A lobbyist for Saddam Hussein is the head of McCain’s "transition" team.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Mideast anti-Americanism doesn't apply to Harley-Davidsons
This video shows Mideast HOG (Harley Owners Group) members expounding on their choice of sled. One wonders if halal dietary restrictions ever come into play if you eat the thing in a crash...
Accompanying article at the LATimes
Yes it does. Some things are universal.
I have maintained for 30 years that if everybody rode motorcycles, there wouldn't be any more wars. Here's my Cold War scenario, which could be updated for any clime and place:
A US Army rider in Germany, eastbound, is broke down by the side of the road. While he's on his knees investigating the problem he glances a hundred yards up the road and sees a Russian rider, westbound, also broke down by the side of the road, also on his knees investigating his problem. In a moment frozen in time, the Russian is looking back at him.
Both soldiers have the same thought: well, I ain't gettin' anywhere with this broke down piece o' shit anyway. Might as well try something else.
Both men lock and load, get to their feet, and approach one another warily, weapons at the ready just in case. The American G.I. breaks the ice:
"Hey, Ivan, ya got a 530 master link? Fuckin' chain broke."
"Da. Iss your lucky day, Tovarisch. Trade you for a set of points. The People's Points are donkey waste. I think a set from one of your Tschevies will fit."
"Yeah, a Chevy six. Same kind this sled takes. Got 'em."
The deal is done. The soldiers team up and help each other make repairs. Along the way, bottles of vodka and bourbon are broken out and shared. Talk turns to thoughts of home, girls, good food, and how totally fucked the whole idea of war is.
After a longer time than necessary, the soldiers regrettably part and go their separate ways, now brothers of the road instead of enemies. Like they should be.
Ah, to dream...
Accompanying article at the LATimes
"My mind just clears," says Rakan Talal, a 26-year-old from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capital, who was among a small but fervent crew of hog fanatics converging on Lebanon the first weekend of October for the country's first Harley-Davidson tour. "I don't think about anything. Just the road and feeling the wind. Riding on two wheels is something else. Riding a bike makes it all feel better."
Yes it does. Some things are universal.
I have maintained for 30 years that if everybody rode motorcycles, there wouldn't be any more wars. Here's my Cold War scenario, which could be updated for any clime and place:
A US Army rider in Germany, eastbound, is broke down by the side of the road. While he's on his knees investigating the problem he glances a hundred yards up the road and sees a Russian rider, westbound, also broke down by the side of the road, also on his knees investigating his problem. In a moment frozen in time, the Russian is looking back at him.
Both soldiers have the same thought: well, I ain't gettin' anywhere with this broke down piece o' shit anyway. Might as well try something else.
Both men lock and load, get to their feet, and approach one another warily, weapons at the ready just in case. The American G.I. breaks the ice:
"Hey, Ivan, ya got a 530 master link? Fuckin' chain broke."
"Da. Iss your lucky day, Tovarisch. Trade you for a set of points. The People's Points are donkey waste. I think a set from one of your Tschevies will fit."
"Yeah, a Chevy six. Same kind this sled takes. Got 'em."
The deal is done. The soldiers team up and help each other make repairs. Along the way, bottles of vodka and bourbon are broken out and shared. Talk turns to thoughts of home, girls, good food, and how totally fucked the whole idea of war is.
After a longer time than necessary, the soldiers regrettably part and go their separate ways, now brothers of the road instead of enemies. Like they should be.
Ah, to dream...
"Nailin' Palin" due soon. Can I pre-order?
I will just throw this line from Raw Story out there:
The line "Ah, my little bublichki" popped into my head. Don't ask me why...
Many of our other favorite characters are parodied in the movie as well. Normally I wouldn't direct you to a Fixed News video, but don't miss the one at the link.
Update:
Stole this from The Exile. The devil made me do it...
Publisher Larry Flynt has announced that Hustler is releasing a porn film featuring a Sarah Palin lookalike and a tank full of stranded Russian soldiers.
The line "Ah, my little bublichki" popped into my head. Don't ask me why...
Many of our other favorite characters are parodied in the movie as well. Normally I wouldn't direct you to a Fixed News video, but don't miss the one at the link.
Update:
Stole this from The Exile. The devil made me do it...
