What a set

The people who run Blogger have the balls to start their own blog. Notice they don't allow comments, so guys like me can't say, even though it's free, that BLOGGER SUCKS WET MONKEY ASS!!!!!! (© Maru)

Personality

Via Michael Hawkins:

Global Personality Test Results

Stability (69%) moderately high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic. Orderliness (53%) medium which suggests you are moderately organized, hard working, and reliable while still remaining flexible, efficient, and fun. Extraversion (66%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

Take Free Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

This is mine. Ain't as fucked up as I thought I was. At least it didn't say I had the personality of a dial tone. What I can't believe is that I'm actually playing with this shit at this time of the morning.

Bankruptcy . . . again

While Matt gets tedious sometimes, I still read him every day.

Mok notes that red states have far higher bankruptcy rates than do blue ones and adduces this as evidence that the GOP is once again screwing its constituents over. That's true, but I think it misses the larger point. The red states have higher bankruptcy rates because they elect Republicans who pass creditor-friendly laws at the state level. The more creditor-friendly the laws become, the more incentive lenders have to offer loans to bad credit risks. The more loans made to bad credit risks, the higher the bankruptcy rate gets.

[. . .]

This elaborates on what I was saying the other day.

Conspiracy theories

Everybody's on about Blondie's post about a 9/11 conspiracy.

[. . .]

Well I don't know what happened but I am inclined to not believe a word of the official story because it's just ridiculous and insults my intelligence. Found this article today and I think you should read it if you are interested in 9/11 . . .

Let's just say that while the article illustrates some great investigative work through the public domain, I don't buy it. Let me say, in qualification, that I was an assistant to the maintenance supervisor for 2 years in a B-52 squadron and another year at DFW International Airport.

The article is thought-provoking, but the backup is thin, especially the:

In fact, if one looks very closely at the diameter versus width of the tire that was found at the Pentagon, this is the type of tire used for carrier based and general rear wheels of smaller military planes . . .

Examining scale in pictures is notoriously inaccurate. Examining destroyed jet engine parts via photgraphs is also inaccurate. I saw the jerky video frames of the aircraft striking the Pentagon and there is no doubt (the distinctive 'Boeing nose'), from my experienced eye, that it was a commercial aircraft of Boeing manufacture. Sorry, guys. Admirable research work, but no dice that it was a military aircraft. If it bore any resemblance to a military aircraft it would be the KC-135, the military version of the Boeing 707.

Now, if you want to go into who was behind enabling the terrorists to accomplish their goals, I'll get into a debate, but this argument holds no water. I'd like Bush to swing as much as anyone and if there is legitimate evidence that would implicate the administration in the 9/11 attacks, I would love see it in the light of day. But going at it from this angle is probably a waste of time.

And just another technical note: The A-3 and 737 were not the only aircraft fitted with the JT8(x) series engines.

Also: if it were a military aircraft or missile, where did the civilians go who were supposedly on the commercial jet? They are still missing.

Saturday Cattle Dog Blogging

Another pic of the Princess when she was about 6 months old.

Dealing with the Devil

Or the Axis of Evil, as it were:

WASHINGTON Mar 11, 2005 — The Bush administration will support European diplomatic efforts to end Iran's purported nuclear weapons ambitions by offering modest economic incentives to the Tehran regime. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

So, after the Iranians gave Bush the finger, it's all right to offer them incentives. Why, just last week we were contemplating 'surgical strikes' on their nuke facilities. What happened to that, huh, Chimpy? Sniff . . . sniff . . . is that the stench of hypocrisy I smell?

Full faith and credit

Next time you hear some trained Bush monkey echo Bush talking points and claim that the Social Security trustfund is stocked with nothing but a bunch of worthless “IOU’s,” pull out a $20 bill like this one:

[. . .]

So, in essence, what the Bush monkeys and Bush himself are saying is that you just can’t count on the “full faith and credit of the United States.”

[. . .]

- Hesiod at The American Street.

You have to read this.

Rules

Blondie has a good one (her link's fucked up so I gave you the main page. scroll down). 32 rules for being a good Republican:

1. You have to believe that the nation's 8-year prosperity was due to the work of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but that today's gas prices, the fifteen year high in unemployment, the unprecedented federal deficits (largest in history), the increasing inflation, lack of jobs, increased poverty, increased insurance costs, and all the deaths in Iraq are all Bill Clinton's fault.

[. . .]

The Bright Side of the Proposed Bankruptcy Law

From MSNBC.COM:

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Prosecutors seeking access to Michael Jackson’s financial records told the judge in his child molestation trial Friday that the singer may be “on the precipice of bankruptcy.”

Any of you want to attend a huge yard sale and estate liquidation at the Neverland Ranch? After all, there's NO excuse for anyone to file for bankruptcy anymore, especially for the high and mighty who have all those lovely trinkets to sell!

If it wasn't for mis-information, wouldn't be no information at all...

For a smokin' good take on Bush's campaign of lyin' like a rug, go read The Progress Report.

