Choice?

"A girl was raped and got pregnant. Sarah Palin believes that the Government should force her to carry the pregnancy to term and make that choice."





JG.

Tesla Motors hits the brakes

We've done several posts on Tesla over at Fixer & Gordon, but this one belongs here, dammit.

LATimes

The country's leading electric car maker delays its next model, replaces its CEO and will lay off workers.

The credit crisis has hit the country's leading electric car maker.

Citing "extraordinary times," Tesla Motors, maker of the battery-powered, $109,000 Roadster, said Wednesday that difficult market conditions were forcing it to delay production of its next-generation vehicle, close two offices, lay off an unspecified number of employees and replace its chief executive.

Tesla has been held up as a leading light in the clean technology start-up world, with its product (the Roadster) appearing on dozens of magazine covers and its chairman, Musk, appearing on "60 Minutes" less than two weeks ago. As a start-up, however, Tesla is particularly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of increasingly tight credit markets.

Tesla is the largest and best-funded electric car start-up, but is hardly alone. There are at least a dozen other firms working on such vehicles.

Last month, Irvine-based Fisker Automotive, which is developing a plug-in hybrid sedan, successfully completed a $65-million round of funding. And in July, Carlsbad's Aptera Motors, maker of a $30,000 three-wheel electric car, said it had raised $24 million from investors including Google Inc.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played a key role in recruiting the Model S project to the state -- it had been planned for New Mexico -- was unsure of Tesla's future.

"We can't predict the fate of any one company," said Camille Anderson. "But clean technology in California is here to stay."

Well, thanks, George, for the delay in new technology and manufacturing techniques that might have made available an affordable Tesla or other make. Your energy and fiscal mis-policies have collided in a big way. Thanks go also to Alan "Bubbles" Greenspan.

Bush: Run in circles! Scream and shout!

Swallow your food and set your drink down. Really.

President Bush addresses the nation shortly before shaving his head and soaking the Oval Office in his own urine.

From a publication named after many plants in the genus Allium:

In a nationally televised address to the American people Wednesday night, President Bush called upon every man, woman, and child to spiral uncontrollably downward into complete and utter panic.

Speaking from the Oval Office, Bush assured citizens that in these times of great uncertainty, the best and only course of action is to come under the throes of a sudden, overwhelming fear marked by hysterical or irrational behavior.

During the address, Bush laid out a historic five-point plan for panic that he hopes will help the American people fall apart as quickly as possible. The plan—which many are calling Bush's most well-thought-out proposal to date—calls for citizens to abandon their daily routines entirely, and engage in a weeklong period of bloodcurdling screaming, arm flailing, dry heaving, and gnawing on one's fingers while rocking back and forth in alternating bouts of maniacal laughter and gentle sobbing.

Under the new bill, Americans are also advised to withdraw all their money from U.S. banks and the stock market, place it in a Maxwell House coffee tin, and bury it in a safe place in their backyard. In addition, Bush has urged the legalization of Americans trampling one another in a mad rush to compete for the nation's dwindling resources, and proposed allocating $3 billion toward a program that would give every citizen a gun and a bottle of 140-proof whiskey.

The final part of the plan calls for the immediate release of all convicted felons and death-row inmates from the nation's prisons.

Bush told Americans that if at any point they catch themselves feeling even slightly at ease, they should remind themselves that, in the end, everything is going to be completely fucked.

Much more. Enjoy.

Palin As President

Go see this. Click on different things and watch what happens. Pretty clever.

A delightful side effect of Krugman's Nobel

Bloomberg

President George W. Bush, whose approval ratings are at historic lows as the U.S. veers toward a recession or worse, got yet another thumb in the eye when one of his most vociferous critics was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics.

Krugman, 55, doesn't mince words. He has accused Bush of leading the country into "strategic disaster and moral squalor", and his columns and Times blog entries carry headlines with such blunt entreaties as "Please Go Away".

