyists to place corporate greed over the fundamental freedoms our nation was founded on, and I support it.

Does my support of this bill mean Lobbyist Money is more important to me than Free Speech?

Would it surprise you to know that, during the 2010 Election Cycle, I accepted at least $88,900 in contributions from members of the Entertainment industry, who are leading the push to have these bills hastily approved.?
...

What are you going to do? Complain? Go ahead, see if I care.

I've ignored the advice and warnings of hundreds of experts in Constitutional Law, Free Speech and Technology. Do you think I'll listen to *you*?

The sad truth is that politicians like money. That's why Campaign Finance Reform is such a hot -- and important -- topic.
...

A single person can't compete with the hundreds of thousands of lobbyist dollars that candidates typically receive, but together we might be able to.

If you tweet at a Senator or Representative with the hashtag #buythevote, we'll start tracking it. We'll keep a running tally of how many people want their representatives to give back lobbyist dollars before their vote. We'll also track the total number of people and dollars offered to congresspeople for them to represent people, not lobbyists.

There are some sample tweets for you tweeters. I'm more the "tar and feathers" type myself.

Campaign finance reform is never going to be be done by those who benefit from it. Same with crony capitalism. It's going to have to be imposed from outside. A few heads on pikes might be a good start.

Think about it ...

2012-01-24T10:27:00.000-05:00

Mr. Philadephia in toto:

Romney has said he was unemployed. He's right. He actually does nothing to earn most of his income. He's just in possession of a giant pile of cash. He pays some people to do stuff with that giant pile of cash so it earns a rate of return. And because we are ruled by horrible people who think the lives of the 1% are more important than everyone else, the tax rate on any money that pile of cash earns is much lower than it is on the money earned by people who actually work.

Heh ...

2012-01-24T08:56:00.000-05:00

Pic stolen from the Fundies Say The Darndest Things FB page.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-24T08:41:00.000-05:00

Charlie Pierce:

... However, as an indication of how the debates against Barack Obama might go in the fall, Gingrich made himself look silly last night. Three hours? Lincoln-Douglas style? The president would be singing Al Green tunes over Gingrich's smoking hulk 45 minutes into the show ...

The "entitled" ...

2012-01-24T07:09:00.000-05:00

No, not the "Cadillac-driving welfare queens", but the corporations whose only mission is screwing the American public, legally or not, to line their own pockets:

...

Even in brief, the story is appalling. PG&E was subject to a couple of independent audits out in California because elements of the state regulatory apparatus out there suspected that the company was largely run by avaricious weasels. The audits proved that this initial speculative evaluation was dreadfully unfair to weasels. It turns out that executives of PG&E "diverted" (nice word, that) $100 million earmarked for gas safety and for operational expenses. This money, it should be noted, was squeezed out of PG&E's customers, and at a time when PG&E was soaking its customers for $430 million more than it was authorized to collect, according the the state's utility regulators. And to where exactly, you may wonder, pray tell, was all this extra money diverted? Take it away, San Francisco Chronicle:

"...the company spent $56 million annually on an incentive plan for executives and 'non-employee directors,' including stock awards, performance shares and deferred compensation. 'A cursory review reveals that a significant portion, in the millions, has been awarded to the CEO,' the commission staff report said in a reference to former PG&E head Peter Darbee, who retired last year."

Of course, it did.

And all that happened was that, in 2010, a PG&E pipeline in San Bruno blew up, killing eight people and demolishing 38 homes.

Of course, it did.

And why did the pipeline explode?

"An independent audit and a staff report issued by the California Public Utilities Commission depicted a poorly led company well-heeled in its gas operations and more concerned with profit than safety. The documents link a deficient PG&E safety culture — with its 'focus on financial performance.'"

Of course, it was.

...

This goes directly to my previous post. If the only punishment these clowns can expect is a relative slap on the wrist, they will continue their behavior, no matter how many innocent people die, no matter how many hard-working Americans lives are ruined.

Caving ... again ...

2012-01-24T06:59:00.002-05:00

True to form, the "Wall St. Cabal" in the White House wants to let the banksters off relatively scot-free:

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It looks like the Obama administration is on the verge of announcing a deal with some number of state AGs, a handful of regulatory bodies, and the nation's five largest banks. There's a meeting today between HUD officials and an undisclosed number of Democratic AGs or their staffs. Liberal groups are pushing to make this as strong as possible, with lots of activity from New Bottom Line, Color of Change, MoveOn, Rebuild the Dream, and many blogs who have been covering this crisis for years. The expectation is that the Obama administration wants to announce this deal in connection to Tuesday's State of the Union address.

...

It's time to get Geithner and the other Wall St. lackeys out of 1600. You know this deal won't change behavior and undercuts the investigations by Attorneys General who want to put these assholes in jail.

You know why this deal is getting done, right? Because Obama needs these assholes to finance his campaign. It's time for federally-financed elections and maybe then we'll see some rich twats get the justice they deserve, not the justice they can afford to buy.

3 hour bus ride to watch the 49ers lose

2012-01-23T13:29:00.003-05:00

Leah Garchick in the EssEffChron.

It all started pretty well, with a short line of fans waiting at California and Van Ness for the first Muni express bus of the day to Candlestick.

An hour into the ride, we were not even at the Interstate 280 connector. By this time, the boys on the bus had cracked open beers. A passenger yelled, "Back door, back door." Everyone laughed, but not as merrily as they had at the first round of jokes.
...

"We have to pee," said someone in the back. "Ladies, look aside, please." A beer can rolled across the floor.

Someone opened a bottle of Champagne, but the mood was no longer festive. It was suggested that we call 911 and report a hostage situation.

"I'm not going to sit in this damn thing," said a man in the back. "I'd like to be there for the kickoff."

And then it became too much. At 2:10 p.m., with the bus at a complete standstill and not yet on the off-ramp, a pair of guys pushed open the emergency window and jumped onto the freeway shoulder. They were followed by about a dozen fans who urged others to come along: "We've got to get to the stadium. No more excuses."

They walked along the shoulder, moving quicker than us by far. There were buses behind us, and a few passengers left those, too.

At this point, a CHP car came up, loudspeaker on: "You've got to stay on the bus." The patrol car pulled in front of the bus, officers got out and addressed the highway trekkers. It seemed citations weren't issued because a few minutes later, they were walking again.
...

Eventually, we lurched off the freeway, passing the gang that had made use of the windows to abandon our ship.
...

We had arrived, having covered 8 miles in 3 hours and 10 minutes. To have our hearts broken by a loss.

