Where the money went ...

Wanna know why we're "broke"? A whole buncha con men like this saw the Chimp and his minions as easy marks:

WASHINGTON — For eight years, government officials turned to Dennis Montgomery, a California computer programmer, for eye-popping technology that he said could catch terrorists. Now, federal officials want nothing to do with him and are going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that his dealings with Washington stay secret.

The Justice Department, which in the last few months has gotten protective orders from two federal judges keeping details of the technology out of court, says it is guarding state secrets that would threaten national security if disclosed. But others involved in the case say that what the government is trying to avoid is public embarrassment over evidence that Mr. Montgomery bamboozled federal officials.

...

The aggregate IQ in the White House at the time just cleared the double digits.

...

In December 2003, Mr. Montgomery reported alarming news: hidden in the crawl bars broadcast by Al Jazeera, someone had planted information about specific American-bound flights from Britain, France and Mexico that were hijacking targets.

C.I.A. officials rushed the information to Mr. Bush, who ordered those flights to be turned around or grounded before they could enter American airspace.

...

They actually debated shooting down airliners filled with innocent people.

This guy wasn't the first, nor the only one who swindled the US government in the rush to "keep us safe". If we tallied up all the money we threw down dry holes after 9/11, nobody would be saying we're broke.

Sunday Crazy Redneck Music Blogging

Must be some reason I'm hung up on this "colder weather" theme...

Thanks to zacbrownband.

Twofer!

This one'll warm ya up! If I had to describe this song and video, I'd call it a pre-apocalyptic call for a return to moral values by folks who don't give a shit if the world ended yesterday.

Music video by The Duhks performing Fast Paced World.

Thanks to emimusic.

The only thing that will get us to go out in a snowstorm - out of cookies!

It is the weekend. After four days of trying to find places to put snow, I'm exultant over the prospect of a day off from survival digging-out and maybe a coupla days of just detailing it a little, like digging the other truck out and improving access here and there.

In other words, it's Saturday night and I are fucking around. When I get done doing this I am going to collapse into the "Couch Dance Of Joy".

I got another new vidcam. This latest acquisition fulfills my desire for video cameras. For now. Actually, at $29.99 on sale at Sears, I couldn't pass up a pocket camera. Best thing about it? It looks like a cell phone but ya can't get calls on it!

Truckee SaveMart's Bakery chocolate chip cookies. Mmmmmm. Good!

Testing new Vivitar DVR620HD ($29.99 on sale at Sears.) Standing too close to subject.

Yeah, arms-length is fine for some things but self-pornos will be blurry. Drat.



Same store, but a few days later (Friday evening). Bruce is a good guy and actually a very fast and accurate checker even though we got ta jokin' around and it took us three tries to check me out and get some cash back. The store was packed with a long checkout line of out-of-towners laying in supplies for their big ski weekend. I actually hollered, "This is how we do it around hyar, y'all!". Hey, if ya can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit! Heh. You can hear Mrs. G laughing. Yes dear, I are Bozo!



The weather was sunny and nice on Saturday and Mrs. G wanted to take some pictures and had me drive her out to shit's creek (literally, you'll see, luckily it's not far from home), so I've got some more stuff for later. Also, a day or so ago I said I took some video of riding around in my truck in a snowstorm. I actually got too much and it's going to take me a while to get it all edited and spliced into something interesting and funny and short enough for me to subject you to. It'll be along.

An open letter ...

Stays on top today and I heartily concur with the change of masthead art for the duration of the current emergency as well. United we stand... - G

[Posted in its entirety. - F]

AN OPEN LETTER FROM ANONYMOUS

February 16, 2011

TO THE CONGREGANTS OF WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH:

We, the collective super-consciousness known as ANONYMOUS - the Voice of Free Speech & the Advocate of the People - have long heard you issue your venomous statements of hatred, and we have witnessed your flagrant and absurd displays of inimitable bigotry and intolerant fanaticism. We have always regarded you and your ilk as an assembly of graceless sociopaths and maniacal chauvinists & religious zealots, however benign, who act out for the sake of attention & in the name of religion.

Being such aggressive proponents for the Freedom of Speech & Freedom of Information as we are, we have hitherto allowed you to continue preaching your benighted gospel of hatred and your theatrical exhibitions of, not only your fascist views, but your utter lack of Christ-like attributes. You have condemned the men and women who serve, fight, and perish in the armed forces of your nation; you have prayed for and celebrated the deaths of young children, who are without fault; you have stood outside the United States National Holocaust Museum, condemning the men, women, and children who, despite their innocence, were annihilated by a tyrannical embodiment of fascism and unsubstantiated repugnance. Rather than allowing the deceased some degree of peace and respect, you instead choose to torment, harass, and assault those who grieve.