On Feb. 11, 2005, he referred to Bush as "someone who takes food from the mouth of babes and gives the proceeds to his millionaire friends". On Jan. 22, 2007, Bush, with his plan to use tax credits to buy health insurance, is "not even trying to hide his fundamental indifference to the plight of the less- fortunate", Krugman wrote.

Krugman is a fierce critic of Bush's foreign policy and was an early opponent of the war in Iraq. Of the president's case for removing Saddam Hussein, Krugman wrote on Feb. 11, 2003, "Mr. Bush's America does not look like a regime whose promises you can trust".

"People claim to be shocked by the Bush administration's general incompetence," Krugman wrote on Oct. 8 last year. "But disinterest in good government has long been a principle of modern conservatism."

Liquid alert!

Krugman's award could bring Bush face-to-face with his antagonist. The president typically invites Nobel Prize winners to the White House in November or December.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to comment on the award.

No shit! Ha!

Note to Mr. Krugman: The next time you have the unpleasant fortune to appear on TV with Bill O'Rally, take me with you. When he gets all in yer face and threatening with you like he did the last time you rightly called him a liar, it would be my distinct pleasure to slap the dog shit out of him for you.

Holy right-on-the-McMoney, Batman!

I gleeped this pre-debate video of last night's actual debate from Marc Ambinder.



On a a sorta unrelated level, I knew Burt Ward, who played Robin the Boy Wonder, when I was a kid. His real name is Sparky Gervis.

It may indeed be over

Market Watch

DUBLIN, Ireland, October 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Following the concluding presidential debate in New York last night Ireland's largest bookmaker, Paddy Power, has decided to pay out on Barack Obama as the forty-fourth President of the United States of America.

This unprecedented move comes almost three weeks ahead of Election Day on November 4th and sees the bookie paying out in excess of EUR1,000,000 [$1,360,000] to Obama backers. Prior to Paddy Power paying out, Obama was practically unbackable at odds of 1-9 to be the next American President (meaning a bet of EUR90 was required to make EUR10 profit)

Paddy Power said "We declare this race well and truly over and congratulate all those who backed Obama, your winnings await you. Although the Senator seemed a little off sorts in last nights final debate we believe he has done more than enough to get him across the line on November 4th. The overall betting trends has shown one way traffic for Obama since the start of the summer and punters seemed to have called it 100% correct. It reminds me of the patriotic words of action star Wesley Snipes in the movie Passenger 57......Always Bet on Black!"

If an Irish bookie is paying off before the horses cross the finish line, it means all the other horses died on the racetrack!

Also, and in between the lines, I'm sure these turf accountants, who may know a thing or two about fixing horse races, think Obama will win by a large enough margin that the Repugs can't steal the election this time.

In keeping with the theme of this post, however, and out of caution, let's not count our ponies 'til they hatch.

Quote of the Day dos

P.M. Carpenter on last night's debate:

Senator McCain, if you wanted to run against Franklin D. Roosevelt, you should have run three score and 16 years ago, when you were still in your prime.

Quote of the Day

"It's over. Obama won."

—  Tucker Carlson writing at The Daily Beast

As if we didn't know it ...

The order came from the top:

The Bush administration explicitly endorsed the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods against al Qaeda suspects in a pair of secret memos to the CIA in 2003 and 2004, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

...

Repeated requests by the CIA chief for a paper trail reflected growing worries within the agency that the administration might later distance itself from decisions about the handling of captured al Qaeda leaders, the Post said, citing former intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The officials told the newspaper Tenet first pressed the White House for written approval in June 2003 during a meeting with members of the National Security Council.

A few days later, Tenet received a brief memo conveying the administration's approval for the CIA's interrogation methods, the officials were cited as saying.

...

The only place Bush and Cheney should be going on 21 January 2009 is to The Hague.

Link thanks to Dr. Attaturk.

There's no debate ...

