Quote of the Day

Drifty, as he disassembles Bobo Brooks once again:

...

For last 40 years, Mr. Brooks' Party and Movement have sprinted flat-out, full-tilt into the embrace of hucksters and demagogues who traffic in nothing more than "obscurantism and illiteracy, raised to the level of dogma". Have preached nothing but a doctrine of remaining "as ignorant today as you were yesterday" from every pulpit and husting and media megaphone, while keeping the Pig People in a constant state of terror that the woods are indeed not only just full of "monsters and aliens" but their dirty Commie Liberals with whom they are who are in league with.

...

We are ...

The 99%.

Goin' ridin'

Off today to ride the Granite Trial at the PITS property. Last trial of the year, and maybe the most interesting depending on if Wednesday's snow has melted or not. Heh. I may do a little 'atoning' myself.

Gut yuntiff! See yas.

Update:

A good day - last trial of the year, personal best score and number of 'cleans'. Good way to end the season. My request for a soft landing (see comments) was granted. Heh. Puh-lenty of snow! Tired, stoned, more later. G'nite.

Conservative pastor on Romney: Don't vote for a Mormon

CNN

A pastor of a mega church in Dallas said Friday that Republicans shouldn't vote for White House hopeful Mitt Romney because he's a Mormon and described the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a "cult."

Let the shitstorm begin...

I'm glad this noted religious bigot finally showed some true Christian spirit and said this in public.

He's wrong, though. A cult is a religion without political power. The Saints have their own state fer chrissake!

"Entitlements"

Nah, not for poor folk, or old folk, or unemployed folk, or sick folk. That's what caused the deficit, right? Bootstraps and all. It's the big banks that are "entitled" to make a profit because, well ... they're "entitled".

Ethnic cleansing ...

Digby calls it right. In a state where a black woman didn't have the right to vote 50 years ago, white Alabama shows its true (confederate) colors once again:

...

There are people calling this a form of ethnic cleansing and I can't figure out a reason why it isn't. Sure, not every Hispanic in the state is undocumented, but you could certainly forgive them for feeling that measures this punitive mean they aren't welcome. If the state is willing to deny someone water because they don't have proper ID, they really, really don't want you around.

...

Heh ...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

To our Jewish friends ...

Good yontif!

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

I think the name of the song is "Calling My Children Home". From last weekend's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco.

Thanks to chuck18899.

Flatlanders Flip for Foot of Fluff!

Weather's always fun. More fun than whatever the Repug Outrage of the Day is. I'm so used to this shit I find it amazing that people even give it a second thought. When the TV folks in Sackatomatoes say "we're" gonna get a lotta snow, my reply is always, "Yeah dipstick, and we're gonna shovel it, right?"

There's a very slight distinction between Donner Summit and Donner Pass. Donner Summit is where I-80 switches from climbing to descending and has a highway rest stop that's been closed for rebuilding for two years now, and also a geographical area maybe three miles by a mile where there are small communities, ski areas, maybe still a post office. You can't see one from the other. Donner Pass is the two-lane pass over the Sierra on old Highway 40 that enters and exits the geographical area. Highway 40 is maybe a mile as the crow flies and two ridgelines from I-80 and is more or less a scenic bypass. The weather is exactly the same. Unless you're trying to be precise there's not much difference. Boreal is right off the Interstate and easy to get to.

EssEffChron

This is October 6? Shot taken at 4 p.m. Thursday at Boreal near Donner Summit. Photo by Tom Stienstra

Those familiar with the Sierra know this is probably a short-term anomaly. All this snow could even melt off next week when the temperature is expected to climb into the high 60s and perhaps low 70s. But if cold nights keep it around, not just at Donner Pass, but the entire Sierra Crest and Shasta, it portends great things for the winter, mountain resorts and state’s water supply. This snow was very heavy, the wet Sierra cement. If it freezes, it would make a great base level, and allow future powder to pile up on top of that base without melting off. That would allow ski areas to open early across the mountain country.

It’s been a crazy year. I talked to a truck driver from New York and he said he drove through Tahoe-Donner in June and ran into a blizzard. Now here it is only four months later and he runs into another one? Shortest summer imaginable, eh? Well, maybe. Maybe not. Many years, we haven’t had significant coverage of ski runs until December.

One side story: The problems on I-80 were immediate. On Wednesday, the California Highway Patrol closed I-80 eastbound in the morning because cars were wiping out all over the place. After reopening it in the afternoon, several accidents required that they close it again. On Thursday, Caltrans posted chain controls on their website and road hotline, (800) 427-7623, but city drivers in 2-wheel-drives were still pushing it at 70 mph, and no one had to chain up. I clicked my rig into 4-wheel-drive and tried to enjoy the scenery and avoid the speeders.

Still can’t believe this is the first week of October.

Believe it, Sparky. Heh.

Tomorrow I'm going about 15 miles over the summit to ride my last trial of the year at the PITS property. That's near Cisco Grove (a "populated place") at 5600 feet of elevation. The club honchos think yesterday's snow will be gone. It's all northern exposure and I don't think it will be. We'll see how that works out.

Wah-wah-wah ...

Those poor, oppressed, white guys:

...

I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lindsey Graham has experienced at the hands of poor black people. Maybe one day he will dramatize it for us, in sequins, so that we may understand.

...

Heh...hmmmm...

Christ ...

Now Barry ain't black enough.

The stupid, it burns...

The Escapist

The Westboro Baptist Church leader damns Steve Jobs to Hell using her iPhone.

"Westboro will picket his funeral. He had a huge platform; gave God no glory & taught sin," wrote Margie Phelps, daughter of church leader Fred Phelps, on Twitter last night.

The absolutely ridiculous part is that Phelps wrote and sent this Tweet with her freaking iPhone. After several people pointed out the irony of using the product created by the same man she was damning, Phelps responded, "Rebels mad cuz I used iPhone to tell you Steve Jobs is in hell. God created iPhone for that purpose! :)"

I interpret Phelps' smiley-face there as a clear sign of insanity.

Duh. Insane and evil. I hope the 'rebel' geeks 'n nerds at Mr. Jobs' funeral stuff the WBC assholes in a shredder or however they get rid of trolls.

Next we'll be hearing that God was having trouble with His iPhone and called Steve Jobs home for a little IT work? I'd believe that.

A big tip o' the Brain to Badtux for this.

Shooting themselves ...

In the foot. Because they didn't learn from Georgia's stupidity emulating Arizona's stupidity, Alabama did the double plus stupid thing by emulating them. Now they're crying:

It's not like they weren't warned. There was already the example of Arizona, whose wrecked economy lies in ruins in the wake of SB1070 and the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment that came with its passage.

...

And guess what? They are now paying the price. Not only are the schools suddenly emptying of Latino children, more tellingly, the state's tomato farmers are in crisis because there's no one available to harvest the fruit. And the authors of the legislation are just telling them, "tough luck":

...

Gotta love them conservative "intellectuals".

...

This is where the rubber hits the road when it comes to conservative ideology, just as it does when Randian fantasy meets reality -- which is to say, it quickly comes apart. The right-wing nativists want to pretend that undocumented immigrants are taking away jobs that Americans want to be doing, but the reality is they are largely filling unskilled-labor positions that involve back-breaking work -- the kind of work Americans simply are incapable of performing nowadays, regardless of pay.

...

How long before all these assholes start begging the federal government for "disaster relief"?