Your demonstrations and your unrelenting cascade of disparaging slurs, unfounded judgments, and prejudicial innuendos, which apparently apply to every individual numbered amongst the race of Man - except for yourselves - has frequently crossed the line which separates Freedom of Speech from deliberately utilizing the same tactics and methods of intimidation and mental & emotional abuse that have been previously exploited and employed by tyrants and dictators, fascists and terrorist organizations throughout history.

ANONYMOUS cannot abide this behavior any longer. The time for us to be idle spectators in your inhumane treatment of fellow Man has reached its apex, and we shall now be moved to action. Thus, we give you a warning: Cease & desist your protest campaign in the year 2011, return to your homes in Kansas, & close your public Web sites.

Should you ignore this warning, you will meet with the vicious retaliatory arm of ANONYMOUS: We will target your public Websites, and the propaganda & detestable doctrine that you promote will be eradicated; the damage incurred will be irreversible, and neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover. It is in your best interest to comply now, while the option to do so is still being offered, because we will not relent until you cease the conduction & promotion of all your bigoted operations & doctrines.

The warning has been given. What happens from here shall be determined by you.



WE ARE ANONYMOUS.
WE ARE LEGION.
WE DO NOT FORGIVE.
WE DO NOT FORGET.
EXPECT US.

[Good.

No link. Don't know who's watching it and I don't want anybody else taking any heat. From here on, I'll be posting suitable press releases from Anonymous from time to time and giving the organization any help they might need. I told you I've had it. - F]

Come on out, F-Man!

Click to emhugen

...one day I'm gonna fly out there and surprise Gordon and Mrs. G. ... In the summer - Fixer at this post.

Oh, poo on summer! There's no time like the present! And ya don't gots ta surprise us neither. I'll pick ya up at any airport from Frisco ta Reno.

Come on out and enjoy the Sierra Nevada Winter Wonderland up close and personal! As can be plainly seen in the photo I have all the recreational gear anybody could possibly need!

See the slight lump in the upper left of the snow pile? That's the Weber. We can do the Dance Of Joy while we're grillin' something up! And it's only about twenty feet away!

Then I'll treat ya to hours and hours of the most beautiful views in the Sierra! From my roof...

Then we can go downtown and watch the flatlanders try ta drive in the snow! Vastly entertaining if we pick a safe spot. Think 'popcorn, extra butter'. Maybe we'll get ta wave at Badtux! If we're lucky, he'll see us and do a trick for us, like sliding by upside down!(winky smiley face)

So come on out and enjoy! Just bring yer strong back. Maybe some weed...

Oops...

I think I mis-identified the lump atop the snow in the top photo as being my Weber grill. It's the lump at the far end of the deck in this photo. Sorry 'bout that. It's still only about twenty feet to shovel to it.

I want my America back!

Your Saturday afternoon read:

...

That's the way it's supposed to work. But a veritable mountain of evidence indicates that when it comes to Wall Street, the justice system not only sucks at punishing financial criminals, it has actually evolved into a highly effective mechanism for protecting financial criminals. This institutional reality has absolutely nothing to do with politics or ideology — it takes place no matter who's in office or which party's in power. To understand how the machinery functions, you have to start back at least a decade ago, as case after case of financial malfeasance was pursued too slowly or not at all, fumbled by a government bureaucracy that too often is on a first-name basis with its targets. Indeed, the shocking pattern of nonenforcement with regard to Wall Street is so deeply ingrained in Washington that it raises a profound and difficult question about the very nature of our society: whether we have created a class of people whose misdeeds are no longer perceived as crimes, almost no matter what those misdeeds are. The SEC and the Justice Department have evolved into a bizarre species of social surgeon serving this nonjailable class, expert not at administering punishment and justice, but at finding and removing criminal responsibility from the bodies of the accused.

The systematic lack of regulation has left even the country's top regulators frustrated. Lynn Turner, a former chief accountant for the SEC, laughs darkly at the idea that the criminal justice system is broken when it comes to Wall Street. "I think you've got a wrong assumption — that we even have a law-enforcement agency when it comes to Wall Street," he says.

...

There is no more of, by, and for the People. We are all the pawns of the corporate overlords and their minions in both parties.

Update:

More from Montag:

...

Even if you accept the political "pressures" that let George W Cheney, Rummy, the Torture Memo 6 and others from the previous maladministration walk away, it is hard to believe that the Department of Justice under Holder can not get a prosecution of the best documented criminal financial fraud of [our] time.