With White House privatization plans seemingly locked in a tailspin, conservatives are winding up their mighty howitzer of misinformation with one goal in mind: confusing Americans about the fundamental choices regarding retirement security. Some of their claims are so outlandish that a rebuttal seems unnecessary – take the new study blaming Social Security for hastening the decline of marriage, or President Bush's claim yesterday that private accounts would "provide a safety net for future retirees." Others have the potential to seriously mislead Americans about the president's plans. Below are five seriously specious claims to watch out for:

You got a mouse. Use it.

The gospel of the rich and powerful

Joe Conason nails "compassionate conservatives" and "good christians" to the cross wall over their continuing assault on our way of life such as bankruptcy laws, Social Security, health care, minimum wage, freedom of speech, little things like that.

Watching the behavior of Republican politicians during the past several days, we are learning the true meaning of "compassionate conservatism." Not the public-relations version promoted by George W. Bush and his party propaganda apparatus, but the core philosophy enunciated by the deep thinkers of the religious right.

Appalling as these policies may be, however, they are in no sense inconsistent with the cosmology of the religious right, which melds laissez-faire economics with fundamentalist orthodoxy. Underlying these conservative attacks on the poor by professing Christians is a worldview that dates back to earlier centuries, when the church defended privilege and declared that the wealthy and powerful were God's elect. From that perspective, minimum wages, subsidized health care, and other such laws and regulations only corrupt the poor, who must earn charity by their temporal and spiritual submission.

If these ideas sound a bit old-fashioned -- or even primitive -- be assured that they represent the latest thinking on the evangelical far right, which is where "compassionate conservatism" originated. Guided by the most literal interpretation of Old Testament law, the preachers who have influenced the President are determined to undermine every modern protection enjoyed by poor and working-class Americans. Let's hope they draw the line at bringing back public whippings and debt slavery.

Thanks, Joe. I prefer to enjoy my hair shirt and whipping in private.

'Bama Brush-Off

Two minor good news posts in a row! Is the world as I know it coming to an end? Well, hardly, but our Snake-Oil-Salesman-in-Chief is getting less than the reception he wants in one of the reddest-necked states. That's a good thing. From The Carpetbagger Report.

When Bush swings through Montgomery today to discuss his controversial plan to revamp Social Security, only one, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of Anniston, has confirmed plans to attend.

Representatives for most of the other six Republicans in the delegation cited a crush of business during an exceptionally busy week in Washington. But Carl Grafton, a political scientist at Auburn University Montgomery, where Bush will speak, said lawmakers also have no reason to cozy up to the president on a potentially toxic issue such as Social Security reform.

You know things are going poorly for Bush's Social Security scheme when Republicans in Alabama give the president the brush off.

These are the kind of lawmakers whom the White House probably expects to support anything Bush wants by virtue of Bush wanting it. And now, some of them don't even want to be on the stage with the president when he's talking about his signature domestic policy goal.

Those 'Bama pols have to face something Bush doesn't: Re-election in '06. They have a big electorate that lives for them green checks every 3rd of the month, and they don't want to be tarred with the brush of supporting The Evil Dr. Bush's Travelling Salvation Show. Even for a taste of poison Snake Oil.

I think I'd find some "crushing business" to keep me away too, like the grand opening of a pizza parlor or having to try out some new fishing line.

Good News (Maybe) on ANWR

It's unusual to find something that might be good news about Bush's campaign to open ANWR to oil exploration, drilling, tire tracks in thawing tundra, confused caribou, etc., but this article by Jim Hightower might qualify. Via AlterNet.

But, in a gusher of political irony, guess what? The oil giants have little interest in drilling there! Even a Bush advisor on this issue confided that "No oil company really cares about ANWR," adding that "If the government gave them the [drilling] leases for free they wouldn't take them." Indeed, Chevron Texaco, BP, and ConocoPhillips have so little interest in ANWR that they have withdrawn from Arctic Power, the chief lobbying front behind Bush's push to open the refuge.

Why the corporate disinterest? Because, unlike George, companies have to base their decisions at least partially on reality, and the geological reality is that ANWR doesn't hold enough oil to make private investment there worthwhile. Only one actual test of the refuge's oil potential has been done – a secret test by Chevron Texaco and BP, two of the giants that have now backed away from Bush's ANWR scheme. If it had real production potential, these profit-seekers would be lobbying hard to get in there.

What's really behind the Bushites' insistence on drilling in a wildlife refuge is nothing but their reactionary, knee-jerk laissez-faire ideology. They hate the idea that the public can protect any piece of nature from corporate intrusion – even if the corporations don't choose to intrude. ANWR is a case of their ideological loopiness.

You see, Georgie, not every oil company can succeed by throwing away their investors' money in stupid schemes inspired by moronic management like all of of yours did. They don't quite have your connections. They have to actually provide petroleum products at a profit, not just spend money people gave them to kiss your dad's ass.

More thoughts . . .

From the Dog:

[. . .]

Anyway, to the topic at hand (not that our coming up with memes de jours will solve ANYTHING-- after the bankruptcy fiasco, I am convinced that OUR OWN PARTY IS THE PROBLEM, and should really be re-built from the bottom up and/or replaced with something like a "Labour Party" or a "Liberal Party" or the "Whig Party" or something that is about good governance and not about personal aggrandizement, celebrity worship, and whoring to big donors; but I digress...)...

