Thursday, April 5, 2012
Speaking of ...
American Taliban, Sheriff Joe is whining because the Feds want to look over his shoulder. It'd be nice if the Feds went one step further and indicted him for turning a county of an American state into his own private gulag.
Wah-wah-wah. Why is it the Republicans think they should be allowed to exercise their authority with impunity? Big tough "law and order" guys as long as they don't have to follow any laws themselves. Those are for everybody else but them. Did you ever notice that when someone points out they've run roughshod over the legal system and Americans' rights, they whine like a bunch of crybabies? The Republicans are not tough. They are a bunch of cowardly bastids who want everything their way and to be exempt from the responsibilities we all have to our society.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio — who previously claimed he was cooperating with the Justice Department in an attempt to settle allegations that he violated the civil rights of Latinos in his jurisdiction — told Fox News on Wednesday that he’ll “be glad to meet them in court.”
DOJ cut off negotiations with Arpaio Tuesday saying he had refused to let an independent monitor be a part of any settlement agreement.
...
Wah-wah-wah. Why is it the Republicans think they should be allowed to exercise their authority with impunity? Big tough "law and order" guys as long as they don't have to follow any laws themselves. Those are for everybody else but them. Did you ever notice that when someone points out they've run roughshod over the legal system and Americans' rights, they whine like a bunch of crybabies? The Republicans are not tough. They are a bunch of cowardly bastids who want everything their way and to be exempt from the responsibilities we all have to our society.
Exactly!
Digby on the idiot who tried to blow up a Planned Parenthood clinic the other day:
It'd be nice if we stopped making the distinction between Islamic terrorism and the shit the right wing nutjobs here do. There is no difference between the Taliban and Sharia Law and the Christian Fundamentalists who want to make the United States more "moral". If most of the American Taliban weren't ignorant, lazy, generally intoxicated cowards, shit would be blowing up here with the same regularity it does in Iraq and Afghanistan. Notice you don't see the American Taliban strapping on a vest and blowing themselves up. They're far away from the bomb when it goes off. Thinking about it, what little respect I have for Islamic terrorists is far more than I have for the American ones.
...
I wonder what this paragon of virtue would say about a theoretical Pakistani terrorist who planted a bomb in front of the Pentagon, using the same rationale to complain about children killed by drone strikes. He would doubtless argue that it's totally different, except for the part where it totally isn't. Terrorism is terrorism.
...
It'd be nice if we stopped making the distinction between Islamic terrorism and the shit the right wing nutjobs here do. There is no difference between the Taliban and Sharia Law and the Christian Fundamentalists who want to make the United States more "moral". If most of the American Taliban weren't ignorant, lazy, generally intoxicated cowards, shit would be blowing up here with the same regularity it does in Iraq and Afghanistan. Notice you don't see the American Taliban strapping on a vest and blowing themselves up. They're far away from the bomb when it goes off. Thinking about it, what little respect I have for Islamic terrorists is far more than I have for the American ones.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Former ‘sheriff of the year’ pleads guilty to trading meth for sex
What, that's illegal now?! Raw Story.
Now THAT'S funny! Heh.
Note to former Sheriff Sullivan: You sent hundreds of people to your eponymous lockup, so man up and show 'em how to do it. County time's easy. You can do 30 days standing on your head with your balls on fire. Oh, and play nice when they strip search you. Be inventive. Heh.
A former Colorado police sheriff, who was once named national “Sheriff of the Year,” pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of trading methamphetamine for sex with a male prostitute.
...
The former sheriff, who already spent eight days in prison, will serve the remainder of his 38-day sentence in a jail named after him in Arapahoe County, Colorado.
Now THAT'S funny! Heh.
Note to former Sheriff Sullivan: You sent hundreds of people to your eponymous lockup, so man up and show 'em how to do it. County time's easy. You can do 30 days standing on your head with your balls on fire. Oh, and play nice when they strip search you. Be inventive. Heh.