Quote of the Day
Reggie at TVNewsLies on the bigoted hateful ignorance of McCain-Palin supporters at recent McKlan rallies:
But then again I remember that they hate us for our freedoms.
Indeed!
As Digby says, the banking mess and health care go hand-in-hand:
Most certainly.
Big Healthcare and Big Pharma have been allowed to run as wild as the mortgage industry and it's time for them to be reined in as well. Health care shouldn't be an employer-based system. It should be a single-payer (government) affair, government keeping costs low by negotiating volume pricing with Pharma (as Canada and most European nations do). The day health care became a 'for-profit' industry (thank you President Reagan) foreshadowed whis crisis. It serves no one's interest when it costs $500 - $1000 just to walk into an emergency room (a lot of homes that are in foreclosure are there as a result of a health care issue that swamped the owners' finances). It serves no one's interest when people go bankrupt because of a health care issue.
It is time to do away with private health insurance and impose stricter regulation on the health care industry as a whole. The American middle class (and that includes small business) will never be able to regain its footing unless health care is addressed in the same breath as the financial crisis.
I was skeptical that health care would actually be tackled in a Democratic first term without a recession driving it and now, for obvious reasons, I think it may actually happen. Polls are showing that the economy and health care are the two top issues in the election.
The fact is that they are intertwined. The American system of employer based health care is falling apart. Big companies are being squeezed by retiree health benefits and small businesses are drowning in health care costs. And needless to say, being unemployed means saying goodbye to your health insurance (or COBRA costs that are obscene.) Add that to the huge number of underinsured and uninsured and you have the makings of a full fledged emergency. [my em]
...
Most certainly.
Big Healthcare and Big Pharma have been allowed to run as wild as the mortgage industry and it's time for them to be reined in as well. Health care shouldn't be an employer-based system. It should be a single-payer (government) affair, government keeping costs low by negotiating volume pricing with Pharma (as Canada and most European nations do). The day health care became a 'for-profit' industry (thank you President Reagan) foreshadowed whis crisis. It serves no one's interest when it costs $500 - $1000 just to walk into an emergency room (a lot of homes that are in foreclosure are there as a result of a health care issue that swamped the owners' finances). It serves no one's interest when people go bankrupt because of a health care issue.
It is time to do away with private health insurance and impose stricter regulation on the health care industry as a whole. The American middle class (and that includes small business) will never be able to regain its footing unless health care is addressed in the same breath as the financial crisis.
Monday, October 13, 2008
How cool ...
Is that? North Dakota is a "statistical tossup".
... This is yet another reliably Republican state that McCain can't lock down ...
Quote of the Day
The one and only Nucks:
Amen, pal.
According to the NYT, Bush has decided to drop North Korea off the Axis of Evil list.
I propose that President Obama replace it with the Republican Party immediately.
...
Amen, pal.
Just...Yeesh
Raw Story
I, cur (pronounced 'sir'), would grin and ask if you can speak English with a fat lip and no teeth. What a fuckin' asshole.
If your fender says Change, don't park here.
A parking lot owner in Gibsonville, NC, decided supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are no longer welcome to use his property, WFMY's Julia Bagg reported.
Lot owner Tim Henderson posted two identical signs that warned: 'no parking' for Obama supporters or people with Obama bumper stickers."
"I don't expect to go after anybody with a baseball bat," Henderson said. "I would grin at them and laugh and ask them if they could read English."
I, cur (pronounced 'sir'), would grin and ask if you can speak English with a fat lip and no teeth. What a fuckin' asshole.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
Oh fucking swell...
Is it available in suppository form?
Much more. Enjoy.
Paulson Optimistic Economy Will Turn Around
Cites encouraging e-mail from Nigeria.
Americans Looking for New Start
Pile possessions on car roofs, head for California.
Oh fucking swell...
Record 90% Believe Country on Wrong Track
But only 40% intend to vote.
McCain Reveals Plan to Save Economy
Revive poll tax.
Watermelon Found to Have Viagra-Like Effects
Ask your doctor if watermelon is right for you.
Is it available in suppository form?
Much more. Enjoy.
Congrats!
NYTimes
Yeah, what they said.
Congratulations, Mr. Krugman. For what it's worth, you also get my portion of the Alternate Brain Not-So-Nobel Prize for explaining that economics shit in terms I can almost understand.