Here's a Frisco take on the game:

The locker room afterward was predictably glum, and the quarterback summed it all up pithily. "Crappy," Smith said.

Here's the Chron's 49ers page, should you care, and a disturbing headline:

Kyle Williams receiving death threats after NFC Championship

It's just a fucking game, people. Grow up.

Must See TV

2012-01-23T12:56:00.002-05:00

Excellent Bill Moyers show about crony capitalism. It's as bad as we think it is.

GOP Embraces the Devil

2012-01-23T12:21:00.002-05:00

Long ago. El Rude-o's just catchin' up.

You want to know what a lying shitsack Newt Gingrich is? It's easy. Choose anything that he repeatedly asserts and look at the truth. Chances are that he's bending the truth. Chances are better that he's just outright lying to your face.

The thing about the Devil is that he tells his lies with such utter confidence that the unquestioning listener hears them as truth. And the Devil wins when his lies begin to supplant the truth until there is nothing but lies left.

Hey, lies work on those clods. Obviously.

Gingrich is like a pimple you get on your forehead that you can't get rid of it. Sure, you can squeeze it, you can put creams on it, you can try alcohol or toothpaste or warm or cold compresses, but that fucker just won't go away. And it just gets bigger so that every time you look in the mirror, it's the only thing you see. You are your zit.

There's gonna be a war in the GOP between the Tea Party monster that was cravenly embraced and co-opted by the right and the old school Republicans, who just want their satisfactory corporate lackey who is easily controlled to be the nominee. It's more than likely going to be a civil war, with southern states going Gingrich and northern ones going Romney, thus making it an insurgency by evangelicals, people who have given a pass to the serial adulterer, but won't vote for a Mormon because it sounds almost like "Muslim." They wouldn't know the real Devil if he stabbed them in the ass with his pitchfork. If Gingrich wins Florida, it's gonna be wonderfully messy. (And if he gave a shit about Romney as a human being, the Rude Pundit would be advising him, "Dude, just tell everyone 'Kiss my rich white ass' and go home.")

This is getting better and better!

Oh, the irony...

2012-01-23T11:59:00.002-05:00

Ironic Times

Rejection of Keystone Pipeline A Job Killer, Say Critics
Thousands of lobbyists will lose their jobs.

Los Angeles City Council Rules Condoms Must Be Worn in Porn Films
Recently retired Cardinal Mahony says he's “very disappointed.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Named Our Global Cultural Ambassador
He'll replace Charlie Sheen.

Texas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma Require Climate Change Denial to Be Taught in Classrooms
Flat earthers next in line.

No shit ...

2012-01-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

Pic stolen from the Americans Against the Tea Party's FB page.

Really?

2012-01-23T08:43:00.001-05:00

Newt signs a "marriage pledge"*?

Former Speaker of the House has signed NOM's Marriage Pledge

Ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Shit, I think I peed myself. Why? This is why:

...

Gingrich, Santorum and Romney have each signed NOM's Marriage Pledge, which commits signatories, if elected, to taking specific steps toward preserving the institution of marriage as the union between one man and one woman ...

They should add the phrase "at a time" to the end. And we should take Newt's word for something, why?

Fucking hypocrites, the lot of 'em.

*The link is to Thers' place because I won't link to NOM.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-23T08:31:00.002-05:00

Barney Frank:

...

“I did not think I lived a good enough life to see Newt Gingrich as the Republican nominee,” the 30-year House veteran said. “He would be the best thing to happen to Democrats since Barry Goldwater ... It’s still unlikely, but I have hopes.”

...

Heh ...

2012-01-23T07:55:00.000-05:00

Pic thanks to Tengrain.

Jesus, Protect Me...

2012-01-22T17:59:00.002-05:00

This fuckin' rocks! New bumpersticker: JPMFYF ?

Mr Tim Easton, playing at the Hickory Wind Ranch center for sober living see www.hickorywindranch.com for details
Grow Where You Are Planted

Thanks to SINCITYSOCIALCLUB.

Haiku of the Day

2012-01-22T16:46:00.002-05:00

By Madeleine Begun Kane

Newt Gingrich wins big.
Mitt Romney isn't smiling,
but Barack sure is.

Heh. Me too.

Happy Playoffs!

2012-01-22T12:50:00.004-05:00

LATimes photo.

It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that, given the South Carolina Repug primary, we're still warming up for National I.Q.-Lowering Day on February 5th!

Have fun watching all those millionaires knock each other around. Heh.

I have no love for Carville ...

2012-01-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

But he's spot on here:

Memo to Republican Establishment:

...

Let me break it to you gently -- you've got a first-class disaster on your hands. I know you boys thought this thing would work out and you would be able to whip the Republicans in line to fall in behind Mitt (I assume you are all males but if there is a female in the establishment, I apologize.) Not going too good, is it fellows?

...

Your new front-runner is one of your old front runners, Newt Gingrich. I would like to take a moment to revel: I cannot personally tell you how pleased I am to see old Newt rise to the top after listening to all of your nauseating, sickening lectures on the evils of government and the importance of family values.

...

Note: The Republicans have no values. They will do anything to win, from trying to rig elections to outright lying to fucking their sisters if they thought it would help.

So much for the 7th Commandment...

2012-01-21T21:22:00.002-05:00

South Carolina's good Christian adulterers have spoken.

As he was leaving for Florida, Neutie was heard to say, "So long South Carolina. The money's on the dresser."

And Willard is still going to be the nominee. Wall St. has spoken and the Repug establishment listens.

Maybe the Apocalypse won't be such a bad thing after all...

2012-01-21T14:40:00.002-05:00

Better Austin Today benefit, at the Moose Lodge.Austin, Texas.

Eliza Gilkyson ~ When The Great Correction Comes

Thanks to minorw.

The words are a little hard to understand so here are the lyrics:

down on the corner of ruin and grace
I’m growin weary of the human race
hold my lamp up in everyone’s face
lookin for an honest man
everyone tied to the turnin wheel
everyone hidin from the things they feel
well the truth’s so hard it just don’t seem real
the shadow across this land
people round here don’t know what it means
to suffer at the hands of our american dreams
they turn their backs on the grisly scenes
traced to the privileged sons
they got their god they got their guns
got their armies and the chosen ones
but we’ll all be burnin in the same big sun
when the great correction comes
down through the ages lovers of the mystery
been sayin people let your love light shine
poets and sages all throughout history
say the light burns brightest in the darkest times
it’s the bitter end we’ve come down to
the eye of the needle that we gotta get through
but the end could be the start of something new
when the great correction comes
down through the ages….
down to the wire runnin out of time
still got hope in this heart of mine
but the future waits on the horizon line
for our daughters and our sons
I don’t know where this train’s bound
whole lotta people tryin to turn it around
gonna shout til the walls come tumblin down
and the great correction comes
don’t let me down
when the great correction comes

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

2012-01-21T00:01:00.001-05:00

Technically. Emmylou backs up Patty Griffin on a pretty song she wrote about Jesus' mom.