Headline of the Day
Arizona Legislators Trying to Declare Pregnancy Two Weeks Prior to Conception
Some days it definitely is worth chewing through the restraints to see things like this. Yeesh.
Under the gun ...
Well, the deck footings came this morning and the lumber is coming Friday. In that time, I have to move a ton of Hostas and knock down a cement wall. Pics to follow ...
And, of course, I forgot to bring the shit sample for the vet when I brought Da Chooch in for shots this morning. Thankfully, I don't have to make a special run back because her little sister has to go for her shots tomorrow.
Update:
A pallet and a half of footings. I'm gonna look like the Incredible Hulk by the time I'm done. They weigh 50 lbs. each.
My dad built this wall when he built the patio 45 years ago. The deck will extend 14 feet past it so it's gotta go. The Hostas in front of the wall have been relocated elsewhere in the yard.
The reason I'm doing this in the first place. When dad built the patio, he left a hole in the middle where mom could plant flowers. I don't know which one got the bright idea to plant a Sycamore tree in the middle of it (it was the diameter of a baseball bat when they planted it) but 45 years later, it heaved the patio out of the ground. At this point, it's essentially useless and when we entertain, I set up tables out in the grass.
Of course, the appropriate supervisory personnel will be in attendance. Heh ...
Update Zwei:
Done for the day and tired. Chelsea is playing Benfica in the Champions League and I'm relaxing. See:
And, of course, I forgot to bring the shit sample for the vet when I brought Da Chooch in for shots this morning. Thankfully, I don't have to make a special run back because her little sister has to go for her shots tomorrow.
Update:
A pallet and a half of footings. I'm gonna look like the Incredible Hulk by the time I'm done. They weigh 50 lbs. each.
My dad built this wall when he built the patio 45 years ago. The deck will extend 14 feet past it so it's gotta go. The Hostas in front of the wall have been relocated elsewhere in the yard.
The reason I'm doing this in the first place. When dad built the patio, he left a hole in the middle where mom could plant flowers. I don't know which one got the bright idea to plant a Sycamore tree in the middle of it (it was the diameter of a baseball bat when they planted it) but 45 years later, it heaved the patio out of the ground. At this point, it's essentially useless and when we entertain, I set up tables out in the grass.
Of course, the appropriate supervisory personnel will be in attendance. Heh ...
Update Zwei:
Done for the day and tired. Chelsea is playing Benfica in the Champions League and I'm relaxing. See:
I carried that back from Amsterdam in my hand luggage, btw. Heh ...
The day they killed the Easter Bunny
If it's Wednesday, it must be Morford. Given the title of his column, I thought he was going to go on about the upcoming 2000-and-somethingth anniversary of Easter, The P.R. Stunt That Stuck, but noooooo....
I can now.
Do you know how to defile innocence? Do you know the best way to permanently stain a relatively clean soul, corrupt a vibrant imagination, molest a heart full of wonder and raw, unchecked power? I bet you do.
Let's see: You could drag said innocence to a GOP convention, or maybe Las Vegas, or let it watch five minutes of "Real Housewives" or "Brooklyn 11223" or "Doomsday Bunkers." You could hand it a rifle and tell it to blast a wild animal to death, have it attend an anti-gay rally at a Colorado Springs megachurch or Mormon temple, or plop it down at a One Direction concert. That would certainly do it.
But let's say you really want to mess it up, forever and true, tattoo it down deep with adulthood's most vile energy, a poison that's hugely common in the culture but is just shy of being actually physically abusive or illegal. Can you name it?
I can now.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Tucson's Mexican-American Studies Ban
Notable quote, paraphrased:
"If there weren't any more white people, they could do what they want."
I guess the flip side is "As long as whites are in charge, the Messkins will do it the white man's way".
Did I mention that the interviewee is a racist idiot? And a professional educator? Oy.