Justice, bought and paid for.

Outsourcing ...

Boeing learns a lesson:

Outsourcing, as anyone who's ever had to manage a project staffed in another country will tell you, is rife with all kinds of pitfalls -- and it's almost never cheaper, no matter what Tom "The World Is Flat" Friedman would like you to believe. Boeing learned the hard way:

...

When you pay people slave wages to make close tolerance parts, it costs you more in the end. Ask the car makers about that.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

I've always liked this song, originally from The Band.

Sheryl Crow, Levon Helm, Emmylou Harris - "Evangeline" (Live, 1995)

Thanks to CrowVideoTV2, Italy.

"Let's go to the store!"

Mrs. G had the idea to go to the grocery store early today to beat the hordes of locusts skiers who will no doubt be here (if they can get here. See CalTrans Tahoe area webcams.) for a 3-day weekend with 10 feet of fresh snow on the ski hills.

Nice idea! Luckily I found some of her opium still clinging to my soldering iron. I'm just fine, thank you....Ommmmm...

Nothin' to it but to do it. Later.

There's a Tacoma in there somewhere...

Click to emhugen

Coupla thoughts on Madison

Walker's claims of a "budget crisis" as cover for stripping away citizens' rights are a very WMD-like lie to cover up a Repug agenda. I'm sensing* an M.O. here...

*As in 'sensing' a 2x4 upside my head.

Trying to ram this bill through in one week so no one would notice or have time to react until it was in the bag done backfired on his ass big time. Foot, meet pecker. The reaction surprised the shit out of him, I think. Prediction: he will not complete his term as governor.

Our protesters, yes, they are our people fighting for us, God bless 'em, spell their signs a lot better than the teabaggers. Must be a helluva lot smarter, no?

Note to der Gouverneur Walker

El Rude-o weighs in:

You see, Walkie-baby, what's going on in your state right now is that you finally broke the camel's back. No, wait. You not only broke the camel's back, but you fucked its ass while it was lying there paralyzed in the desert. You Or, to use another metaphor, the people in your state finally decided they've eaten enough shit, having sat there and watched while, in classic Republican style, you and your rubber-stamping Republican zombies in the legislature passed tax cuts that will drive your state to the very crisis you want to use to break the unions in a bare-ass naked power grab.

Since the election of Barack Obama, or perhaps since the 2006 congressional elections, Republicans have been throwing the most sustained hissy fit in American political history. See, for over half a decade, Republicans bought into that Rove black magic, thinking that if they blindly followed Bush over the brink, they'd reap the majority of majorities all over the nation. When that turned out to be a lie, fuckers went feral on our asses. But Republicans have misread the meaning of the 2010 elections (as have most people). They thought it was all about them and how much they hate those goddamn socialists. But it wasn't. No, what 2010 was really about was how much Barack Obama fucked up in keeping together the big-ass majority that voted for him. Some stayed home, some were stupid enough to run back into the crooked arms of the savage right. What it didn't mean, though, was that all of a sudden Republican ideology became accepted by the majority of the nation. Sorry, motherfuckers.

And now, as the public workers continue their uprising, as they act like engaged citizens of a democracy and not merely useful puppets who are manipulated into voting for idiots and tools, as they fight to keep a right that was battled over nearly fifty years ago, as the long-dormant force of worker action is awakened to lumbering, stunning life, as the crowds grow by the thousands, as the Democrats in the Assembly use the only tool they have left in the face of the arrogance of Republican leadership, as you, Gov. Walker, refuse to negotiate with Democrats just as you refused to negotiate with the unions, as the protests multiply against Republican assholes across the nation, oh, goddamn, how fucking stupid you must feel, like back in your classes at college.

No one told you this would be on the test, did they?

All you need to know about what's going on in Cairo Madison and elsewhere

In case you missed it, you MUST, please but MUST, watch this.

Right now and for the foreseeable future, there is one party with cubic money and the burning desire to rule, not govern, this country. They are superbly organized and, thanks to their bought-and-paid-for Supreme Court, unlimitedly well funded and they have their plan well in motion. I need not name this party.

Then there's another party made up of a loosely like-minded mob of everybody else known as Democrats.

Until the rainbows and unicorns unite to form a truly progressive party, the Dems are the only choice. Dammit.

Work toward that. Join Progressives United or the American Progressives United Party or form your own or whatever. Do what you can, but in the meantime:

IT'S US AGAINST THEM and it's a death match. That's the way the other side wants it so it's fight or die. Damn near literally.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

At least ...