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

Ride 'em, cowboy!

2012-01-20T17:03:00.002-05:00

This one's for Fixer. Buncha Noo Yawk gals wanta ride him into the sunset...

Red Molly performing at the Towne Crier Cafe in Pawling, NY

Thanks to mdoe.

"Hypno Toad One - Jesus Zero!"

2012-01-20T14:36:00.002-05:00

Recommended but not required prequel, "Jesus Vs. The Hypno Toad".

Thanks to oldfartrants.

The Case Against Liberal Despair

2012-01-20T14:07:00.001-05:00

OpVid from The Daily Beast.

Shorter: Quit whining and FIGHT.

How to survive an SF cold snap

2012-01-20T13:45:00.005-05:00

If it's Friday it must be two days past Wednesday which means Morford's late and going off on the weather in Frisco.

Here's a fun fact: Every wonderful female I have ever known in San Francisco has complained about the weather like it was a pissy Old Testament God and they were tormented, forlorn Job. Every. Single. One.

It's true. The mercury drops 15 degrees and suddenly their toes turn to ice, they can't feel their faces and their ears fall completely off, and with blue, chattering lips buried beneath nine layers of fleece, they will say this is the absolute coldest they have ever felt in their entire lives, despite the fact it's still 52 degrees out and the sun is blazing and they're standing in line outside Bi-Rite to buy baby panda-flavored ice cream for something like $17 a lick. I love them all.
...

[...] Which is why, male or female, if you're going to live in San Francisco, you need lots and lots of...

Alcohol. What, you think God invented rum and whisky and anejo tequila for the hell of it? For binge-drinking old people and irresponsible frat boys named Greg? I don't think so.

Heh. Get a few shots in Granny and she wants to do stuff the youngsters think they invented! With frat boys...

No foolin'?

2012-01-20T09:36:00.001-05:00

Mitt Romney has "street cred"?

Quote of the Day

2012-01-20T07:25:00.000-05:00

The Rude One:

... Because Newt Gingrich voters are divided between two groups: the Who-Gives-a-Fuck group and the Jesus-Forgave-Him-So-Can-I group. The former group's members are so deluded that they will tell you that the Clinton impeachment was about perjury. The latter group's members are so desperate for a candidate that, as long as he said he believes he's made peace with God, they wouldn't care if Newt had strangled his second wife with his first wife's intestines.

...

In the bubble ...

2012-01-20T07:11:00.000-05:00

Kevin Drum:

...

Everybody — yes, everybody — is subject to confirmation bias. We all get the warm fuzzies when someone tells us something we want to hear, and we resist listening to people who tell us things we don't want to hear. But there's still a difference. As Paul says, "Conservatives and liberals are not equally prone to huddle within their self-reinforcing cocoons." Liberals don't immediately dismiss as a conspiracy everything they hear from the news media that doesn't fit their preconceived notions. They might downplay unwelcome news or even ignore it, but they're still willing to listen to it. Increasingly, conservatives simply aren't. They want to believe the world is a certain way, and they're just flatly not willing to countenance anything that might challenge those beliefs. This is not a healthy development for a modern democracy.

What Fox 'News' and conservative talk radio have done to this country will take generations to repair.

Nightmares ...

2012-01-20T06:59:00.000-05:00

Benen points out Romney is a walking bad dream:

...

That the reflexive “go back to Russia” attitudes are coming from a far-right politician who amassed a vast fortune after laying off thousands of American workers, wants to give himself another tax cut, owns multiple luxury homes, and stashes cash in the Caymans — all while pursuing an agenda that would make things tougher on American’s working class — makes me feel as if I’m trapped in a Dickensian nightmare.

Last night's Clown Car ...

2012-01-20T05:39:00.001-05:00

Charlie Pierce watched it so the rest of us didn't have to:

...

For the first time, Willard Romney looked as though he knows he could lose this thing. He was shaky, and easily shaken, and came damned close to a Rick Perry moment while fumbling for an answer on why he hasn't released his tax returns yet, and got booed for his trouble. He got maneuvered into defending the health-care plan he'd signed in Massachusetts — even, at one point, referring to it as "Romneycare," which I don't believe he's ever done before — and he looked out of practice trying to do it. And, as was the case in 2008, he doesn't seem to have any actual allies to bail him out. (Governor Nikki Haley is his primary surrogate down here, and her favorability ratings, as we reported earlier, are tanking faster than his.) He has a chronic inability to inspire loyalty from anyone outside his immediate family. It's more than a simple lack of empathy; Willard seems to ignite an active dislike. If he's trying to run out the clock on this campaign, he's doing it in what amounts to a One Corner Offense. Genuinely nonplussed by having Republicans cast him as Mr. Potter, Romney's now open to every attack from every direction.

...

Heh ... It looks like it's tightening up again. Gonna have to get more popcorn.

Johnny Otis 1921-2012

2012-01-19T14:59:00.005-05:00

I hate when this happens but time grinds everything away. I loved The Johnny Otis Show on L.A. TV when I was a kid.

LATimes

Johnny Otis dies at 90; R&B singer wrote 'Willie and the Hand Jive'

Johnny Otis, (wiki) who is white, grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood and had a deep connection to black culture. He discovered Etta James and Little Richard.

He wrote the song that became James' first charting hit — vaulting her to No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1955 — with "The Wallflower," popularly known as "Roll With Me Henry." It was a female-centric response to Ballard's sexually charged hit "Work With Me Annie" that raised eyebrows for its frankness.

Then he came up with a variant on Bo Diddley's signature 1955 hit "Bo Diddley" using the same five-count "shave-and-a-haircut, two-bits!" beat and created a smash of his own in "Willie and the Hand Jive." It's been recorded dozens of times by a wide variety of musicians, most notably by Eric Clapton in 1974.

Otis wrote other R&B hits, including "So Fine," "Double Crossing Blues" and "All Nite Long," and produced early recordings for Little Richard, Big Mama Thornton and Johnny Ace.

"Today's musicians are better technically," Otis said in 1979, "but that's not a virtue in itself. What's important is the emotional impact.... Most rock or disco today doesn't stir up anything in my heart — not the way a Picasso does, not the way the blues or gospel does."