"If there weren't any more white people, they could do what they want."
I guess the flip side is "As long as whites are in charge, the Messkins will do it the white man's way".
Did I mention that the interviewee is a racist idiot? And a professional educator? Oy.
Time to Elect the Worst Idea
Gail Collins on "Americans Elect" which is the dumbest idea I've heard of to elect a POTUS. Maybe it would work in a world full of peace, love, dope, rainbows, and unicorns, but in that world we wouldn't need politicians anyway.
And throw in a plug she does. Cut to the chase:
Door No. 2, Bob. Fire for effect, repeat, repeat, repeat!
Our topic today is picking the worst new trend of the political season.
Not including putting the dog on the car roof.
...
But since I still have some space here, let me throw in a plug for the terribleness of the idea of Americans Elect.
And throw in a plug she does. Cut to the chase:
The thing that makes our current politics particularly awful isn’t procedural. It’s that the Republican Party has become over-the-top extreme. You can try to fix that by working from within to groom a more sensible pack of future candidates, or from without by voting against the Republicans’ nominees until they agree to shape up.
Door No. 2, Bob. Fire for effect, repeat, repeat, repeat!
Blow the nice officer a kiss...
The Rude Pundit on the latest SCOTUS intrusion into our lives:
That last part wasn't really germane but I just had to get "Swings Both Ways, But Hangs to the Right" in there. Heh.
Mr. Florence got the shaft on this deal and spent six days in two different county jails because of a clerical fuckup over a traffic fine he paid that didn't show up as paid and there was a warrant out on him. He had proof he'd paid it but the cops didn't give a shit. Every time he changed police and correctional officer hands, he got strip searched. Did I mention he's Afro-American? White cops just know every black man they stop has a machine gun up his ass. Or they just want to humiliate him because they can.
Cops probably won't strip search you by the side of the road, or even usually when you get to jail. If you're white.
I've been strip searched. I've been in jail a coupla times, and the rules permitted me to be a trusty and thus eligible for working parties out in the community. If you have to be in jail, that's what makes it bearable. The civilians you work for treat you very well with food and smokes. They appreciate your help.
You change clothes from the skin out when you return to jail after the work day. Our county jail is in a small town and the inmates know people and there's a slight chance that the youngbloods will score a little dope and try to bring it in but I don't think it happens very often. Most guys aren't that stupid and don't want to get busted back to the regular lockup. Usually if dope appears they snort or smoke it on the spot. The C.O.s check yer junk but they don't give you a blood or urine test.
I decided to have fun with the strip search. Believe you me, fun is hard to come by in the hoosegow and stuff that wouldn't be fun anywhere else is uproarious!
Let's say there's six guys on the work party. They line you up and go down the line like a short-arm inspection (without the "milk 'er down" feature) in the Corps. Apparently a lotta dope (weapons?) gets smuggled in under foreskins because you peel that back for 'em. They tell you to lift up yer nutsack - in my case, "just past yer knees is fine, gramps" - and then you turn around, bend over, and spread yer cheeks. Yeah, like this old man scored a pound of crank and keestered it into jail fer chrissakes. (I do know a fellow who could keester a claw hammer, but that's another story). I think the cops find more cell phones these days than dope. The jail pay phone is damn expensive.
But I digress. Point is, I tried to have fun with it. I looked back at the cop and grinned and grabbed both cheeks and yanked them apart. I did my best to flex my asshole and make it wink. Shit, if I coulda got it to whistle "Dixie" I would have. It made the cop laugh which is always good. One caution: shooting sparks at the officer is probably not a good idea. Heh.
That cop was there every day. I don't envy him having to do that, but reason prevailed. I guess he decided that either I wasn't a danger and wouldn't try to smuggle in the explosives and/or anthrax I'd scored whilst trimming the hedges at the Elks Club, or else looking up my butt was just too horrible to contemplate, because he never asked me to do that again. I like to think it was the latter option.