Americans like Obama:

The snap polls are coming in for Barack Obama in much the same numbers that they did in the first two debates. CNN has it 58-31 for Obama. CBS' poll is similar ...

...

People know one thing that can't be dislodged from their minds - Republican governance has been a total failure. A 90-minute debate isn't going to change any of that.

...

Even the most obtuse among us get it now.

Die already ...

Vice President Cheney's heart was successfully restored to its normal rhythm today after doctors administered an electric shock to the organ, officials said this afternoon.

...

Motherfucker keeps hanging on.

Oopsie!

Uh ... um ... we made a mistake. The Boston Glob:

BACK IN December, when we endorsed John McCain in the Republican presidential primaries, we wrote that he would conduct a campaign of "substance, not demagoguery." We didn't count on the other John McCain - the one who showed up for the general election. Whether in thrall to his handlers or his own ambition, McCain has abandoned respectful discussion of differences for a trough of pandering and invective.

...

McCain's alarming choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate came only after more moderate and experienced candidates whom McCain preferred were rejected by his operatives. The choice of Palin - whom we would find unqualified even if she didn't hold such extreme policy views - was a cynical ploy aimed at exciting ideological conservatives and luring disgruntled supporters of Hillary Clinton. McCain likes to complain that Democrat Barack Obama has never taken on his party leaders, but McCain can't even control his hired staff. [my em]

...

Just so everybody's clear. What you're seeing now is the real McCain.

Great thanks to Maru for the link.

Hofstra?

Jeezus. Why do ya have to fuck up our traffic? My luck, dad-in-law Fixer's gonna need something (he lives not far from the university) and I'm gonna have to negotiate my way through that shit. Probly gonna make it to COPS. Heh ...

Pic stolen from Blondie.

Update:

The Rude One gives Obama advice again:

...

"You know why you're done? Because everyone's fucking tired of the Vietnam War. Not only that, but the Vietnam War doesn't fucking matter anymore to most of the people in the country. It's passed its political expiration date, motherfucker, and that means your story doesn't matter. And Ayers doesn't matter. None of the same fuckin' arguments hold water. We got our own goddamned war and our own goddamned ripped-up and shattered vets filling the VA hospitals. It means you're not as fuckin' special as you once were, Maverick Man. So shove your bullshit about Ayers up your ass. Forty years ago might not seem like that long to you, but to most people, it's a fuckin' lifetime. [my em]


...

Indeed. Time to put yesterday away and worry about tomorrow.

"Suspend your campaign until you get control of it."

K.O. chews McKlan's ass but good.

QE2 bids farewell to America this week

Possibly of interest to some, and you know who you are...

LATimes

After leaving New York for the last time, the Queen Elizabeth 2, the world's best-known passenger ship, will eventually head to Dubai to become a floating hotel and museum.

A pipe and drum corps, flotilla of pleasure craft and other fanfare in New York will give Cunard Line's QE2 a nostalgic send-off for her 806th and final transatlantic crossing on Thursday (Oct. 16). Accompanying the ship on her six-night voyage to Southampton, England, will be her glamorous younger sister, 4-year-old Queen Mary 2.

For details on the QE2's New York farewell, visit the "Royal Rendezvous" page of Cunard's website.

Bon Voyage to a beautiful, classy old lady.

Finding the upside

Mark Morford (I swear, at first glance I thought the title was "More booze and coke". Oh hell yeah! Heh.). Many links.

What's the matter, patriot? Don't enjoy seeing your stock portfolio slashed in half for greed-obsessed reasons beyond your control? None too pleased with how much of your 401(k) account has burned to a crisp, like John McCain's ethical boundaries? Home worth a fraction of what you paid and the neighbors have all moved away as squads of homeless people now squat in the 350K tract-McMansion next door, staring a mite too hungrily at your dog?