Amen.

There are lots of videos of "Willie and the Hand Jive" but I like the dancing in this one. Shot in New York in '58.

Thanks to TheTomMunday.

So long, Johnny O.

Headline of the Day

2012-01-19T14:43:00.001-05:00

Ron Paul hot air balloon cited for ‘improper lane use’

I bet Paul inflated it all by himself! Heh.

How Republicans Killed Their Own Pet Oil Pipeline Project

2012-01-19T12:55:00.004-05:00

TPM

They relished the idea of forcing President Obama to take a public stand on the pipeline early in an election year, instead of after the election as he had wanted. And they were eager to force him to choose between supporters in the labor movement, some of whom are pushing for the pipeline, and others in the environmental movement who vehemently oppose it. So they decided to go for it.

At the same time they knew he’d likely have to reject the project, and for them that created a dilemma.

“It’s a question of whether we’d rather have the pipeline or the issue,” said one of the GOP aides. Black or white.

In the end they chose the issue.

Well of course they did. They'd rather have something to use against Obama than do anything useful.

At her own Capitol briefing Wednesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took issue with these claims.

“If the Republicans cared so much about the Keystone pipeline, they would not have narrowed the president’s options by putting it on the time frame they did,” Pelosi said. “They left him very little choice…. This oil was always destined for overseas. It’s just a question of whether it leaves Canada by way of Canada, or it leaves Canada by way of the United States. So without taking a position on the pipeline, I don’t agree to the stipulation that this is oil that’s going to China now instead of the US. It was always going overseas. I don’t know where to, but it wasn’t for domestic consumption. And that’s really an important point because the advertising is quite to the contrary.”

Tar sands oil is junk. They have to add natural gas to it to get it to flow. The idea of burying a coupla-thousand-mile-long piece of steel so they can pump toxic flammable abrasive sandblast media across our nation so they can refine it INTO LIQUID CRUDE OIL so they can sell it on the world market has always seemed stupid and greedy to me. When that shit ground its way through the pipe and/or sprang a leak into the Ogallala Aquifer or anywhere, it'd be Katy-bar-the-door and OUR problem and fuck us, eh?

Putting the pipe in a lined trench, roofed against the weather, with an automatic shutoff every coupla miles and a constant human patrol would be prohibitively expensive. Burying it is quick and dirty and more profit while it lasts.

Note to Canuckistan: Run the goddam pipe due west to British Columbia so it'll be YOUR problem. I bet you're not allowed to do that either.

Update:

Just sayin'...

Word ...

2012-01-19T08:48:00.001-05:00

Pic stolen from Stop the Republican Governors FB page.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-19T07:52:00.002-05:00

Pam Spaulding on the Facebook, responding to the news that the recount in Iowa makes Santorum the winner over Romney:

Santorum surges all over Mittens in Iowa

Heh ... This is the article she cites.

You know ...

2012-01-19T06:18:00.000-05:00

If you're too stupid to remember you have a gun in your bag when boarding a plane (especially after 9/11), maybe you shouldn't be allowed to carry.

A 65-year-old woman was arrested this morning at the Dallas airport after police said she passed through security with a .38-caliber revolver in her purse and boarded a Houston-bound American Airlines flight, according to news reports.

...

NBC 5 has video of the woman being questioned. The station reports that she told police she forgot the gun was in her bag.

...

But in Texas, I would think, this qualifies you to run for governor.

I need a P.O. box ...

2012-01-19T06:09:00.001-05:00

In the Caymans or Liechtenstein. Thing is, in order to evade taxes in one of those places, you need more money than I will ever see in a lifetime:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been hesitant to disclose his tax records and personal finances, and now it might be clear why: the former Massachusetts Governor has hidden tens of millions from the U.S. Treasury in secret offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands, according to ABC News.

Offshore accounts used as so-called “tax havens” cost the U.S. over $100 billion a year, and are commonly utilized by the wealthiest citizens and corporations as a means of avoiding U.S. taxes on lucrative profits.

...

You know, the Republicans love finding excuses to deny or revoke an American's citizenship if they don't wave the flag properly or worship a god other than the "approved" white christian one. How about we start jerking citizenship from these rich assholes who hide their money offshore instead of making their appropriate contribution to keep this country, their country, running? They pay little enough in taxes as it is, how about, at the very least, we close the loophole that allows them to pull these frauds?

It works ...

2012-01-19T05:56:00.000-05:00

The Internet Strike yesterday worked!

Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Six U.S. lawmakers dropped their support for Hollywood-backed anti-piracy legislation as Google Inc., Wikipedia and other websites protest the measures.

Co-sponsors who say they can no longer support their own legislation include Senators Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, and Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat. Republican Representatives Ben Quayle of Arizona, Lee Terry of Nebraska, and Dennis Ross of Florida also said they would withdraw their backing of the House bill.

...

People have had it with special interests trying to curtail our rights in order for them to make a profit. I'm tired of protecting industries that cling to an outdated business model instead of changing with the times. If you can't adapt, get off the field instead of attempting to change the rules.

Great thanks to DU for the link.

Not news ...

2012-01-19T05:46:00.000-05:00

Rick Perry is an idiot:

During Monday night’s debate in South Carolina, Rick Perry argued that Turkey “is being ruled by, what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists.” The argument is ridiculous — Turkey is a key democratic U.S. ally and a member of NATO — and led some Turkish journalists to describe the right-wing Texas governor as an “idiot.”

...

Texas continues its tradition of electing stupid governors who want to be President, though I didn't think they'd find one dumber than Bush.

Stop SOPA

2012-01-18T07:19:00.001-05:00

We're down for the day in protest.

Learn more.

Great thanks to M. Bouffant for the graphic.

Newt Gingrich's Inner Redneck

2012-01-17T14:35:00.002-05:00

A little South Carolina goat action. The visuals are disturbing, hilarious, and oddly heartwarming...

There wasn't a safe goat ass anywhere in eastern South Carolina last night. After the Republican presidential debate in Myrtle Beach, the whooping, hooting, cheering white people, whipped into a frenzied state by the race-baiting rhetoric of Newt Gingrich, headed out to the backyards and barns of the Gamecock state to take out their throbbing desires on goats, fucking the goats from behind, getting ass-reamed by the goats, the women glazed by goat semen, the men plastered with goat shit on their dicks, none of them caring because, with Newt leading them against that uppity nigger, Juan Williams, the evening's surrogate Obama, the South would rise again, so they may as well do what they do best: wallow around naked in a mud pit, coated with goat feces and cum, staring up at the stars, remembering the glory of the evening they had witnessed, the confused goat, feeling both satisfied and violated, heading into a corner to sleep.