Jail is a unique situation. I would never do that at Walmart although I've been tempted to...
You know what? It doesn't matter what the case was about. Here's the outcome of Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders (in New Jersey's Essex County): if you are stopped by police and you have a few too many parking tickets, even if it's a mistake, you can be arrested and, if going to be placed in the jail, strip-searched by the police. Don't worry, though, the Supreme Court says, because the cops can't touch you, but they may ask you to lift your nutsack so they can see if you have drugs under there.
Playing the fucking fool, Justice Anthony "Swings Both Ways, But Hangs to the Right" Kennedy says that the lawyers of the plaintiff, a poor bastard who got chewed up by our incarceration nation mentality, didn't even really define "strip search," despite there being, you know, a definition offered in police manuals.
That last part wasn't really germane but I just had to get "Swings Both Ways, But Hangs to the Right" in there. Heh.
Mr. Florence got the shaft on this deal and spent six days in two different county jails because of a clerical fuckup over a traffic fine he paid that didn't show up as paid and there was a warrant out on him. He had proof he'd paid it but the cops didn't give a shit. Every time he changed police and correctional officer hands, he got strip searched. Did I mention he's Afro-American? White cops just know every black man they stop has a machine gun up his ass. Or they just want to humiliate him because they can.
Cops probably won't strip search you by the side of the road, or even usually when you get to jail. If you're white.
I've been strip searched. I've been in jail a coupla times, and the rules permitted me to be a trusty and thus eligible for working parties out in the community. If you have to be in jail, that's what makes it bearable. The civilians you work for treat you very well with food and smokes. They appreciate your help.
You change clothes from the skin out when you return to jail after the work day. Our county jail is in a small town and the inmates know people and there's a slight chance that the youngbloods will score a little dope and try to bring it in but I don't think it happens very often. Most guys aren't that stupid and don't want to get busted back to the regular lockup. Usually if dope appears they snort or smoke it on the spot. The C.O.s check yer junk but they don't give you a blood or urine test.
I decided to have fun with the strip search. Believe you me, fun is hard to come by in the hoosegow and stuff that wouldn't be fun anywhere else is uproarious!
Let's say there's six guys on the work party. They line you up and go down the line like a short-arm inspection (without the "milk 'er down" feature) in the Corps. Apparently a lotta dope (weapons?) gets smuggled in under foreskins because you peel that back for 'em. They tell you to lift up yer nutsack - in my case, "just past yer knees is fine, gramps" - and then you turn around, bend over, and spread yer cheeks. Yeah, like this old man scored a pound of crank and keestered it into jail fer chrissakes. (I do know a fellow who could keester a claw hammer, but that's another story). I think the cops find more cell phones these days than dope. The jail pay phone is damn expensive.
But I digress. Point is, I tried to have fun with it. I looked back at the cop and grinned and grabbed both cheeks and yanked them apart. I did my best to flex my asshole and make it wink. Shit, if I coulda got it to whistle "Dixie" I would have. It made the cop laugh which is always good. One caution: shooting sparks at the officer is probably not a good idea. Heh.
That cop was there every day. I don't envy him having to do that, but reason prevailed. I guess he decided that either I wasn't a danger and wouldn't try to smuggle in the explosives and/or anthrax I'd scored whilst trimming the hedges at the Elks Club, or else looking up my butt was just too horrible to contemplate, because he never asked me to do that again. I like to think it was the latter option.
Jail is a unique situation. I would never do that at Walmart although I've been tempted to...
It'll be over ...
If the Frothy Mixture can't win it all today (which the polls say he cant).
It's just a matter of whether he's self-aware enough to drop out gracefully. It's obvious Noot is no longer a factor and if he could bring himself to admit he's out, he would. I will say that this 2012 Clown Car has been one of the most entertaining in my memory. I'm gonna miss that collection of idiots.