STOCKHOLM, Oct 13 (Reuters) - American economist Paul Krugman won the 2008 Nobel prize for economics for bringing together analysis of trade patterns and where economic activity takes place, the prize committee said on Monday.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the prestigious 10 million crown ($1.4 million) prize recognised Krugman's formulation of a new theory to answer questions driving world-wide urbanisation.
"He has thereby integrated the previously disparate research fields of international trade and economic geography," the committee said in its statement.
Yeah, what they said.
Congratulations, Mr. Krugman. For what it's worth, you also get my portion of the Alternate Brain Not-So-Nobel Prize for explaining that economics shit in terms I can almost understand.
Repugs in trouble
P.M. Carpenter
Indeed! And thanks to them, so do the rest of us.
I love cruise ship references! It's all Fixer's fault...
The choice Mr. Carpenter leaves out is one that us ex-drunks know about: they could just die and save us the fucking drama.
Republicans Have Bigger Problems than John McCain's Dying Campaign
Indeed! And thanks to them, so do the rest of us.
I'm a watchful admirer of journalistic understatements, and this weekend brought us these: "Republican leaders said Saturday that they were worried Mr. McCain was heading for defeat unless he brought stability to his presidential candidacy and … they were concerned that he and his advisers seemed to be adrift."
And that, my friends, was the equivalent of White Star Line saying on April 15, 1912, that one of their ships seemed to be in a spot of trouble.
I love cruise ship references! It's all Fixer's fault...
"Yet, as we know, Republicans are as addicted to Rovian junk as much as their supply-side product. Like most degenerate addicts, however, they believe a sudden, cold-turkey withdrawal from both self-destructive habits could prove fatal. The opposite, of course, is true -- in fact it's their only hope of survival. Whether they wise up and sober up is the only suspense left."
The choice Mr. Carpenter leaves out is one that us ex-drunks know about: they could just die and save us the fucking drama.
Channel Changer
From The American Prospect via Avedon.
If I liked Rachel any more than I do, there'd be a restraining order against me.
Much more. Also a bit on our loudmouth Mom, Randi Rhodes. Enjoy.
For years, liberals thought they could catch up in media by playing by conservatives' rules. Rachel Maddow's success proves it's better to just change the game.
Maddow is not a Tim Russert or a Chris Matthews--an ostensibly nonpartisan interviewer who badgers politicians and policy-makers about contradictions in their records. Nor is she a Rush Limbaugh or a Glenn Beck--an attack dog who deals in calculated anger, bluster, and outrage. She's no mild-mannered liberal like Alan Colmes or a veteran observer like Wolf Blitzer or David Gregory. Maddow has broken the broadcasting mold. She has succeeded as an avowed liberal on television precisely because she is not a liberal version of conservatives like Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. Unlike so many progressive media figures who sought to replicate the on-air habits of the aggressive shock jocks of the right, she stumbled upon a workable style for the left. She is liberal without apology or embarrassment, bases her authority on a deep comprehension of policy rather than the culture warrior's claim to authenticity, and does it all with a light, even slightly mocking, touch. She proves that liberals can attract viewers on television when they actually act like, well, liberals.
If I liked Rachel any more than I do, there'd be a restraining order against me.
Much more. Also a bit on our loudmouth Mom, Randi Rhodes. Enjoy.
Payment is due ...
Via Avedon, Robert Parry with an informative article on our excesses over the last 30 years and how the bill has finally come due:
Ain't it the truth. And don't forget "tax and spend Democrats"; that was the one I heard a lot at the time. Thing is, when you realize why the Dems had to raise taxes (to pay for all the spending the previous Rethugs did), you realize how well the Rethugs did propaganda and controlled the media environment.
The Republican version of 'fiscal conservatism' is: Don't Tax The Rich, Spend All You Can, Pass The Payments To The Next Generation.
Ladies and Gentlemen (and the rest of you too), true fiscal conservatism is very simple: Don't Spend What You Don't Have.
And an addendum for the next time credit becomes free again: A little rule I have that's served me well over the years. Use the equity in your home to increase the value of your home and nothing else. Do not, I repeat, do not use equity in your home to buy cars, go on vacation, buy gifts, have cosmetic surgery, or anything else that loses its value immediately after you buy it.
A corollary to that is: Do not take more than a third to half the equity out of your home. Home vaules (contrary to what we've seen over the past few years) do not always go up.