...the audience at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center exploded.

Of course they did. There was a group of crackers, having been forced to go through an entire day hearing about how a great black man fought for the rights of black people so that now, not only do you have to share water fountains with 'em, but you can't even call 'em "boy" at work without someone getting all upset, and, besides, what are you gonna do with all these unburned crosses?
...

[...] You can pinpoint the moment that Gingrich saw that he had the audience eating out of his hand like trained pigs lining up at the garbage trough. [...]

That doesn't take much training. Just fill the troughs with anything. Bullshit'll do for those clowns and it's cheap and they love to go face down in it.

More.

Native American Dance Brings Snow to Tahoe

2012-01-17T14:12:00.003-05:00

YubaNet

It's working. Yesterday (Sunday), Native American adults and youth held hands with the public in a traditional "Round Dance" asking for spiritual help to bring snow to the Lake Tahoe region.

This morning, for the first time in two months, a dusting of snow appeared at lake level with two inches at 8,200 feet. According to meteorologists, the storm door is set to open Wednesday with a possible 6 feet of snow falling above 8,000 feet by Monday.
...

In a similar situation just over 50 years ago, an absence of January snow in the Sierra posed similar planning concerns for the managers of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games' Nordic events, which were to be held at the same location, Sugar Pine Point State Park. The nervous organizers of those original Olympics brought in Great Basin dancers to encourage snowfall, and history has indeed repeated itself.

Wait'll the fundies hear that the blanketasses have more pull with God than they do. Better, what gods did they pull outta the closet to get some action? Heh.

And plug in them damn drums and get to dancin' harder and faster and keep six feet of that shit outta my driveway!

Seventy Downed Drones Tell Us About the New American Way of War

2012-01-17T14:01:00.002-05:00

A Tomgram via Truthout. Ver-r-r-ry interesting.

American fighter jets screamed over the Iraqi countryside heading for the MQ-1 Predator drone, while its crew in California stood by helplessly. What had begun as an ordinary reconnaissance mission was now taking a ruinous turn. In an instant, the jets attacked and then it was all over.

The Predator, one of the Air Force’s workhorse hunter/killer robots, had been obliterated.

The aerial disasters described draw attention not only to the technical limitations of drone warfare, but to larger conceptual flaws inherent in such operations. Launched and landed by aircrews close to battlefields in places like Afghanistan, the drones are controlled during missions by pilots and sensor operators -- often multiple teams over many hours -- from bases in places like Nevada and North Dakota. They are sometimes also monitored by “screeners” from private security contractors at stateside bases like Hurlburt Field in Florida. (A recent McClatchy report revealed that it takes nearly 170 people to keep a single Predator in the air for 24 hours.)

In addition, drone warfare seems to be creating a sinister system of embedded economic incentives that may lead to increasing casualty figures on the ground. “In some targeting programs, staffers have review quotas -- that is, they must review a certain number of possible targets per given length of time,” The Atlantic’s Joshua Foust recently wrote of the private contractors involved in the process. “Because they are contractors,” he explains, “their continued employment depends on their ability to satisfy the stated performance metrics. So they have a financial incentive to make life-or-death decisions about possible kill targets just to stay employed. This should be an intolerable situation, but because the system lacks transparency or outside review it is almost impossible to monitor or alter.”

Fuckin' mercs again. Grrrrr....

Much, much more.

GOP knows Mitt Romney can’t win

2012-01-17T13:27:00.000-05:00

Go read this and watch the video. Check out the backdrop. Heh.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-17T12:56:00.005-05:00

I sometimes wonder if the Republican Party has become the receding roar of white America as it pines for a way of life that will never return. - Holy Crap!

I would have said "goes batcrap crazy" rather than "pines" but a glimmer of light shone through for just a second. Or maybe it was a hot flash. He's at that age...

Maybe when he gets the line from the Steve Martin song, "memories of what never was becomes the good old days", he'll understand. Probably not.

A tip o' the Brain to TRMS.

"This is where the left is truly deluded..."

2012-01-17T12:13:00.003-05:00

Today's 'must read' by Andrew Sullivan.

You hear it everywhere. Democrats are disappointed in the president. Independents have soured even more. Republicans have worked themselves up into an apocalyptic fervor. And, yes, this is not exactly unusual.

[...] It’s not that I don’t understand the critiques of Barack Obama from the enraged right and the demoralized left. It’s that I don’t even recognize their description of Obama’s first term in any way. The attacks from both the right and the left on the man and his policies aren’t out of bounds. They’re simply — empirically — wrong.

Here follows what the right-wing gets wrong. They don't read us so fuck that. You do - read on.

But the right isn’t alone in getting Obama wrong. While the left is less unhinged in its critique, it is just as likely to miss the screen for the pixels. [...] Not for the first time, I realized that to understand Obama, you have to take the long view. Because he does.

Or take the issue of the banks. Liberals have derided him as a captive of Wall Street, of being railroaded by Larry Summers and Tim Geithner into a too-passive response to the recklessness of the major U.S. banks. But it’s worth recalling that at the start of 2009, any responsible president’s priority would have been stabilization of the financial system, not the exacting of revenge. Obama was not elected, despite liberal fantasies, to be a left-wing crusader. He was elected as a pragmatic, unifying reformist who would be more responsible than Bush.

If I sound biased, that’s because I am. Biased toward the actual record, not the spin; biased toward a president who has conducted himself with grace and calm under incredible pressure, who has had to manage crises not seen since the Second World War and the Depression, and who as yet has not had a single significant scandal to his name. “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” George Orwell once wrote. What I see in front of my nose is a president whose character, record, and promise remain as grotesquely underappreciated now as they were absurdly hyped in 2008. And I feel confident that sooner rather than later, the American people will come to see his first term from the same calm, sane perspective. And decide to finish what they started.

Read this. It's a wicked pissah of a defense of Obama and I agree with Andy, er, 99.9%.

Danger lurks for the country again this November. Don't fall for the bullshit, left or right. Don't stay home or vote for some hippie-ass "Peace, Love, and Dope" party that'll never get elected and couldn't do anything if it did.

We're still at war with these right-wing bastards and you better believe they'll turn out, even for Willard, to rid themselves of the Kenyan Muslim socialist. Fuck this one up, you'll be a lot sorrier than if you give Obama his second term.

Cop or Soldier?

2012-01-17T07:36:00.001-05:00

Can you tell the difference?