[. . .]

Sis:

[. . .]

I don’t know about you, but I invested time, energy, and money into the Democratic Party during the last election, and I’m not getting much of a return on my investment. In fact, lately I’ve been feeling like the party to whom I’ve been loyal for my entire life is giving me the finger.

The confirmations of Condi Rice, Alberto Gonzales, and Michael Chertoff … the slow response to broaching voting accountability legislation … the passage of a measure to limit class-action lawsuits … the bankruptcy bill … the constant move toward the center … and on and on and on. I complain about the idiocy of the Dems almost as much as I do the Republicans, and I’m starting to get more than a little pissed off.

[. . .]

I'd have to agree. You?

We interrupt this program

for a Public Service Message:



Thanks to FDL.

Obsolescence

From Disappearingink at RUFNKM:

[. . .]

The same with these columnists. Our brains want to see them there, just because they've been there before, and they match well with other things in our brain. But should newspapers really pay people to say what they think about something they don't really know much about? Especially when any semi-literate bag-of-bones (say, me) can set up a blog and express his opinion for the world to hear?

No, they shouldn't. Newspapers already accept op-eds from experts on certain issues. They should do that exclusively. Get rid of these hacks. Let them set up their own blogs and find something useful to do in the world. [my emphasis]

[. . .]

An interesting post.

Arrivederci Baghdad

Via WTF:

ROME, March 9 -- U.S. military officials in Iraq had approved an Italian intelligence officer's mission to free a kidnapped journalist and were expecting their arrival at Baghdad's airport on Friday when U.S. soldiers opened fire on the Italians at a checkpoint, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday.

[. . .]

The prime minister's remarks, building on a statement Tuesday by Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini, showed that his government is determined to challenge the U.S. version of the Italian's death, which has strained relations between the two countries.

[. . .]

How long before Berlusconi feels the pressure and the Eye-talians pull out of Iraq? I give it six months.

PS: Blogger sucks monkey ass today!

Another question

Doesn't Congress have anything more important to do than drag a couple overpaid prima donnas before them to talk about steroids, let alone go through the effort of serving subpoenas?

You're my bitch base

So, who is really getting fucked by this bankruptcy bill? Via Atrios:

Bankruptcy filing rank, by households per filing:

Utah 1
Tennessee 2
Georgia 3
Nevada 4
Indiana 5
Alabama 6
Arkansas 7
Ohio 8
Mississippi 9
Idaho 10

What the Jesuslanders don't get is that Bush will drop 'em like a bad habit when his true base starts making demands. Hmmm . . . So these are the people 'taking advantage' of bankruptcy protection? Ain't these the same people who bitch loudest about the liberals and their 'handouts'? Ain't these the same people who complain the most about 'government entitlements'? Ain't these the same people who bitch their tax money is going to 'the government welfate state' when it's my taxes supporting their infrastructure? While I know far more honest people will be hurt than those who are 'taking advantage', I can't help thinking 'good for ya's'. You're the assholes who gave the Repubs their 'mandate' and you're the ones who are getting it hardest and dryest from your boy. Now take it like the 'real men' you are. And watch me buy your double-wide at the foreclosure sale for ten cents on the dollar and rent it back to ya.

The Prophecy Of Oil

Slow news days aren't slow, really, but they do let us catch up on stuff that happens slow enough we don't have to jump out of the way. William Rivers Pitt in Truthout:

Oil infuses virtually every aspect of our civilization. It is the basis of the global economy. It is the inescapable ingredient that creates, supports and sustains the Western world as we know it.

Yet even as oil gives generously with one hand, it takes grievously with the other. Even if the petroleum industry is correct and there remain trillions of barrels to be plumbed, that oil is located for the most part in some of the most dangerous and unstable places on the planet. That danger and instability has been created, in no small part, by the fact that oil can be found there.

Oil revenues fund global terrorism. Oil resources motivate wars, and more wars, and more wars. This is the sharp other edge of the sword; if the petroleum industry is correct and oil can be found and drilled for generations to come, that means generations to come will be required to share the death and destruction we endure today in the grubbing for oil. There is no escaping this.

Only a maniac would hope for the immediate collapse of the petroleum paradigm and the social, economic and military chaos that would ensue. If all the oil in the world disappeared tomorrow morning, millions of people would be dead by sundown, and billions more would follow soon after into the grave. None but the purest of psychopath would look forward to a catastrophe of this magnitude.

Something, however, must be done. If the 'Peak Oil' theory is an accurate prediction of the imminent future, something must be done. If 'Peak Oil' is only a myth, something must still be done. One way or the other, this paradigm is going to destroy itself, and it will take a monstrous number of people with it.

Like it or not, we're stuck with the petroleum-based world we created in a time when it seemed simple and good. We're stuck until the better brains amongst us can come up with something, unhindered and unfettered by politicians and oil companies.

Me? I'm going to go out and bolt-on that 200MPG carburetor....