And just a note before I jump into the shower: I have no sympathy for the farmers or the people who continually vote for these idiots. This is the government they wanted. The immigration issue ("the wetbacks are taking our jobs") is what the voters of these states wanted to hear and they went for it. Now they got it. Good luck with that. Bed. Made. Lie. Better not look to me for a bailout. If it weren't for these gullible assholes who believe everything they're told by their polticians/preachers/conservative blowhards, we wouldn't have half the problems we do now.

Shredded ...

Like an unarmed man at a knife fight. Riffing off Gord's post last night, Herman Cain, for some unknown reason (what he took from O'Donnell last night couldn't be worth hawking a book), went on with Larry last night and Larry cut him up, down, and all around.

Really?

How fucking ridiculous is this? Stolen from our pal Pam Spaulding on the Facebook:

...

But perhaps the most shocking idea to save money is being debated right now by the City Council of Topeka, Kansas. The city could repeal an ordinance banning domestic violence because some say the cost of prosecuting those cases is just too high:

...

How about decriminalizing me kicking some local politician ass? I don't know, but I'm willing to bet this city council is made up of, mostly, old white men. Seriously, somebody should take all of them out back and throw 'em a beating so they can appreciate an abused woman's perspective (and if there are any women on the council, they should be beat twice as hard). Then let them go back in and vote.

Last day of Grand Jury. Gotta be in early ...

Colbert: GOP Voters Pick Candidates Like They're In A Bar At 4 A.M.

Yep, nobody's ugly at closin' time...

TPMLiveWire with video.

Stephen Colbert thought the 2012 Republican presidential contest was all but a two-horse race between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. But a funny thing happened on the way to the nomination: Herman Cain.

Here's my take on Pizza Guy: Cain's scared shitless. He is not now and never was and doesn't want to be a serious candidate. He never, ever, not for a moment thought that there were damn fools enough to get him into the top tier. He thought he'd be like Paul or Santorum, just make a lotta noise and that'd be it.

That's why he's taking 30 days off from campaigning right in the middle of the Repug turkey slap to sell his book. He's trying desperately not to win the primary.

Don't worry, Hermie, there are a helluva lot more voters who won't vote for you because of your cockamamie ideas.

He's not going to be President for two reasons:

First, the majority of morons he's pandering to will never, ever, vote for a gentleman of his, er, complexion, and second, he won't take the cut in pay and put his business interests in a blind trust and hope they're still there in four years.

Time ta go for it or drop out, Herman me lad. You'll make the right choice.

Quote of the Day II

From El Rude-o on media coverage of Occupy after ignoring it:

Sweet Jesus, the amount of media overcompensation was like a small-dicked executive buying an Escalade.

Much, much more.

Ya gotta think to learn

Thanks to YubaNet.

Damn good show too.

Radio check, over...

Usually, a radio check in the service was pretty dull. Every RTO does them on a regular basis to see if his radio works and if anybody can hear him and he can hear them. Goes like this:

"Any station this net, radio check, over." Zzzzzzz...

This morning a less dull one popped into my head and I can't get rid of it. It's like something from 45 years ago bubbled up through the ooze and is doing fast laps in my noggin. I feel the need to spread it around and maybe it'll go away, you lucky people. Silly, but here goes:

Unidentified Marine radio operator: "Ah'm tall as a tree an' black as a crow an' Ah talks mah shit on da ray-dee-o. How copy, over?"

The reply, "Fee fi fo fum, hears ya loud wid a little hum!"

Maybe it'll sink back down inta the ooze now...

Bodickus out at ESPN

Raw Story

On Thursday morning, ESPN said it had made the decision to bench Williams for good.
...

On his website, Williams claimed the decision had been his idea.

“After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision,” the singer wrote. “By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment.”

“Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.”

Don't let the door hitcha in the ass, Dick.

Note to Bodickus: Lemme 'splain the 1st Amendment since you obviously don't understand it. Along with a whole lot else. The 1st Amendment only protects your freedom of speech from the government, and sometimes not even from them if you're threatening or inciting a riot. Say any goddam fool thing you want, like you did, the government won't censure it in any meaningful way, but what happens next is up to the person you said it to. It's your right to say it, but that doesn't mean it will be well received and it's also your right to get your nose punched.

Asshole.

That said, I agree with you 100% that we are your enemy.

Light blogging this A.M.

Off to the doc this morning to get my BP checked for a new scrip.

Four inches of snow on the ground this morning. Up on Donner Summit, 8 miles away where I rode the trial this past weekend, over a foot. I hope it melts. Waaaaah...

See yas later.

Update:

BP was 120 over 83. Best it's been. New scrip. Lost 5 pounds. Good to go.

It really pisses me off ...

But I should be used to it by now. I realize the Chimp wouldn't listen to us when we warned that his tax and war polices would ruin this nation but we were correct when we predicted the consequences. But when we've been telling our own guy to stand up and fight, and he patently refused, preferring to acquiesce to Republican demands and to "stay above the fray", and then makes the situation worse, it really chaps my ass. We told him it wouldn't work and would weaken his presidency. What happened? The economy is on the balls of its ass and his approval ratings are the lowest yet.

Thankfully, in the last few weeks, he's come to see the light (hopefully):

If you come out with even something moderately progressive AND actually fight for it, it is not only good policy it is good politics. IF ONLY WE ANGRY LEFTWING BLOGGERS HAD THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE?!!!!

...

It's so bloody frustrating to bark at the moon for years before somebody takes what we've been saying seriously, let alone realizing it's good for this country and his career.

It would be nice if, just once, we wouldn't have to go through the whole "hippie bashing" phase before smart policy gets implemented.

Financial tip ...

If you own Apple stock, the time to unload it was yesterday evening. Some of us are old enough to remember what happened to Apple when Jobs left the first time. He ain't coming back to save them this time.

Quote of the Day

A spokesperson for the New York City Police Department:

"They tried to storm the barricade."

Encourager la révolution ! D'avec leurs têtes !

In a sane world ...

The President of the United States would not have to "incentivize" employers to hire our war vets. They would get first choice, period. Remember, they were over there under the guise of "fighting for our freedoms". It's the least we can do to repay them.

" Yes, dear criminal. You should be very worried."

An articulately inarticulate post on Occupy Wall St. by you know whom:

Oh, shut the fuck up, mainstream media. You know exactly what the Occupy Wall Street (and dozens of other places) protests are demanding. [...]

They all come down to the same thing, the same thing: power, specifically of the economic sort. The United States government has allowed corporations, whether its oil companies, banks, pharmaceuticals, or whatever, to have the power in the nation under the lie that their rising profits are the key to economic salvation. Now, after decades of corporate-friendly policies, mostly to the detriment of the individual worker, the lie has been made plain. If the Tea Party had not been racist and gun-toting and stupid and easily manipulated from the start, it would have had the same message.

Maybe if it had been allowed to by Armey and the Kochsucker brothers.

All but the most deluded believers in the bullshit chimera of voodoo economics (as we called it back in the day) know that taxes must go up. They know that the government must spend more on infrastructure and education here. They know that health insurance must be nationalized. They know that the wars must end. They know that criminals must be prosecuted. They know that Wall Street needs to be regulated. They know it and either won't do it because it'll cut into corporate profits or they can't do it because it's being blocked by the maniacs.

Or both.

In the simplest Marxist terms, capital must be taught a lesson that labor is its superior in the power structure. You want a real revolution, with unemployed, hungry masses demanding your heads? Then ignore this anger.

A banking CEO contacted the New York Times's Andrew Ross Sorkin to ask if he should be worried about the uprising.

Yes, dear criminal. You should be very worried. Not about your life. But about your grip on the throat of Americans.

The slower Americans are to anger, the deeper is the anger when they do and then it's Katy-bar-the-door. I'm hoping for that.