Cop or Soldier? » create e-learning

Click on the graphic to take the quiz. I'll admit I have some experience in having to quickly determine "friend" from "foe". There were two lucky cops and one unfortunate infantryman. Heh ...

Thanks to our pal Comrade Misfit for the link.

What??? Really???

2012-01-17T06:22:00.004-05:00

Yes, I am taking this Costa Concordia thing personally. For several reasons (I am a seasoned cruiser of over 30 voyages, I have many friends in the cruise ship industry and I am concerned about their safety and the effect this will have on their income and, lastly, I am a shareholder in Carnival Corporation LLP and, however minutely, it reflects on me) I am quite angry with the Captain especially but also the others in the crew who seemed to have abdicated their responsibilities.

This latest:

00:32am

The port authority asks the captain, Francesco Schettino, how many people are left on board. He says 200-300, therefore claiming unrealistically that 4,000 people were evacuated in only 40 minutes. It quickly becomes clear he has already abandoned ship.

...

00:42am

PA asks how many people still need to be evacuated.

Schettino:"I called and they told me there are about 100 people. I am coordinating the operations. But I can't go back on it. We have abandoned the ship."

PA:"Captain, did you really abandon the ship??"

Schettino:"No, no, I am here, I am coordinating the evacuation."

PA:"Captain, this is an order, now I am in charge. Get back on that ship and coordinate the operations. There are already casualties."

Schettino:"How many?"

PA:"You should tell me that! What do you want to do, go home? Now you get back on that ship and tell us what can be done, how many people are still there and what do they need."

Schettino:"OK, OK, I am going."

(The captain will not get back on the ship)

...

Hanging is too good for this guy. You know why he chose to hazard his ship and put 4000 souls in grave danger? This is why:

...

The captain of the luxury cruise ship that capsized after hitting rocks off Italy had sailed perilously close to the coast to "make a bow" to people on a Tuscan island, according to media reports.

Francesco Schettino made the dangerous maneuver so that the Costa Concordia's head waiter could salute his family on land, according to reports.

...

I think keelhauling would be appropriate.

Cross-posted at Worlds.

Iranian Boats Harass U.S. Ships

2012-01-16T13:39:00.004-05:00

Subtitle: "Neocons Get Knickers In A Twist, Call For 'Nuke Tehran!'"

Think Progress

Despite mounting tensions around the strategic oil transit point at the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. ships have in recent weeks rescued the crews of two Iranian ships — one from pirates and the other stranded when it broke down. But Iran doesn’t seem to be in a mood to respond in kind. U.S. military officials told CNN that the day after the crew of the Iranian fishing boat was rescued from a weeks-long pirate takeover, Iranian motorboats harassed two U.S. ships near the Strait. The boats raised alarms by rapidly approaching both the USS New Orleans and U.S. Coast Guard cutter Adak, but no shots were fired in either incident and the Iranian boats broke away. Watch the Iranian boats near the New Orleans here:

The Iranian boats fled at high speed when 800 heavily armed Marines jumped into the water and began chasing them.

I mighta made part of that up...

Seriously, folks, this looks like a day on the lake. I'm sure the orders to the Iranian sailors went something like, "OK, boys, we're messin' with the world press today with a show of force so here's whatcher gonna do - run them things as fast as they'll go right at two of the least heavily armed ships in the American fleet and don't forget to shear off before you wreck or they shoot at you. Just scare the shit outta their pussy warmonger politicians back home. Don't worry about that battalion of Marines lookin' over their sights at you, they're not scared and have good fire discipline anyway. Have fun."

The American kids were probably thinking something like, "Wow, nice boats! I betcha we could pick up girls back home at Lake Suckamadickee with one of those!"

In any case, our guys were ready for 'em:

Sailors and Marines aboard USS New Orleans (LPD 18) stand by to repel boarders, wait for command of "Stand by for a ram!"

Harassment, my ass. All the Iranians did was flip us the bird. Big deal. They'da never got close enough to blow up and do any damage. Cole taught us about that.

Ya wanta see harassment? Here's the original New Orleans after the Japanese "harassed" her off Guadalcanal in 1942:

The Iranians are just wavin' their weenies at the neocons. The neocons'll talk big but they won't wave their weenies back. Nothing to wave.

MLK Dream Update

2012-01-16T12:57:00.002-05:00

Thanks to YubaNet.

Conservative leader: Democratic Party is ‘party of the KKK’

2012-01-16T12:39:00.003-05:00

The Raw Story

The founder of a movement to increase racial diversity within the Republican Party told a crowd of tea party supporters on Sunday that they weren’t racists because “the Democratic Party is the party of the KKK.”
...

Claver added: “They want to say your are the racist. No. No. If anybody is a racist, it’s [Texas Congresswoman] Shiela Jackson Lee! If anybody is a racist, it’s [Democratic Congressman] John Conyers! If anybody is a racist, it’s [South Carolina Congressman] James Clyburn! If anybody is a racist, it’s Jesse ‘castration’ Jackson! If anybody is a racist, it’s Al ‘shakedown’ Sharpton! They’re the racists! We’re their friends!”

Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Jan. 15, 2012.

By all means go watch it.

Shorter: Dem dam Dems done fucked over us darkies wit all dat civil rights an' shit.

Man, dat be one self-hatin' dee-lusional Nee-gro.

Oh, the irony...

2012-01-16T12:09:00.002-05:00

Ironic Times

JESUS RETURNS DURING PATRIOTS-BRONCOS PLAYOFF GAME
In the form of a 320-pound nose tackle.

Supreme Court Takes Up Case of Cher Using “F” Word on TV in 2002
As a result it will have to delay decision on new health care law.

Maker of Twinkies, Wonder Bread Files for Bankruptcy
Consumer tastes have shifted to less healthy fare.

Romney Team Targeted Supporters by Mining Data on How Much They Spent at Williams-Sonoma
If you bought the fondue set, you got lots of calls.

The fondue set? Really? We've got one of those. Somewhere.

Ha-ha!

2012-01-16T10:02:00.000-05:00

Hypocrite bastid:

...

Rep. Kip Smith, the Georgian Republican sponsor of Georgia House Bill 464, which would “require random drug testing” for citizens on public assistance, found himself drunker than Lindsey Lohan (only ugly and with no talent) and apparently was arrested friday morning on a DUI.

...

Word ...

2012-01-16T09:51:00.000-05:00

Oh, Canada!

2012-01-16T09:04:00.000-05:00

Perhaps someday soon Canada, the land of the laughing beaver, may acquire another symbol of its great culture, a grinning stoner. The current minority party has adopted the position that marijuana should be legalized.