I'm not the only one:

...

Desperately needed now, if Constitutional Democracy, as defined by the Preamble to that great document (see my Commentary of almost a year ago, "The Preamblers" http://blog.buzzflash.com/jonas/185) and the Bill of Rights, is to be maintained, indeed restored in the United States, and if a Second Civil War is to be prevented, is a new party. I am not talking here about a traditional US "third party" which could make a lot of us feel good but which would go nowhere politically. What we need is for the Democratic Party to split. We need the formation of the Progressive Democratic Party. Its platform would be fairly obvious and I need not detail it here. But what I will deal with here, briefly, is what it would need in order to be effective.

A Progressive Democratic Party with a chance of winning elections, and in 2012 in a three-way battle the possibility of even winning the Presidency, needs three things. It needs a significant cadre of elected officials at the Federal, state and local levels to split from Obama and the Corporate Power Democrats and join it, people like John Conyers, Al Franken, Sherrod Brown, and Peter Shumlin (the new, pro-single payer, Governor of Vermont). It needs very significant amount of money from National Interest Capitalists (URL: http://blog.buzzflash.com/jonas/214) like George Soros and his new group. It needs strong support from at least part of what's left of the US trade union movement (which would obviously not include that sector of it that is trying to make nice with the US Chamber of Commerce); and it needs dynamic leadership and potential Presidential candidates, like Alan Grayson (yes, Abraham Lincoln was also a one-term Congressman defeated for re-election, in his case because he had opposed the Mexican War), Howard Dean, and Dennis Kucinich.

...

I don't have much hope but if this happens, I'm there.

There is no shortfall ...

It's union-busting, period:

Wisconsin's new Republican governor has framed his assault on public worker's collective bargaining rights as a needed measure of fiscal austerity during tough times.

...

Furthermore, this broadside comes less than a month after the state's fiscal bureau -- the Wisconsin equivalent of the Congressional Budget Office -- concluded that Wisconsin isn't even in need of austerity measures, and could conclude the fiscal year with a surplus. In fact, they say that the current budget shortfall is a direct result of tax cut policies Walker enacted in his first days in office. [my em]

...

Rotten, thieving, pieces of shit, all of 'em. They should drag this idiot from the statehouse and hang him from the nearest tree. Seriously.

And my civil tone? You can kiss that goodbye. I want arrests of these assholes and, failing leadership in that regard, the people should do it themselves. Fuck this shit. I'm tired of seeing my country raped for the benefit of a small few.

...

The U.S. Government stands virtually alone in steadfastly blocking all such investigations even though it was the U.S. in the lead in creating this torture and detention system. Indeed, the American political class barely bothers any longer with even the pretense of legal accountability. Each political party shields the other from any accountability in a ritual of lawlessness, while the courts concoct ever-new doctrines for shielding our political class from any legal scrutiny. [my em]

...

Fuck them. I put my fucking ass on the line for this country and since that time (20 Feb 1980) I've watched it go down the tubes thanks to the Republican/Conservative/Corporate agenda and the so-called "progressives" who buy into it.

Fuck them all. I've had it. I'm tired of getting fucked by these people and my government helping them. I'm tired of the people I support (the Dems) going along with the conservative line and "compromising". The time for compromise is over. These fucking assholes are purposely tearing apart the fabric of this nation and the things that made us great. It wasn't those rich assholes or the corporations who built this wonderful place, it was the American worker. It was the labor unions who organized and got us the workers rights we have now and these fucking assholes want to take it all away.

It ain't about Left and Right anymore, it's Us against Them and the revolution is nigh. It's time we expelled the rapists from our midst by any means necessary. To the fucking barricades!

And just an addendum: There would be no need for "austerity" measures if the rich and corporations just paid their fair share of taxes. That's all it comes down to. Roll back the tax rates to Clinton-era levels and there would be no fucking problem.

Cairo, motherfuckers!

Links updated throughout the morning.

Smart people ...

Eventually see the light. I've been reading Balloon Juice for years, though Cole and his bunch were pretty conservative in the beginning, they've been moderate and thoughtful. John Cole's intelligence got the better of him a while back and realized where the conservatives were going. Yesterday, E.D. Cain followed suit:

...