Off toLittle Italy work ...
After a 28-year binge of drunken optimism and blind nationalism – often punctuated by chants of "USA, USA!" and "We’re No. 1!" – Americans are waking up with a painful hangover, facing a grim "morning in America," not the happy vision that Ronald Reagan famously sold them on.
As the United States begins to assess how the nation got into its trillion-dollar bailout mess, a true understanding must go back three decades or so when Reagan deployed his well-honed communications skills and the Republican Right mastered the dark arts of propaganda to get the American people to shed the annoying strictures of rationality.
...
As President, Reagan attacked the federal regulatory system and cut taxes so recklessly that his budget director, David Stockman, foresaw red ink "as far as the eye can see." Reagan also justified fattening the Pentagon’s budget by citing dire warnings that the Soviet Union was on the rise (despite CIA analysis at the time that it was in sharp decline).
To marginalize dissent, Reagan and his subordinates stoked anger toward anyone who challenged the era’s feel-good optimism. Skeptics were not just honorable critics, they were un-American defeatists or – in Jeane Kirkpatrick’s memorable attack line – they would "blame America first."
...
Ain't it the truth. And don't forget "tax and spend Democrats"; that was the one I heard a lot at the time. Thing is, when you realize why the Dems had to raise taxes (to pay for all the spending the previous Rethugs did), you realize how well the Rethugs did propaganda and controlled the media environment.
...
Significantly, too, Reagan credentialed a new generation of neocon intellectuals, who pioneered a concept called "perception management," the shaping of how Americans saw, understood – and were frightened by – threats from abroad.
Many honest reporters saw their careers damaged when they resisted the lies and distortions of the Reagan administration. Likewise, U.S. intelligence analysts were purged when they refused to bend to the propaganda demands from above. [See Robert Parry’s Lost History.]
...
The Republican version of 'fiscal conservatism' is: Don't Tax The Rich, Spend All You Can, Pass The Payments To The Next Generation.
Ladies and Gentlemen (and the rest of you too), true fiscal conservatism is very simple: Don't Spend What You Don't Have.
And an addendum for the next time credit becomes free again: A little rule I have that's served me well over the years. Use the equity in your home to increase the value of your home and nothing else. Do not, I repeat, do not use equity in your home to buy cars, go on vacation, buy gifts, have cosmetic surgery, or anything else that loses its value immediately after you buy it.
A corollary to that is: Do not take more than a third to half the equity out of your home. Home vaules (contrary to what we've seen over the past few years) do not always go up.
Off to
99 bottles of beer ...
Comrade E.B. Misfit:
Still seems too long ...
... As of 1Pm Eastern Time, he [the Chimp] has 99 days left in his misbegotten presidency ...
Still seems too long ...
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Sunday Zydeco Blogging
These guys are terrific!
Thanks to PHubb.
Jeffrey Broussard and D'Jalma Garnier lead The Creole Cowboys in Boozoo Chavez's classic 'Dog Hill'. Live at the Louisiana Musician's Hurricane Relief Benefit Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet November 13, 2005
Thanks to PHubb.
Quote of the Day
Gail Collins:
... It’s only in retrospect that we can see that the keep-off-the-grass period was the McCain campaign’s golden era ...
Link thanks to Mr. Aravosis.
Odo-may eaks-spay
MoDo has regressed to her Catholic school days. Us Cat'licks who took years of Latin may have a leg up on understanding her, but if you are not so, er, blessed, just read it real fast and you'll get the drift kinda subliminally.
More. Enjoy.
Tamen Sara et Ioannes bury Obama, not praise him. Maverici, ut capiunt auxilium de friga-domina, hench-femina, Cynthia McCaina Birrabaronessa, (quae culpat Obamam periculandi suum filum in Babylonia), brazen-iter distractant mentes populares de minimissimis IV 0 I K.ibus, deminutione “Motorum Omnium,” et Depressione Magna II.0. Omnes de Georgio Busio Secundo colossale goofballo. “V” (because there’s no W. in Latin) etiam duxit per disastrum ad gymnasium.
More. Enjoy.
Weekend whorage
The next chapter of Birthright is up at The Practical Press, work is moving along on the house and I discuss the planning stages of a project.
And, for your Sunday morning listening:
And, for your Sunday morning listening:
Bond - Shine
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