How the American Taxpayer Got Plucked in Iraq

A 'must read' story about a chicken factory we paid to build in Iraq. It'd be funny if it happened to someone else. Bureaucracy works in mysterious ways its blunders to perform.

...as part of the George W. Obama global wars of terror...

When we opened one fridge door, expecting to see chickens chilling, we found instead old buckets of paint. Our guide quickly noted that the plant had purchased 25 chickens that morning specifically to kill for us and to feature in a video on the glories of the new plant. This was good news, a 100% jump in productivity from previous days, when the plant killed no chickens at all.

According to our press release, the key to the project was “market research which indicated Iraqis would be willing to pay a premium for fresh, halal-certified chicken, a market distinct from the cheaper imported frozen chicken found on Iraqi store shelves.” The only problem was that no one actually did any market research.

In 2010, most Iraqis ate frozen chicken imported from Brazil. Those crafty Brazilians at least labeled the chicken as halal, and you could buy a kilo of the stuff for about 2,200 dinars ($1.88). Because Iraq did not grow whatever chickens ate, feed had to be imported, raising the price of local chicken. A live bird in the market went for about 3,000 dinars, while chicken from our plant, where we had to pay for the feed plus the workers and who knew what else, cost over 4,000 dinars, more than the already expensive live variety and almost double the price of cheap frozen imports.

How many PRT staff members does it take to screw in a lightbulb? One to hire a contractor who fails to complete the job and two to write the press release in the dark.

VIPs didn’t drive, they flew, and so tended to see even less than regular war tourists. Their visits were also more highly managed so that they would stay on message in their blogs and tweets. It turns out most journalists are not as inquisitive as TV shows and movies would have you believe. Most are interested only in a story, not the story.

Therefore, it was easy not to tell the journalist about the chicken plant problems. Instead, we had some chickens killed so the place looked busy. We had lunch at the slaughter plant -- fresh roasted chicken bought at the market. The Iraqis slow roast their chickens like the Salvadoreans do and it was juicy, with crisp skin. Served lightly salted, it simply fell apart in your mouth. We dined well and, as a bonus, consumed the evidence of our fraud.

Like using a frozen chicken as a murder weapon. Do not miss this.

Headline of the Day

Tea Party Nation Urges Monday Night Football Boycott, Backs Hank Williams For Senate

Shit, me'n Fixer likened The Dick and his Chimp to Nazis so many times, with better reason, we oughta be PRESIDENT! Of course we didn't get to do it on F**Noise where the simple-minded could hear us.

I've said it ...

A million times. If I, through my shortcuts and shitbag work habits, managed to ruin my boss's business, forcing him to close up, I sure as hell wouldn't be expecting a bonus. Seems other industries have different rules.

Tribune Co. won court approval to pay as much as $42.5 million in incentive bonuses to 640 managers of the bankrupt newspaper publisher.

...

The bonuses are "critically important to maintain proper incentives for the management team," Tribune said in a court filing dated Aug. 30.

...

Proper incentives for what; more failure? If they managed to bankrupt the place, why keep 'em around to manage anything at all? There's one thing that should be done away with right now; golden parachutes. If you fuck up bad enough where you get your ass fired, or you just destroy the company around you, what right to you have to be paid to go away? (And they have the balls to talk about "welfare queens") Let alone being given a bonus to hang around and fuck up some more. No wonder these people are so divorced from reality.

Thank you for your service ...

When a third of the troops think their time and lives were wasted, you can safely assume our wars are misguided and misbegotten:

One in three U.S. veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting, and a majority think that after 10 years of combat America should be focusing less on foreign affairs and more on its own problems, according to an opinion survey released Wednesday.

...

The poll results presented by the Pew Research Center portray post-9/11 veterans as proud of their work, scarred by warfare and convinced that the American public has little understanding of the problems that wartime service has created for military members and their families.

...

You mean they're not just little green plastic men on a game board?

The Second Coming ...

No, not a porn flick, and no, not Jesus arising either, but close:

...

I've been looking for another presidential savior all day. I had a good line on a big, mean, mangy dog, but his owner wouldn't agree to let him run. She worried Rep. Bachmann might bite him, or even worse, use her crazy eyeball emissions to shatter his psyche like she did with Rick Santorum.

Then, I remembered a Facebook campaign I launched during the last presidential cycle. I called it "Dig Up Dutch '08." My plan was to dig up our greatest leader, Ronald Wilson Reagan, and run his corpse for president.

The plan to dig up Dutch was very popular. People flocked to it. We quickly raised enough money for a shovel, but no one had a gunnysack. For lack of burlap, the OBAMUNIST USURPER is our president.

...

The current crop of pretenders contenders are all trying to wear his clothes; why not dig up the real deal himself? Even if he wins, he'd be better than any of those who came after him or want to. At this point, I'd consider a Reagan presidency a victory for the Left.

If there's something ...

We Germans know how to do, it's party. Another successful Oktoberfest:

In the past 17 days, people visiting Munich's Oktoberfest drank a record 7.5 million liters of beer — around 1.98 million U.S. gallons. That figure is made more striking if one notes that the festival, which ended Monday, hosted some 6.9 million visitors this year — or 200,000 people short of a record turnout.

Despite that number, there was less violence this year, with the police being called about 100 times fewer than they were in 2010. And Reuters says that only 58 conflicts involved people knocking one another over the head with steins — a drop of 4 from last year.

...

Did I mention we're also hard-headed? Heh ...

When Jesus ate the magic mushrooms

If it's Wednesday, it must be Morford on 'shrooms.

People who had mystic experiences while taking the mushrooms were more likely to show increases in a personality trait dubbed "openness"... The change was still in place a year later, suggesting a long-term effect. -Bloomberg

It's true. If there's no serious corporate profit to be made from a given life enhancer (psilocybin, like pot or MDMA, can't exactly be trademarked) it therefore cannot be allowed to legally exist. It must be banned. Outlawed. After all, we can't have everyone running around feeling all "open" and fearless and defining god on their own delirious terms completely gratis, can we?

What a strange and wobbly time in which to live. We refuse to believe something until it's "proven" via scientific method, but once it's proven half the nation immediately discredits it because science is for elitist liberals and only creationist Jesus and a sad gang of very dead, enormously repressed Bible-writing priests from 1,500 years ago actually know anything about "truth."

Did Jesus take magic mushrooms? Can we deliberate for a moment? How about Buddha? Allah? Eve? Was the gleaming apple from the tree of knowledge not laced with ayahuasca and wormwood and dark rum? Can we safely assume? Oh, we absolutely can.

This much we know: mushrooms inspire a numinous state, and Jesus was nothing if not a card-carrying mystic. A seer. An anti-establishment, proto-hippie, street-screamin' visionary who hung out with prostitutes and freaks and loved everyone equally, saw everyone as full incarnation of pure divinity right here on earth. And he was what, sober? Sure.

What street mystic worth his or her cosmic epiphany wouldn't eagerly sample from the garden of earthly delights to better jack into the holy mainframe? What, you think Jesus was eating bologna straight from the package and sucking Bud Light and watching NASCAR and "Jersey Shore" like a dupe?

In other words, you are God, silly. The mushrooms just kinda sorta show you how.

There is nothing I could possibly add to that.

He vill be taken out ...

Put up against ze vall, und shot*.

...

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) launched a verbal assault on an unconventional target Tuesday, taking aim at Grover Norquist and his highly influential tax policy group, Americans for Tax Reform.

...

"Everything must be on the table, and I believe how the pledge is interpreted and enforced by Mr. Norquist is a roadblock to realistically reforming our tax code," Wolf said, after first clarifying that he didn't "support raising taxes on the American people."