...

Hopefully, that type of thinking will drift southward, like this cold air we've been having lately.

And more Concordia ...

2012-01-16T08:45:00.004-05:00

This pic gives more perspective on how close to shore they were. The cruise line is also throwing the Captain under the bus at this point. As I've said in comments on my previous posts, I've been through this area many times and it is impossible not to spot the ship channel, even at night. Civitaveccia (2 hours from Rome) is one of the biggest commercial ports in Europe and the traffic in and out goes on 24/7. Leaving the port, it looks like you're entering a highway, always a line of cruise ships, freighters, and tankers out in the shipping lane. If I were on a cruise ship and saw them approaching this close to land, I would have been running for my life jacket long before they had a chance to hit anything.

And a note, this is not the port of Civitaveccia, this is the port on the island of Giglio, not deep enough to accommodate this class of cruise ship. Assuming, according to some reports, there was an electrical casualty before they ran aground, heading for this port for repairs was out of the question for the same reasons the course he set was. Fortunately for the people on Giglio, he didn't run it aground in the harbor.

Another one ...

2012-01-16T08:27:00.000-05:00

Bites the dust:

Can a presidential candidate erase his campaign? And how fast can that happen?

Literally within minutes of the news breaking Sunday night that Jon M. Huntsman Jr. had decided to abandon his White House bid and endorse Mitt Romney, his campaign went into overdrive to begin wiping the record clean.

The record, of course, included months of sometimes tough criticism by Mr. Huntsman that the campaign can’t erase. Just six days ago, Mr. Huntsman assailed Mr. Romney for saying he enjoyed “firing people.”

...

Yeah, he's trying to 'unsay' everything he said for the last few months and convince us how great the Mittster is. Fat chance.

Mad's Limerick-Off

2012-01-15T15:32:00.002-05:00

Here's my entry to Mad Kane's weekly Limerick-Off:

A fellow was trying to hide
The comp’nies he caused to have died
But Neutie and Rick
Called him a dick
And showed Willard up to have lied.

I also submitted it on Facebook and sailed it through her dining room window disguised as a paper airplane.

Dual Quote of the Day

2012-01-15T15:02:00.003-05:00

Bill Maher via Raw Story:

Santorum thinks about gay sex more than a dildo salesman
...

I think this guy is more backed up than [Interstate] 405.”

Heh. One All-U-Can-Eat Burrito Nite could cure that! But then there'd be nothing left of him except a puddle of frothy mixture. Win-win! Unless he was sitting on your couch at the time...

More Concordia ...

2012-01-15T06:17:00.003-05:00

Following up from yesterday's post:

...

Police say the captain has been arrested on suspicion of multiple manslaughter. He has been taken to a prison, where he is awaiting questioning.

Article and video here.

Update:

It gets worse:

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Authorities said that [Captain] Francesco Schettino, 52, who has worked for the owners of the cruise liner for 11 years, was being investigated for manslaughter and abandoning his ship. Prosecutor Francesco Velusio was quoted as saying that the vessel "was mistakenly close" to the island on a route ordered by Schettino through well-mapped sea lanes.

...

Seems he left the ship while there were still passengers and crew aboard. Bastard.

From what I've seen and heard so far, the Captain did everything wrong (including postponing the lifeboat drill until the next morning). What I'd like to know now is why the first officer did not relieve him as soon as he made the course change.

Heh ...

2012-01-15T05:54:00.000-05:00

Jimmy Fallon - Tebowie

"Occupy Wheelie the Big Apple!"

2012-01-14T14:08:00.004-05:00

Here's a coupla different styles of "Occupy New York City" that I'm totally down wid! I even kinda like the music.

Ride hard, young gentlemen. You may not get to ride too long for one reason or another. Handcuffs or headstones. Heh.

That said, it does my heart good to see that motorcyclists have evolved since I was a young man. These guys are ten times as crazy as we were.

Thanks to SLDNX.

That one was to ease ya inta this next sorta semi-pre-post-apocalyptic version.

Thanks to Ozzy75x666.

Update:

Old school "extreme" stunts. The Indian Army, who ride my brand. From HuffPo. Slide show also, most of which could be titled, "Gee, Sarge, when we gonna get a truck?"

Limbaugh freaks as Romney lays claim to Obama's bailout

2012-01-14T13:49:00.003-05:00

LATimes

Rush Limbaugh is freaked out by Mitt Romney giving backhanded praise to President Obama for saving the American auto industry.
...

Limbaugh has gotten his voluminous knickers in a twist because Romney is essentially acknowledging that what Obama did was a good thing. Limbaugh and his legion of cranky followers believe Obama’s action was a frightening display of big government socialism aimed at preserving union pensions and union jobs. To them, Romney’s words are capitulation, if not treason.

In fact, the Republican front-runner’s comments amount to something else: another huge flip-flop. In a New York Times op-ed piece in 2008, Romney wrote, “If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye."
...

Limbaugh huffs and puffs and fumes because Obama’s approach put workers ahead of bondholders. Romney’s original plan would have been much more to Limbaugh’s liking in that regard. Now, it’s not exactly obvious where Romney, the son of a former auto executive, stands on this issue.

Does Romney favor government intervention to save American industries? If so, he’s anathema to Limbaugh’s "dittoheads" and most of the tea party. If not, how can he claim any share of credit for one of Obama’s biggest bragging points?

Basically, Willard's a lyin' sacka shit is how.

More butter on the popcorn this time, please. This is more fun than the time Uncle Clem went to shit and the hogs ate him!

New Word

2012-01-14T13:41:00.001-05:00

LATimes

Santorumonious -- maintaining an extreme and unreasonable belief in the piety or righteousness of one's own actions or opinions, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

--HiVeloCT

Well done, Speedy!

Heh ...

2012-01-14T11:08:00.000-05:00

Stolen from Americans Against the Tea Party's Facebook page.

Seriously ungood ...

2012-01-14T09:51:00.003-05:00

How in Hell does this happen in this day and age?

Three people have died and at least 50 more are missing after a cruise ship carrying thousands of passengers, including 24 British holidaymakers, ran aground off Italy's coast.

One of the victims was a man aged in his 70s who reportedly died of a heart attack caused by the shock of the icy water when he dove in during the chaos.

A major rescue operation was launched last night after the Costa Concordia began sinking near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast.

Five helicopters plucked people to safety after they became trapped on the ship when it listed so badly they could not launch lifeboats.

...

Cross-posted at Worlds.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

2012-01-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

Thanks to mondoBLIND.