I note all of this just to point out that this sort of thing probably ought to be seen as a severing of ties, a casing off of older positions I’ve held without making a big showy thing out of it. In at least a couple of these posts I say as much, noting that I was wrong to believe X and now that I’ve run the necessary intellectual gauntlet I’ve moved to position Y. Suffice to say, I don’t think any of this puts me in good standing with conservative or libertarian camps, and frankly that’s fine. I have no interest in being either, though I do consider myself a civil libertarian. In other words, I’ve changed my mind. The middle class and American workers are facing some tough times in this country, and I think progressives offer the middle and working class the best options – a revival of organized labor strikes me as fundamentally important to the well-being of our society – so that’s where I’m throwing my support. And I feel better about the stuff I’ve written and the positions I’ve taken lately than I have on anything I’ve written in a long time. I think that’s a good sign. I feel comfortable with these new progressive shoes. They fit nicely.

...

Welcome aboard!

Thanks, Jill.

How it works ...

The English have been on an austerity kick like we have, for probably the same reasons, though they've been promising people they wouldn't lose their jobs. Not so much:

The Conservatives were quite open about removing hundreds of thousands of government jobs in the UK but they did assure people that for the health care system, they would protect the system. That now looks like another empty promise. Imagine how many jobs the US conservatives will eliminate beyond what they're already saying they will cut. This will have a chilling effect on the system as more losses are discovered. Having employment as high as possible and receiving tax income is much more important than any benefits received from chopping programs.

...

They're cutting, both there and here, for only one reason. It's easier for their rich friends and corporations to loot whatever "savings" they may find.

And while we're on the subject ...

Re: My earlier post.

Regulars here know I'm an unabashed, unrepentant beer snob. My regular beer is Newcastle Brown Ale. The best beer in the world is made in Belgium and next is Germany (not Becks). The English and Irish run a close tie for third. That's the way it is, like the Laws of the Game (I don't take too many things seriously but beer and football are almost religious things for me).

That said, I regularly rag on American beer and rightly so. Most beer that's mass produced here is, what my German family calls it, American Goat Piss. There are a couple I love. One is Sam Adams Noble Pils and the other is Yuengling Lager. The Sam Adams is a seasonal brew but you can get Yuengling all year round.



It's relatively inexpensive (it ain't PBR but they won't take your nuts at the checkout either) and it goes pretty well with rich foods, especially pizza. If you want an alternative to Bud and its ilk, this is good without breaking the bank*.

Why yes, I think I'll have another ...

*Speaking of banks, Banks Beer from Barbados (if you can find it in your area) is a wonderful change of pace. So is Balashi from Aruba.

Cairo Madison ...

No need to comment [check out the pic at the link - F]:

There has been a dramatic development in Wisconsin. All 14 Democrats in the state Senate have left the Capitol building, thereby denying a quorum and preventing a vote on the Republican plan to cut salaries, health insurance, pensions and bargaining rights for state employees. Milwaukee reporter Nick Bohr broke the story over twitter (tweets presented in chronological order):

Thanks, Mr. Philly.

Being clear ...

John Cole(in toto) via Da Beez:

I’ve said this before, and I will say it again. Unless your proposal includes a substantial increase in taxes and a substantial amount of cuts to the military budget as well as ending the farm subsidies and giveaways to big oil and big energy and big business, you can kindly just shut up about the deficit and the debt. Additionally, any cuts to entitlements need to include cuts to the CURRENT recipients, not grandfathering the boomers and then wondering why the cuts never materialize in the future.

If you aren’t going to do those things, just shut up. You aren’t serious.

Ain't nobody serious in Washington anymore.

Light Blogging Today

Fixer's doing such a beautiful job today that I'm gonna go edit me some video. Thanks, F-Man. I wuz wonderin' how I was gonna squeeze it in amongst all the snow removal.

Later.

Update:

I have posted my first (and last - see 'rendition snow') video of the day over at Fixer & Gordon. Just a short, but exciting! (cough) vid of my fancy-schmancy* new snowblower in action. Ho-hum. Part of my attempt to convince Fixer to save his own life, although he may not need it. If the climate obeys the proposed laws prohibiting climate change that is.

*Thank you for that, dear Lisa!

While I was doing my daily dead tree reading (aka the "Magic Moment" after which I can face the day) yesterday, The Old Farmer's Almanac had as an entry for the day, "winter's back breaks". Go see how well winter operates with a broken back. Mine just aches a little.

Later. Time to go process and rendition more snow.

Update II:

Just got back in from clearing the driveway, well most of it. When I looked at the gas gauge I was surprised how close I came to showing you how to put gas in it, and they never run out within 100ft of a gas can. It is written. Usually in the middle of the street. Same amount of snow as yesterday and by the time I got done there was another four inches. Me 'n the pups came in looking like Abominable Snowbunnies. Mrs. G is quite used to me hollerin' "towel girl!" when we come in so she can throw something over them before they can shake off in the house. Heh.