Housewives! Have you taken to the online message boards recently, posting bleak, depressing notes of fear and uncertainty after your husband lost his job of 20 years and the kids are asking uncomfortable questions? Or maybe you're one of the super-wealthy, quaking in your Upper East Side Gucci riding boots over the collapse of your family fortune and self-esteem and who, pray who, will polish the fleet of Aston Martins?

Do you know this feeling? The sense that the bumbling, squinty-faced dude in the White House is about to step down, and this wrecked economy, this decimated nation, this toxic sickness will be his final parting gift, like some sort of nasty STD he and his cronies passed on to you, while you didn't even realize you were getting royally screwed?

(Side note to China: Those secret plans to invade America? Now is the time. We're totally helpless. You own most of our debt anyway. Can you bring extra iPods and some decent dim sum? Thank you.)

As for Republicans, well, they have good reason to smile, too, even if it's one of those creepy sidelong sneers akin to Dick Cheney eating a live cobra.

I'd pay good money to see that rasslin' match! And pity the cobra if it won and had to eat Cheney. Yuck.

Much more. Enjoy.

And just as an aside, speaking of Cheney - a word of praise and encouragement for a-fib. I hope it jolts that motherfucker right out of his socks and straight to Hell. That would really be an upside.

Roasting Krugman

Paul Krugman's colleagues are having a ball raking him over the coals - in the good way - so far - in response to his Nobel Prize. I'm enjoying it too.

From Mr. Krugman's own blog:

The truth comes out

Andy Borowitz knows!

From Borowitz:

Krugman Could Turn into Massive Douchebag, Colleagues Fear

At one point, one of his fellow economists asked him a question about credit default swaps, to which Mr. Krugman reportedly snapped, "Credit default swaps can suck my ass -- I'm Paul Fucking Krugman!"

Mr. Krugman could not be reached for comment and instead referred all questions to his publicist, Sherri Hefstein, whom he hired minutes after winning the Nobel.

According to Ms. Hefstein, Mr. Krugman plans to spend the next few months "building his brand" and will be adapting his book, International Economics: Theory and Policy, into a feature film to star George Clooney.

MoDo gets in on the act:

I'm not sending Paul Krugman Champagne.

He won the Nobel prize in economics this week, and while I’m sure that’s delightful for him, it has raised the bar to an impossible height for his fellow columnists at The Times. We used to strive for Pulitzers,or simply regional awards, or even just try to top each other on the paper’s most e-mailed list.

Now we’re supposed to compete for Nobels?

It’s a total disaster. Any minute, Krugman might swagger into the office wearing that big old 24-karat-gold-plated medal around his neck like a World Wrestling championship belt, talking about how beautiful Sweden is.

So I must aim higher. Much higher.

A Nobel in economics is out. I didn’t take economics in college because all the classes started at 8 a.m. Physics, chemistry and medicine are out. Literature? They’ve given up giving it to Americans. So it’s going to have to be the Nobel Peace Prize.

Go see how much 'higher' she aimed. She ain't gonna win no Nobel for it, but she did win a prize: Gordon's Combination Shoveling Shit Against The Tide And Why Bother Award. Heh.

McCain's unraveling began with Palin

Bob Shrum

As he lurches toward November, McCain’s Palin experience is the political equivalent of a lost college weekend—that wacky, self-indulgent party where you tied one on and spent the night with the wrong date. It’s fun for a moment. But then comes morning and a hangover and—oh no—the wrong person is still there.

You wake up with her head on your arm and chew your arm off to get away so you won't wake her.

Oh noes!!!!!!1

Angry black people!!!! Digby notices the Rethug blowhards aren't even trying to hide it anymore:

...

Wow. I've written quite a bit about the particular form of American racism that manifests itself in fear of the black mob but I haven't seen it expressed quite so starkly though in a couple of decades.

...

Running late; had to kick the Mrs. out at the airport. Don't worry, I slowed down to 20 mph before I made her jump. Heh ...

Off to work ...