Another batch of Republican National Convention delegates will be allocated on Tuesday as voters in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C. make their picks for the GOP nominee.
...
It's just a matter of whether he's self-aware enough to drop out gracefully. It's obvious Noot is no longer a factor and if he could bring himself to admit he's out, he would. I will say that this 2012 Clown Car has been one of the most entertaining in my memory. I'm gonna miss that collection of idiots.
Glutton for punishment ...
I'm beginning to think I'm a closet masochist (probably a determining factor in being a progressive blogger for almost 8 years) because in addition to everything else I'm in the middle of, I decided it's a good time to build a deck in the backyard. I'll elaborate later on but since I'm effectively out of the dad-in-law house sale (aside from lifting heavy shit), I figured I'd take the week the Mrs. is in Charlotte, NC (next week) on business and do the deck project I've been meaning to do for the last couple years. I'm using this system and I ordered up 120 of them this morning from Lowe's. After I take the dogs for shots tomorrow morning, I'm going to Home Depot and put in my lumber order. I should order some extra and build a box so when I drop dead out there, the Mrs. can make the dogs dig a hole and they can drag my carcass in it. Heh ...
Unleash ...
The Mittster!
Honey, I coulda told you he was a limp dick years ago.
GREEN BAY, Wis.—Mitt Romney has long been criticized for being awkward on the stump, but his wife, Ann, defended her husband in a radio interview today, rejecting a host's statement that Romney is "too stiff" on the campaign trail.
Per ABC News' Emily Friedman, Ann Romney told Baltimore WBAL radio that she's working to show another side of her husband. Asked about criticism that Romney is "too stiff," Ann Romney laughed and replied, "I guess we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out because he is not!"
...
Honey, I coulda told you he was a limp dick years ago.
Charlie Pierce is racist!
Or at least, that's what the town drunk Ann Althouse says (Who knew she was still alive?). The Duchess of the Wine Box thinks that calling Antonin "Fat Tony" Scalia "Tony" is racist because that's not his nickname*. I still don't know why Thers amuses himself with her but hey, we all have our little entertainments (mine is sitting in a public place seeing how many women wear the wrong bra).
Oh the Humanity! You'd think Pierce shot Tony on a February night as he was heading home from the store with Skittles and iced tea.
...
You may be inclined to consider this ridiculous. However, Shocking Footage has emerged of an enraged Pierce hurling barrels at an innocent Italian plumber, probably because Pierce suspected the little fellow is Catholic:
...
Oh the Humanity! You'd think Pierce shot Tony on a February night as he was heading home from the store with Skittles and iced tea.
*My first name is Richard and I don't go by "Dick" (unless it's a woman prefacing it with "Give me some of that big") but that sure as hell doesn't stop people from using that moniker (sometimes justified, heh ...).
Why ...
Is this not terrorism?
The Frothy Mixture denounced it (good for him) but I'm certain he doesn't realize (or care) that he and his fellow Jesus-freaks are the ones who get these fundamentalist idiots riled up. When a fundie like Santorum rails against Planned Parenthood as if it's some kind of abortionplex, when they say abortion is tantamount to murder, and when they say using birth control is a sin, it is inevitable that some on the fringe will take it as license to go after the "murderers". It would be nice if Homeland Security would classify these right wing nutjobs as terrorists, but that classification is only for brown Muslim folks who they want to send to Gitmo. If you're a Christian and you blow up a public building, you're a "misguided patriot". Maybe we should round them all up and send them on a "Cuban vacation" for a while.
A small, homemade bomb exploded outside a Planned Parenthood office in Wisconsin on Sunday night, prompting a federal investigation and the swift condemnation of violence by a Republican presidential candidate ahead of the state’s primary on Tuesday.
...