...

Political career crashing and burning in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...

*This was my German mother's answer to any corrupt, greedy, or self-serving politician and generally criminals of any stripe.

You can't ...

Make this shit up. I wish I could share the testimony with you (Grand Jury proceedings are secret) and the suspect's statements after his arrest but use your imagination and you wouldn't be far off (try to think as stupid as you can). Woulda made a great episode of Cops.

Back to court.

The Amazing Racism - Geographical Bigotry

I'm sure we all feel that the name of Goodhair's hunting camp is offensive as well as scads of other things with the same name. Welcome to America. Heh.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Amazing Racism - Geographical Bigotry
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satirehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Check out this list of place names just in California. They left out one that's about 5 miles from me, another one in my county and who knows how many others, including a State Park.

And don't forget Brazil nuts. Heh.

On Christie Not Running

The only thing that lardass runs for is the buffet.

Update:

Chris Christie has Obesity Society on his side

"There is no place for weight bias in a just, compassionate society," the statement concluded. If Christie does decide to run, do you think his weight will continue to be a sticking point during his campaign?

He might stick in a few doorways...

The Case for Using Predator Drone Strikes Against Wall Street Executives

From a secret Justice Department memorandum obtained by the Rude Pundit:

Mr. President,

Since it is now the policy of our administration to target American citizens for killing by missiles delivered by Predator drone aircraft, I am proposing an expansion of the program to include targets beyond our ongoing conflict with al-Qaeda and its affiliates. I propose that we now target executives and others in the finance industry who so far have not been prosecuted for potential crimes that forced the economy of the United States into a long-term decline.

- If the targeted killing of American citizens is justified in our ongoing war with terrorists above and beyond any previous congressional authorization, and if the military has previously been involved in the ongoing war on drugs, then we can say with confidence that the proposed targeted attacks on financial executives falls under the purview of the "War on Poverty," which was declared by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and which, like the ten-year war on terrorists and the forty-year war on drugs, has not been successfully concluded. This might seem to strain legal justification, but we are talking about criminals who have done grievous harm to the nation.

As for an ongoing and current threat, the sociopathic behavior of terrorists leads us to believe that they cannot be reformed; the same presumption can be made about the proposed targets in the financial sector. This office has no doubt that, given the chance, [name redacted], CEO of [firm redacted], would allow another convoluted series of billion-dollar transactions that might end up in another bailout, thus costing the United States more of its diminishing treasure.
...

To conclude, our policy of "Capture or Kill" towards American citizens who are terrorists should be expanded to include others who terrorize the nation in more subtle ways than bombs or bullets. And since the administration has shown no willingness to capture any of these proposed targets, we are only left with the latter option.

Works for me.

The one thing ...

I learned from the Amanda Knox case is not to get on the wrong side of the Italian judicial system.

I don't care ...

As long as they don't try to stick their hand in my pocket again:

Fears that the holding company for American Airlines, the fourth-biggest US carrier by passenger miles, would file for bankruptcy sent shares in AMR Corporation tumbling by a third on Monday.

...

Seems every industry we've bailed out turns around and begins a program of nickel-and-diming us for everything. Where's the gratitude for keeping them afloat with my tax money? I don't wanna hear that "we have to save American" for some bullshit reason or another. I believe in financial Darwinism and if your business model doesn't work, that's your problem, not mine. Nature abhors a vacuum and somebody will come along to take your place. You want me to give a shit about, and patronize, your business, treat me like a valued customer, not as an ATM.

Defending the Constitution ...

From America's finest news source:

...

"Right there in the preamble, the authors make their priorities clear: 'one nation under God,'" said Mortensen, attributing to the Constitution a line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which itself did not include any reference to a deity until 1954. "Well, there's a reason they put that right at the top."

"Men like Madison and Jefferson were moved by the ideals of Christianity, and wanted the United States to reflect those values as a Christian nation," continued Mortensen, referring to the "Father of the Constitution," James Madison, considered by many historians to be an atheist, and Thomas Jefferson, an Enlightenment-era thinker who rejected the divinity of Christ and was in France at the time the document was written. "The words on the page speak for themselves."

According to sources who have read the nation's charter, the U.S. Constitution and its 27 amendments do not contain the word "God" or "Christ."

Mortensen said his admiration for the loose assemblage of vague half-notions he calls the Constitution has only grown over time. He believes that each detail he has pulled from thin air—from prohibitions on sodomy and flag-burning, to mandatory crackdowns on immigrants, to the right of citizens not to have their hard-earned income confiscated in the form of taxes—has contributed to making it the best framework for governance "since the Ten Commandments."

...

In America of the 21st Century, satire is closer to reality than the news. Heh ...

Labels: CLEARLY LABELLED SATIRE

Heh ...

Looks like this Fox 'News' weenie picked the wrong protester to interview:

Stolen from DU.

Update:

Transcript here. Seems this guy is a Kos poster:

This is just wonderful to see. Jesse LaGreca, also known as the Daily Kos blogger MinistryOfTruth, gets in front of a Fox News reporter and lets him know what he and the other 99 percent think of their news coverage.

...

The Occupy Wall Street Protesters Earn Their Merit Badges

Sometimes I gotta read shit all morning to find something that blows my skirt up enough to post on it. Thank you Rude One! Links at site.

Genuine political and social movements fuck things up. The civil rights movement? The anti-Vietnam War movement? The labor movement of the early 20th-century? None of them would have progressed if they had only existed under the sanction of local, state, and federal governments, if they had only acted or marched with permission, if they had done nothing to disrupt the daily routines of everyday people, if they hadn't gotten in the faces of the powerful. If your protest is approved by city hall, then you are participating in civil obedience.

It's why the Tea Party was never anything other than a costume fad. And like any fad, it had its most devout adherents, but, truly, it was the Beanie Babies of political movements. The Tea Party gave comfort to the wealthy and played by the rules. It's why it was a movement of old people and families: there was no threat that anyone was going to spill any of their diabetic fucking blood on any goddamn mythical tree of liberty. And just like all those people who bought Beanie Babies thought they'd get rich by selling 'em on eBay, only to end up with basements full of dead-eyed, worthless bears and frogs, the Tea Party will soon be bagged up and brought to the thrift store of history.

Not soon enough, and not until all the fucking throwbacks they elected are out of office. Act in haste, repent at leisure.

Wear those arrests as badges of honor, good provocateurs of the plaza. As Big Bill Haywood, the leader of the Industrial Workers of the World, said when he was imprisoned in Chicago in 1917, "A prison cell is the heritagehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif we gain for the blood and lives our forefathers gave; they fought for religious freedom and left us with minds free from superstitious cant and dogma; they waged war for political justice; they carried on the struggle against chattel-slavery - these were the titanic battles that were fought, bringing us to the threshold of all wars - the class war - in which we are enlisted as workers." Now, Big Bill was given to hyperbole, but his point was that if you're gonna fuck with the powerful, the powerful are gonna try to fuck you up. But that the chance to battle should be inspirational, not dispiriting.

Remember, this is still the very, very beginning. Maybe, just maybe, as more actions happen, as unions get involved, as more arrests happen, as the tipping point of inevitable violence by authorities occurs, maybe we on the left can stop being such little bitches about the protests and unify behind them.

I tend to think the the power needs to be taken away from the police on the street which won't be a very nice thing to watch, or maybe it will be, depending on how you think. Then the protesters need to go to the top floors of the Wall St. buildings and drag a few of the richest CEOs or whatever out into the street and read 'em the riot act and let them try to explain themselves in front of cameras. That's the nicest scenario of what could happen to them.