Happy Blame Someone Else Day

2012-01-13T14:36:00.003-05:00

Happy "Blame Someone Else Day," celebrated on the 1st Friday the 13th day of the year:

Happy Blame Someone Else Day (Tanka*)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Blame Someone Else Day:
Annual celebration,
with one exception —
the Republican Party
commemorates it daily.

*tanka (a haiku plus two more seven-syllable lines).

Note to Mad: Your rhododendra need watering, my dear. The vegetation is getting a little sparse out here and not providing very good cover. :-)

Beyoncé’s bootylicious fly

2012-01-13T14:12:00.000-05:00

You ain't gonna believe this!

Religious Right Leaders Meet in Texas to Unite

2012-01-13T13:21:00.004-05:00

Talk To Action. A serious article but fuckin' hilarious nonetheless.

Can right-wing evangelical leaders unite in a last-ditch effort to nominate anybody but Romney? Which candidate would it be?
...

The problem is agreeing on a candidate. Richard Land, headlined in the TIME article, is strongly opposed to Gingrich because he has too much baggage, or "too much freight," as Land stated. Wildmon has endorsed Gingrich. Gary Bauer has endorsed Santorum. This is just an example of the fracturing that has taken place since Perry's catastrophic failure on the national stage.

I hope they prayer-whip each other to death.

I'm guessing Mormons aren't invited, but I think they oughta let some Catholics in there. There's plenty of wingnut mackerel snappers, like Opus Dei or Bill "Please tell the truth about my Mother the Church so I can go on TV and tell you how anti-Catholic you are and make some money" Donohue. Shit, these guys think the Pope's a commie. They'd fit right in, and the rattlin' o' the beads would be awesome musical accompaniment to the speaking in tongues and throwin' rattlesnakes around and all-around good-time holy rollin'.

Regardless, the inability of the right wing of the GOP to coalesce behind an alternate to Romney is the challenge. If they could unite, they might change the course of the GOP primaries. But, as one mainstream press outlet stated, it would take an "act of God."

Heh. Ain't gonna happen. God's layin' chilly because these assholes embarrass even Him and besides, He's been overruled by Wall St. on the choice of nominee.

So go have a swell time, christowhackos. Get some pizza and hookers (any kind) like you do anytime the ol' lady ain't around. Make up any shit you want about what God's telling you like you always do. It won't make any difference except maybe in the collection plate, but that's what it's all about anyway, right? The tiny-brained'll fuckin' love it and you can say you tried to stop Willard.

"And the faithful shall defecate in terror..." - Gordon 1:13

Yes, the Masters Of The Universe really can do whatever they want

2012-01-13T12:53:00.001-05:00

Millionaire CEO breaks waiter's finger for "bad service"

They don't try that on their mechanics. Not twice, anyway.

Now I know ...

2012-01-13T12:43:00.000-05:00

What it is about Romney that puckers my sphincter so badly. Perfesser Krugman hit's it:

...

The point isn’t necessarily that Romney has lived in privilege all his life; so did FDR. It’s his apparent inability or unwillingness to imagine what it’s like for those less privileged, his complete failure to try, even in his imagination, walking in someone else’s shoes that stands out.

Exactly.

Shhhhhh!

2012-01-13T12:39:00.002-05:00

Charles P. Pierce

And, suddenly, the dogwhistles have turned into air-raid sirens.

I think, maybe, it's time for the nation to rise up and point out to the Republican party that, root and branch, it is a racist embarrassment to democracy and a blight on this nation that all the world can see. [...]

Note to Charlie: Look, you know it, I know it, we all know it, the whole world knows they're a buncha fuckin' racists. Let's not let the Repugs in on it 'til after Obama gets his second term, not that it would make any difference.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-13T12:36:00.000-05:00

Tengrain:

As I keep saying, “once you go blah, you’ll never go bah.”

Headline of the Day

2012-01-13T12:05:00.002-05:00

Bain Capital Owns Clear Channel (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Etc.)

Yes Willard, you still suck.

A tip o' the Brain to The Christian Left.

These are the people ...

2012-01-13T07:50:00.001-05:00

Who are supposed to know what's going on. In fact, they're less qualified to run the economy than I am. Set the Wayback Machine to 2006, when the bottom was about to fall out of the housing market. We look in on the Fed meeting of that time:

...

But the officials, meeting every six weeks to discuss the health of the nation’s economy, gave little credence to the possibility that the faltering housing market would weigh on the broader economy, according to transcripts that the Fed released Thursday. Instead they continued to tell one another throughout 2006 that the greatest danger was inflation — the possibility that the economy would grow too fast.

“We think the fundamentals of the expansion going forward still look good,” Timothy F. Geithner, then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, told his colleagues when they gathered in Washington in December 2006.

...

You know Geithner, the President's economic 'wizard'.

...

The transcripts of the 2006 meetings, released after a standard five-year delay, clearly show some of the nation’s pre-eminent economic minds did not fully understand the basic mechanics of the economy that they were charged with shepherding. The problem was not a lack of information; it was a lack of comprehension, born in part of their deep confidence in economic forecasting models that turned out to be broken.

...

Of course, when you realize these are all Wall St. alumni, the incompetence makes perfect sense. Many of us were running around with their hair on fire, knowing that housing prices couldn't be sustained at those levels and the people who were buying those houses couldn't afford them. It always amazed the shit out of me that a family of four with an annual income of $45K could be put in a house and given a mortgage that I, who made considerably more at the time, wouldn't have touched with a 10 foot pole. It was a recipe for disaster that many saw coming. Unfortunately, not the folks who were in a position to stop it.

Thanks to Mr. Philadelphia for the link.

Ho Hum...

2012-01-12T13:06:00.004-05:00

It's kind of a slow day. The hills are alive mostly with the sounds of the intra-Repug steel cage match and my biggest problem is wondering if there's enough bleach to get rid of the visual of Neutie in a Speedo...

When your enemies are killing each other, eat popcorn and enjoy.

And clean your rifle. Buff the lands and grooves to a high polish, put fresh Lubriplate on the bolt, practice your sight alignment and trigger squeeze. One of them will be left standing and by way of thanks for him doing your work for you, you owe him a nice clean bullet delivered in a professional manner.

Before ...

2012-01-12T11:54:00.000-05:00

You get your panties in a bunch about all the money we borrow from China, give a look over this graph showing who owns our debt and how much, and how deeply each of the last few presidents got us into it.

Graph thanks to MoveOn.org

Where the money comes from ...

2012-01-12T09:01:00.000-05:00

Digby has some good graphs about where the money for the SuperPACs comes from.