The Frothy Mixture denounced it (good for him) but I'm certain he doesn't realize (or care) that he and his fellow Jesus-freaks are the ones who get these fundamentalist idiots riled up. When a fundie like Santorum rails against Planned Parenthood as if it's some kind of abortionplex, when they say abortion is tantamount to murder, and when they say using birth control is a sin, it is inevitable that some on the fringe will take it as license to go after the "murderers". It would be nice if Homeland Security would classify these right wing nutjobs as terrorists, but that classification is only for brown Muslim folks who they want to send to Gitmo. If you're a Christian and you blow up a public building, you're a "misguided patriot". Maybe we should round them all up and send them on a "Cuban vacation" for a while.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Mitt-mentum
Willard is the perfect Repug candidate for this election cycle. The still-not-any-good-but-better-than-him candidates laid chilly on this one because they knew the teabagger radicals were going to lose this race to the O-Man for them. Why waste a good candidate?
April Fool!
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) April 1, 2012 – In an April Fool's Day announcement that took the political world by storm, the Republican Party revealed today that its entire presidential race had been an elaborate prank.
...
Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain agreed that the prank had gone well, but added, "I'm just amazed that the American people never figured out we were kidding."
"I mean, I kept saying ‘9-9-9' every four seconds, which was total and utter bullshit," he said. "And everything out of Michele's mouth made her sound like a mental patient."
"True that," Rep. Bachmann agreed.
Texas Governor Rick Perry said he worried that "every time I screwed up at a debate people would figure out I was pulling their legs," but added, "The American people seemed to accept the idea that a Governor of Texas could be a blithering idiot."
When one reporter mentioned that Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) was not at the press conference, a sudden silence fell over the gathering.
"Did anyone ever tell Ron this was supposed to be a prank?" Mr. Romney asked. "Holy cow, maybe he's really serious."
Ha. Fucking. Ha. Next time do something funny instead of mean-spirited and pathetic.
Nevada County Selected for Agenda 21 Project by UN
My county! Subhead:
Heh. Fuck 'em.
YubaNet
The reaction from the wingtards comes as no surprise:
She probably thinks all the helicopters flying around in the woods doing logging* operations are the UN's advance force. The Repugs that are for Agenda 21 think it's a real estate company. Heh.
*
I love living in Nevada County. Note to the "blue helmets": Coffee's always on, boys. Stop on by. English is not a requirement.
Tea Party/CABPRO Activists Have a Conniption
Heh. Fuck 'em.
YubaNet
GENEVA/NEVADA CITY, Calif. April 1, 2012 - Nevada County's sluggish economic recovery will receive a substantial boost, thanks to an application submitted several years ago by a group of non-profits focused on sustainable living and development. The UN's Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio +20) just released the list of counties chosen to receive advanced planning and investment help. Nevada County was selected as the only rural county in California. Other counties selected throughout the US include Maricopa, Arizona - Madison, Wisconsin - Collin County, Texas - Utah County, Utah and Broward, Florida.
The reaction from the wingtards comes as no surprise:
Sue McGuire, also running for District 1, didn't want to comment on the record at first. But, after hearing that the UN was involved, she didn't hold back: "This is socialism, pure and simple. Agenda 21 is a danger to the American way of life and I will fight this. Our community doesn't need UN troops and black helicopters. Thankfully, our strong opposition will send this communist plot back to where it belongs, to the trash heap that is the UN headquarters." She pointed to the local Republican party's resolution Exposing United Nations Agenda 21, saying she fully supported the resolution.
She probably thinks all the helicopters flying around in the woods doing logging* operations are the UN's advance force. The Repugs that are for Agenda 21 think it's a real estate company. Heh.
*
Ask someone in heli-logging how business is going and they will inevitably answer, “Up and down.”
I love living in Nevada County. Note to the "blue helmets": Coffee's always on, boys. Stop on by. English is not a requirement.
Headline of the Day
Man whose WMD lies led to 100,000 deaths confesses all
There need to be a few hundred more deaths over this. In the USA. By hanging.
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