Better yet, drag every last one of those Wall St. motherfuckers into the streets and let them answer for the harm they've done to this country and maybe give their views on how much all that money - our money - is going to help them in Hell. Then wish them bon voyage and send them there.

Quote of the Day

Comrade Misfit asking why the Koch Bros aren't in jail:

...

Of course, we all know why they aren't in prison: They're Republicans. Bribery, polluting, negligent homicide, stealing government resources and flouting export laws are all OK if you are a Republican.

Ya think?

I'm surprised they didn't get 'retired' Catholic priests to do it.

Early court today. Monday is DeeWee day ...

Why ...

Don't they just hire Blackwater to do this?

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Al Qaeda Rejects Iran's Allegations That U.S. Government, Not Al-Qaida, Behind 9/11 Attacks
“Next thing you know they'll be claiming the Holocaust really happened."”

Analysis: Republicans Still Looking For That Special Candidate
Someone with the sunny optimism of Bob Dole, the quick wit of Jerry Ford, the honesty of Richard Nixon and the intellectual curiosity of George W. Bush.

NJ Gov. Christie Mulling Presidential Run
Reportedly inquires if White House still has Taft bathtub.

There's been a lot of B.S. about Fats' weight lately. To paraphrase something I heard the other day, "When yer in the bathtub and the water level rises in the toilet, ya might wanta consider losing some weight". Heh.

Man Tosses 4800 Bottles Containing Messages Into Atlantic, Gets 3100 Responses
Most ask to be removed from his mailing list.

Last Gasp

Thus endeth the saga of yesterday's tall tales of motorcycle derring-do. I promise.

Prom-Queen Anguish

Will Durst on the Repug presidential field. A humorous read.

But to the GOP's dismay, all the heartthrobs have left the building. Donald Trump flirted extensively this spring, but then ran away with his true love, reality television, that tramp. Ms. Popular Transfer Student, Sarah Palin, dragged out her coquettish tease so long even the most bewitched of beaus lost interest. On the rebound, blushing and gushing, Michele Bachmann accepted a corsage, but shortly after was discovered cheating with a corn dog, and jittery suitors fell out of love faster than a college girl with Justin Bieber.

After extended entreaties, Rick Perry triumphantly waltzed in to the fanfare of a conquering quarterback, and was immediately voted Homecoming King. No more calls, we have a winner. For about a week. Then, the Texas governor unraveled like a badly knitted letter-sweater caught in a threshing machine. A series of threshing machines. Seven to ten.

Even he admits he may have stumbled in debate class. Yeah. "Stumbled" being a polite way of saying, "Dug a hole deep enough to hide at least half of those very threshers of which earlier we spoke." The more the cheerleaders saw of Captain Haircut, the more the bloom vamoosed the rose. Zero to 60 in 5.6.

With the dance but a couple months away, conservatives are franticly whining and pining for a savior to rise from these streets, turning their attention east to woo another governor, Chris Christie of New Jersey. They're Crazy for Christie. The right Mr. Right. Too big to fail. Flattered, Christie toned down his persistent "not interested" to a titillating "let's wait and see." Oooh. Shivers.

Heh. The fuckers got bupkis and they know it.

The Marines are coming to Wall St

Democratic Underground

This was taken from a message I just received on facebook:


"The Marines are coming to Wall St...(to PROTECT the protestors) "I'm heading up there tonight in my dress blues. So far, 15 of my fellow marine buddies are meeting me there, also in Uniform. I want to send the following message to Wall St and Congress: I didn't fight for Wall St. I fought for America. Now it's Congress' turn. My true hope, though, is that we Veterans can act as first line of defense between the police and the protester. If they want to get to some protesters so they can mace them, they will have to get through the Fucking Marine Corps first. Let's see a cop mace a bunch of decorated war vets. I apologize now for typos and errors. Typing this on iPhone whilst heading to NYC. We can organize once we're there. That's what we do best. If you see someone in uniform, gather together. A formation will be held tonight at 10PM. We all took an oath to uphold, protect and defend the constitution of this country. That's what we will be doing. Hope to see you there!!"

I'm proud of this guy and other Vets who might show up for this but they're about to find out what the power brokers and Masters Of The Universe really think of them - useful to the bottom line and then STFU.

The sky is always sunny ...

At 50,000 feet. When I was in the Air Force, especially when I went to SAC for a couple years, bomber pilots always creeped me out. Not a one of them I'd ever met gave a second thought to dumping 70,000 lbs of ordnance over a target while not knowing who would die when gravity did its work. Friendlies, civilians, didn't matter. Bombs away, do a 180, and head for the O-club, then home to help the kids with their homework and lay some pipe on the ol' lady. All in a day's work.

Rick Perry didn't bomb anything, but he was a transport pilot (how the fuck they taught him to fly an aircraft is beyond me, but they taught the Chimp how to fly fighters so there you go) and those guys are almost as bad. They also see things from 'above the clouds' and wish they could bomb or shoot at something.

Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Saturday said he would be open to sending U.S. troops into Mexico to combat drug cartels.

Speaking in New Hampshire during a campaign stop, Perry said, "It may require our military in Mexico working in concert with them to kill these drug cartels and keep them off our border."

...

After a decade of endless war, how this idiot can come up with the bright idea that we should now send our troops across the southern border and engage the drug cartels is beyond me. It's red meat to the old white people who are the core of the GOP/Teabag cult but somehow I think the Mexican people would have a problem with US troops running all over their country, let alone after a decade of witnessing the 'collateral damage' left over in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It'd be nice if the "supporting the troops" crowd would actually see our armed forces as people, with families, homes, and dreams, as opposed to the little green army men we played with as kids, as numbers on a ledger under the heading "force strength".

As opposed to actually solving the drug problem (probably giving our economy a big boost in the process and saving a buncha ammunition and American lives), the GOP's only answer to anything is to either shoot it or drop bombs on it, whether literally or metaphorically.

And a last thought: Haven't we heard this before?

...

As the Washington Post points out, Perry on Saturday also said he wouldn’t send American troops into a combat situation if he didn’t have a clear plan for victory and withdrawal.

...

I think I remember the Chimp saying that before we went to Iraq and Afghanistan. Does Rick Perry think our troops should be in Mexico for a decade or more? Just askin' ...

Goin' ridin'

Off today to ride the Boreal Ridge Trial. 8 miles from my house. Couldn't they have made it any closer? Actually, no. Heh.

The club previously held their yearly "ski hill trial" at Donner Ski Ranch, aka "the granite patch", but there was some kind of property line issue so they moved it exactly one ridgeline over to Boreal Mountain Resort. Even closer and right off I-80.

I'm getting sick and tired of this http/blogspot/img/gif crap turning up about half the time I try to put in a link like in 3 outta 3 in this post. Fixer, I think the Dingo Sisters need to visit their office and put a little fear in 'em.

Update:

Moi, trophy and bike in hand. I was once again the only rider in my class, so the trophy is kinda like the self-esteem award given to a kid for solo tetherball if he managed to wrap the rope around the pole. I bled for the damn thing so that's just fine!



As you may know, riding an observed section without putting your feet down or otherwise bungling it is called a 'clean'. My motorcycle cleaned a section today without me. I had cleaned this section on the 1st loop, but on the 2d loop my left handlebar caught a sapling-type tree. This turned the front wheel sharply full left. At the same time my right arm, being attached to the right end of the bar, got about as long as it will ever be and, trying to make itself even longer, grabbed a handful of throttle as a result. At this point, the evolution was out of my hands. Literally. I flew off and the motorbike, suddenly unweighted and with a fresh blast of power, straightened itself up and rocketed the half dozen feet through the exit of the section and tipped over. The checkers instantly asked if I was OK and all I could say was, "I cleaned it! I cleaned it!". Heh. They scored me clean. Everybody I told about that got a big kick out of it. Oh yeah, I cleaned that section on the 3rd loop.

I got home tired, dirty, sore, a little battered and bruised, but HAPPY! It was a great day at a beautiful venue doing what I love with a lot of nice people. It doesn't get any better than that.

Just sayin' ...

Avedon:

...

Tweet from @maxbsawicky (Max B. Sawicky): Liberal states with lower unemployment than Texas and no oil: VT, HI, MD, MA, WI, NY, DE. #socialism
Unemployment Rates for States

...

Hammering, dogs barking ... My head, it is numb ...

Just read Krugman ...

And see how much more depressing things are gonna get unless our "elites" change their way of thinking:

Martin Wolf is getting frantic, as well he should. The austerians have brought us to the brink of a vast disaster. A recession in Europe looks more likely than not; and the question for the United States is not whether a lost decade is possible, but whether there is any plausible way to avoid one.

...

Indeed. Posen’s “unduly influential voices” are my Very Serious People. And it has been an awesome spectacle watching the VSPs search, obsessively, for reasons not to fight mass unemployment. Fiscal policy must tighten to appease the invisible bond vigilantes and please the confidence fairy. Interest rates must rise because, well, um, inflation, well, no, low rates cause moral hazard — yes, that must be it.

...

I don’t fully understand it. But a large part of it, it seems obvious, is the intense desire to see economics as a morality play of sin and punishment, where the sinners are, of course, workers and governments, not the bankers. Pain is not an unfortunate consequence of policies, it’s what is supposed to happen.

...

I don't have much hope that things will change anytime soon, unless Obama's reelection chances get much worse.

Got a buncha guys crawling all over my house today, putting on a new roof. My job will be keeping the Dingo Sisters pacified, being they don't like strangers (a Cattle Dog trait) and are chomping at the bit to take a piece outta somebody's ass for making all the noise that's disturbing their morning nap.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Possibly the most iconic Emmylou tune.

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

I gotcher friendly skies...

Gleefully gleeped from our pal Lisa. Our brother deuddersun helped build the sets for the show as well.

'Shrooms make the man

Study finds ‘magic mushrooms’ may improve personality long-term

One more reason why I'm such a terrific guy!

I took those things at a bluegrass festival at some wild animal park in San Diego County many years ago. It was bitchin'! Plenty OK in the daylight, but when the sun went down and the big cats started sounding off it got even better! Ah, jungle noises...

Then I drove the 130 miles home, still under the influence. I got called "my hero" by one of my female passengers. She shoulda seen it from my side! No heroics, just survival. Heh.

AF Academy not on board with AF Chief of Staff

Air Force Academy Was Against Chief Of Staff's Religious Neutrality Edict Before It Was For It

One cadet wrote to MRFF reporting that when he asked if he could post the Chief of Staff's memorandum on a bulletin board at the Academy, the response he got was, "Don't go there. Who's side are you on?" Apparently, wanting to post a memorandum from the Chief of Staff of the Air Force now means you're on the "wrong side" at the Air Force Academy. [...]

There's no doubt "whose side" the AF Weenie Academy is on. Not ours. The Air Force used to be a proud service, defenders of liberty. What the hell happened?

[...] In fact, the number of MRFF's clients at the Academy jumped from 297 to 341 in the week and a half between the Air Force Times article and this Wednesday, when the Academy finally decided to distribute the memorandum, weeks after it was issued. (This cadet's email, along with emails from two other cadets, are included at the end of this post. I urge everyone to please read these emails, which describe the situation at the Academy far better than anything I could ever write.)

So, why the sudden change of heart on the part of the Academy leadership? Why did they finally decide to distribute General Schwartz's memorandum after weeks of withholding it? Well, maybe it was this nice big billboard, containing the entire text of the memorandum, put up by MRFF on Tuesday at a very busy intersection in Colorado Springs, the home of the Air Force Academy.

Much more. Go see the sign and read the emails.

Note to General Schwartz: You need to go hold a little dungaree liberty on the MFIC of that joint.

And just ...

For all the bleeding hearts who are all puffed up and crying this morning about "the assassination of an American citizen", let me make this perfectly clear. We got bigger things to worry about than whatever rights some fundie goat fucker in a cave has or doesn't. The minute you leave this country, align yourself with a terrorist organization, and plot to kill innocent people, you deserve whatever the U.S military sends in your direction.

Capture him and bring him back for trial? Sorry but we don't need to waste more American lives in another shithole. If he was in the States, by all means. If he was in a place where we had police cooperation (Europe, Japan, Korea, etc.), most certainly put him in front of a jury. In a place where there is barely a government, where any attempt the locals would make at arrest and extradition would end up in a buncha dead policemen (if they were so inclined to take the job on; there's a reason he's been so successful from Yemen, you know) and no arrest, this was the best alternative.

Save your complaining for the innocent Americans who end up getting their balls broken by the Military/Security apparatus of this country. Stop worrying about some asshole in Trashcanistan who'd kill you and then spit in your face if he got the chance.

And just to add one more thing: This shit ain't new. We just never used the fact we killed assholes like this for political gain before. You can thank cable news for that. It used to happen quietly. 30 years ago, nobody would have known bin Laden was dead, let alone that we did it. Same thing woulda happened with this clown if it weren't for all these politicians who've never been in a war zone waving their pricks around.

Now ...

That's escargot!

Gotta get ready for court ...

Quote of the Day

Seth Bracken about his experience at a "Pray Away The Gay" conference:

...

I was propositioned more times at a conference that was supposedly changing people straight than I ever have been at a Pride festival, gay bar or party. I had guys old enough to be my father putting their arms around me, bumping up against my leg and asking to take me home.

...

And just an additional thought: What kind of confusing experience must this be for a teenager? I'm no pshrink but I can see, at the least, where this would cause a lot of problems in a kid who's probably been bullied and outcast already. At one point, he's told what he feels is a sin and must get this "therapy" and once he's there, he's probably getting hit on by every old queer who's been forced into a het marriage. You know, those who believe homosexuality is a sin and are there to get "cured" too.

These things are nothing but godly hookup bars.

Great thanks to the manliest, godliest man alive.

American Autumn?

Mike Krieger via Da Beas:

...

Most of you reading this right now are thinking that this is interesting but he is exaggerating and this will blow over. I am here to assure you that it is not and this whole thing is about to grow exponentially as the economy continues to stagnate and people climb the learning curve. Are you aware that the founder of Salon.com, David Talbot, is publicly calling for an “American Spring?” This of course is a reference to the Arab Spring, in which revolution swept across North Africa earlier this year and led to the collapse of the Tunisian and Egyptian governments and then major government bribes to the people living in the oil rich kingdoms. Mr. Talbot writes “In these increasingly hard times, Salon is dedicating itself to an American revival. Our editorial mission will become more explicitly and aggressively populist. We will be publishing more investigative pieces, exposing the shadow dance of power. And both Democratic and Republican targets will be fair game, since both parties are increasingly under the control of the same corporate forces.” His full piece is here ... You need to read it if you want to understand where all of this is headed. How about journalist Chris Hedges talking about “Occupy Wall Street” ... We the people now understand it is not “rich vs. poor,” businessperson vs. teacher.” It is serf vs. oligarch. They are 0.1% and we know what they are up to. GAME ON. [original links edited for readability]

...

See you in Hell ...

Motherfucker:

Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric linked to al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, has been killed, Yemen's Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"The terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed along with some of his companions," it said in a statement sent by text message to journalists, but gave no details.

...

"Gave no details" means the Americans got him with a drone or the SEALs "did a bin Laden" on him. You won't hear details because the Yemeni Street doesn't need to know about our military operations in their country.

What's old ...

Is new again.

What I'd give ...

For a guillotine*. At the least, a good, sturdy brick wall and my old, trusty M-14. The "Let Them Eat Cake" crowd thinks the Occupy Wall Street protest is amusing:

It's hard to believe it's real, but here is video evidence of Wall Streeters drinking champagne from a balcony as they watch the protesters walk by:

...

Like I said, there's a buncha fuel laying around. Shit like this might just be the spark that lights it.

*Video at the link.

Hmmmmm...

"Guten Morgen! You vill haff a vunderful day!"

An odd similarity between South Carolina's state flag and another one from history which both appear to depict Saharan oases and religious symbols.

Quote of the Day

87 year old New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg to Secaucus Fats:

"If the governor wants to challenge my age, I am ready for a foot race whenever he chooses."

Now ...

If we could only get HRH Governor Cuomo II to sign on to this:

Montana’s Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer believes his state should follow Vermont’s lead in progressive health care reform at the state level. He plans to ask the federal government to grant Montana waivers to adopt a better system modeled after the one used in the neighboring Canadian province of Saskatchewan ...

New York State borders two Canadian provinces (Quebec and Ontario). Can we copy their systems? Because I could do a lot with another $16.5K a year in my pocket.

London calling ...

With a message for us:

...

Please, we beg you, elect a grown up.

...

You are scaring us.

...

Off to court ...

Indeed!

Pic stolen from Blue Girl. Click to make big.

America, land of the ignorant, home of the stupid.

Early case this morning; see yas later ...

L'Shana Tovah!!!

Gleefully stolen by me from a Facebook group I am in:

L'Shana Tovah!!!

You must remember this,
A bris is still a bris,
A chai is just a chai.
Pastrami still belongs on rye,
As time goes by.

With holidays in view,
A Jew is still a Jew,
On that you can rely.
No matter if we eat tofu
As hours slip by.

Old shtetl customs, never out of date.
All those potatoes mother has to grate.
Honey, tsimus, latkes, chopped liver on our plate
The best that gelt can buy.

Some would send us to perdition,
But we're strengthened by tradition,
That no one can deny.
We roam, but we recall our birthright,
As time goes by.

Dreidels and chocolate, never out of date.
Ancient Jewish stories that we all relate.
Blue-and-white giftwrap, everything that's great
And festive chazerai!

It's still the same old Torah,
It's still the same menorah,
We've latkes still to fry.
It's yomtov when we feel most blessed,
As time goes by.

L'SHANAH TOVAH!

Best wishes for a healthful and sweet new year!

Accept It, GOP: Mitt Romney Is All You've Got

Guess Who

There's one part of the Rick-Perry-sucks-at-debatin' story that's been left out: it wasn't just that Perry may as well have been on stage blowing goats(*) for how appalling he was. That's the easy headline. No, the truth is that Mitt Romney kicked Perry's ass all over the Orlando Convention Center last week. When he first announced he was running, pundits across the spectrum expected Perry to just saunter into the GOP saloon, order whiskey, shoot the piano player, down the shot, and take the whore upstairs, all before the doors had stopped swinging.

But at the Fox "news"/Google (really?) debate in batshit insane central Florida, it was the Harvard-educated milk drinker who told Perry that he didn't like his pretty girl hair and then wiped the floor with him.

*I'd pay to see that! Please, God...

Look, dear GOP: Mitt Romney will be your nominee and, truly, there is nothing you can do about it. You can go through this whole charade. You can get Sarah Palin in on the party. Chris Christie ain't gonna run no matter how much money or pie you dangle in front of him because, while he may be despicable, he's smart: he knows that he's got a far better chance of winning in 2016. So there is no savior for you. There is no genuine hope on the horizon. You are stuck with the boring Mormon who is desperately trying for crazy conservative street cred by beating up on the cowboy. Sorry to tell you all, but this year is about Romney finally buying the nomination and then losing to Obama. End of story. (Note: Unless Republican efforts to steal the election through limiting voter access succeed.)

And why is that? Obviously, because the Republican Party is fucking insane right now. [...]

Please read the rest.

I've got a sneakin' hunch that no matter how the batcrap crazies vote in the primaries, the GOP ruling wing is gonna go with Willard as their nominee. They'll lose by less that way.

(Note: Local insanity is far more likely to succeed than national insanity, so the nutzoids could win more congressional seats.)

Indeed. All politics and a good bit of insanity are local.

Headline of the Day

10,000 secrets for a perfect marriage

Obviously written by an unmarried man. Heh.

Is Israel Over?

By Israeli historian Benny Morris.

No longer the liberal, democratic, egalitarian society it once was, Israel is fighting the Arabs—and itself.

The same could be said of the U.S., I think.

More than 50 years ago, Israel’s leaders, headed by David Ben-Gurion, believed and hoped that they were creating a social democracy, with all the requisite egalitarian accoutrements (socialized national health care, progressive income tax, child benefits, subsidized cheap housing). Ben-Gurion, who owned almost nothing and retired to a primitive hut in the Negev Desert, typified the austere lifestyle, and greatness, of the state’s founders.

This is no longer Israel. A profound, internal, existential crisis has arrived. It stems in part from the changing nature of the country, more right wing, more restrictive, far less liberal, and far less egalitarian. Many moderate Israelis fear the country is heading for ruin. Indeed, the country’s ruling class, including Benjamin Netanyahu and his predecessors Ehud Olmert (now on trial for corruption) and Ehud Barak (a former head of the Labor Party and current defense minister), live in opulence, and the feeling is that they are out of touch with reality. In Tel Aviv, where some 350,000 gathered in protest, a widespread chant, set to a popular children’s ditty, was “Bibi has three apartments, which is why we have none.”

Is Israel the canary in OUR coal mine? The lesson is that right-wings - any right-wings anywhere - are the path to ruin and darkness.

There's more. Shorter: Wise up, Israel, or you won't be a nation in fewer years than you would believe.

The same could be said of the U.S., I think.

Update:

Is the "Special Relationship" Becoming Too Expensive?

"Now I know, that I had to borrow,
Beg and steal and lie and cheat.
Trying to keep ya, trying to please ya.
‘Cause being in love with yo ass ain’t cheap.”

- Cee Lo Green

No shit ...

Stolen from Mrs. F's cousin Encino Man on the Facebook. Click to make big.

Back to court ...

Frothy the Nowhere Man ...

And other Teabag bedtime stories from D-cap.

Quote of the Day

Geov Parrish:

...

So, yeah, it's scary watching the Israel government, supported by a large and vocal segment of its rightward-drifting public, repeatedly shoot itself in the face. But one of the reasons it's scary is that a not small portion of the U.S. electorate, and one of its two major political parties, would like to do exactly the same thing.

We're both fucked.

Gotta get ready for court ...

Wah-wah-wah ...

I want my disaster aid! Gee, Mr. Cantor, hypocrisy much?

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, is pushing for information on the status of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s request for federal disaster assistance for Louisa County residents in the wake of an earthquake there last month.

...

"FEMA said they have received the Governor’s request and sent it to the White House for a decision but could not provide any specific information on timing," the readout said. "Even when asked for an estimate based on past applications they were unable to do so."

...

When I was in the military, supply sergeants ran the world. If you put in a requisition and didn't hear anything for a while about it, and you went to supply to check on it, the sergeant would tell you it was "lost in the machine". Amazing how quickly something can be found when the machinery's gears get the proper "lubrication". Though I think this is gonna cost Mr. Cantor a little more than a bottle of Crown Royal.

And to Eric Cantor, and all the Jewish folks who are our friends, L'shanah tovah.

Thanks to TPM for the link.

Find another nut ...

Because Secaucus Fats ain't running. I've always accused the big man of being an asshole (easy enough to find examples) but I never accused him of being stupid. He knows that if he panders to The Crazy now (and that's what every GOP candidate has to do to get the nom this year), it'll kill his chances with the "mainstream" in '16 (though if the decline in the discourse continues on its present race to the bottom, it's gonna be really crazy by '16):

SIMI VALLEY, California (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Tuesday again rebuffed a growing chorus of Republican pleas for him to enter the 2012 White House race.

...

Maybe they'll go all the way and get Ted Nugent to run.

The Great Right Hope

Stewart nails it. Again. Via RawReplay:

Jon Stewart to GOP base: Your candidates aren’t the problem — it’s you

Stewart added: “It’s like your ideal candidate is a rare super-heavy element that can only exist in a particular particle accelerator and, even then, for only a fraction of a second before you all remember how much you all hate science. You guys need to take a long hard look in the mirror — you need to take a long hard look in the mirror and not come away thinking, ‘There is something wrong with this mirror.’”

Quote of the Day

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway:

...

"Today's economic crisis was caused by Wall Street acting improperly. Every American has paid the price -- with families losing their homes, investors losing their money, and many Americans losing their jobs. There should be absolutely no criminal or civil immunity given to banks for activity that has not yet been investigated."

...

Lunch is over; back to the hangings ...

Christ ... (again)

Crazy Eyes:

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Monday that it would be "foolish" to normalize trade with Cuba because Hezbollah could soon have "missile sites" there.

"Why would you normalize trade with a country that sponsors terror?" the candidate asked a crowd of supporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "There is reports that have come out that Cuba has been working with another terrorist organization called Hezbollah. And Hezbollah is looking at wanting to be part of missile sites in Iran and, of course, when you are 90 miles offshore from Florida, you don’t want to entertain the prospect of hosting bases or sites where Hezbollah could have training camps or perhaps have missile sites or weapons sites in Cuba."

...

Can't. Stand. It. Any. More.

Christ ...

I'm totally sick of all these self-appointed "morality police" who think they can deny people access or a service by dint of their subjective opinion:

The L Word star and open lesbian Leisha Hailey claims she and her girlfriend were kicked off a Southwest flight after the attendant deemed their public displays of affection inappropriate, RadarOnline.com has learned.

“I have been discriminated against by @SouthwestAir. Flt. attendant said that it was a "family" airline and kissing was not ok,” the actress posted on her Twitter account Monday afternoon.

...

You know, just fuck these people. Shit like this really pisses me off. If I ever got kicked off a flight for kissing my wife, somebody would be wondering how to get my boot out of their ass.

Bad enough you get nickel-and-dimed for every fucking thing when you buy your ticket and check your luggage. Bad enough you have to put up with the useless security bullshit just to get to your plane. Then, when you get aboard, you have to worry that some emotionally stunted Jesus freak might take exception to your wardrobe or your sexual orientation and fuck up your trip.

I hope this woman has the resources to sue Southwest into receivership. Fuck them.

I know ...

My posts about what's going on in Europe aren't the most popular around here but I write them for a reason. With the amount of friends I have there and the amount of time I've spent there, I've learned a lot of things. The biggest of those is how much all of our economies are intertwined. Gaius Publius channels Krugman and gives an easy to read primer on how the Euro crisis over there will affect us over here.

...

This is not good at all, folks, and it's not just a Europe story. As Joe Stiglitz told John and Chris last month, the U.S. is exposed to a European collapse via its banks (what did they loan? what derivatives do they hold?) and also via its consumer exports.

For example, here's Ben Bernanke saying that U.S. banks hold about $200 billion in European credit default swaps (CDS's). Are U.S. banks on the right side of those bets? And even if they are, what is the risk that the other side will actually pay off (something called "counter-party risk")?

Note also that if U.S. banks lost a good chunk of their $200bn, French and German banks would lose more, and that would ripple to our shores as well. I think this just scratches the surface.

...

As I've said in many posts before, "Greater Europe" was an experiment bound to fail. I just didn't think it would happen this soon.

Headin' Home

Headin' for home today. Mrs. G says it's another chance for me to work on timing my naps better...

Word of the Day: Hypocridiots, + 19 links.

How old?

Well, Gordon made it through another year without Mrs. G killing him (I should add - and not killing himself on his trial runs through the mountains either). Heh ... Happy Birthday, bro!

And a little known Gordon fact: He was the "rum boy" for the Founding Fathers at the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Uncle Mike Wants You!

For the New York City Army. Seems the NYPD has anti-air capability:

NEW YORK — The New York Police Department could take down a plane if necessary, Commissioner Ray Kelly said Sunday, describing the counter-terror measures he implemented after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Kelly decided the city couldn't rely on the federal government alone after the attacks, he told CBS' "60 Minutes".

And so he set about creating the NYPD's own counter-terrorism unit, which is prepared for multiple scenarios and could even take down a plane, he said.

...

Why do I get the feeling this isn't going to work out too well?

Warning!

Spending summers in rural Germany from the time I was 4, I learned real early not to eat mushrooms unless you know exactly which species you're looking at (or you're in a coffeeshop in Amsterdam). Some benign and deadly mushrooms can look unbelievably similar. Even after years of going with my Tante into the forest and picking them, I still wouldn't feel safe picking them without supervision from an expert.

That said, this via our pal Montag:

With the rainy weather recently, lawns are producing bumper crops of mushrooms. And doctors at Georgetown University Hospital are offering some advice:

No matter how tempting the fungi, don’t yank them out of the ground and pop them into your mouth.

...

Believe you me, with nearly three times the normal rainfall this year, I got lotsa mushrooms in the yard and some look downright delicious. Something to think about though, my dogs, who graze through the yard and eat all sorts of stuff, won't go near them. If a pair of perennially-hungry Cattle Dogs with cast iron digestive systems won't eat something, odds are you shouldn't either.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Armed Services Committee Chairman: Cuts in Pentagon Spending Would Mean Fewer Would Want to Join Military
Which could lead us down slippery slope to peace.

Can you retire from a 20-year "stop loss"?

China's Factory Output Drops for 3rd Straight Month
As Americans decide to wear last year's clothes, watch last year's TVs, use last year's computers.

From the "Latest Headlines" crawl:

...Faster-than-light neutrino booked on Ed Sullivan...

Crickets ...

That's all you heard when the "Ground Zero Mosque" opened this week.

Mark Jacobson notes that the Ground Zero Mosque opened yesterday and....nothing happened. No protests, no Fox News cameras, not even so much as an outraged blog post from Pamela Geller

...

Just another faux outrage for the Republicans to wave around; distracting the ignorant, uneducated, and just plain fucking stupid from whatever dishonest bullshit they were doing at the time.

And just this to add. If a person doesn't get the Republican agenda by now, they don't even bother hiding it anymore, either you're a moron (through no fault of your own; medical problem, brain injury, bad genetics, never went to school, etc.), willfully ignorant (if you're smart enough to get it, but just don't want to) because you can't admit to yourself that your party of choice has gone completely over the deep end, or a person willing to fuck the rest of us - and this country - just to protect your slice of the pie.

I don't hold any animosity toward the moron (he/she can't help it) but those in the other 2 categories can just go fuck yourselves.