"We were deer in headlights"

The interesting thing about this account of yesterday's horrific crash at the Reno Air Races is that the witness is Fred Scholz, a good friend of mine from here in town. Fred's a cyclist, motorcyclist, pilot, and mechanic. I've known him for over twenty years and even worked for him at one reincarnation of his auto repair business, FAST Automotive. He gets tired of dealing with the public and goes to being a ski lift mechanic, which he's doing now. He keeps his business sign for when he gets tired of dealing with ski hill management and opens another garage. A great guy and, like me'n Fixer, knows that if a guy's smart enough to be a good mechanic, he's too smart to be a mechanic and does it anyway.

And by the way, Mr. Leeward's re-enactment of a WWII augering-in is something we don't need to see very often.

Thanks to CNN.

You are not patriotic ...

If you're an asshole:

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You are not patriotic for sending sons and daughters off to die in some desert war. You are not patriotic for tying a yellow ribbon to your SUV, filled to the brim with the very oil those sons and daughters are dying over. You are not patriotic for saluting the flag while trampling every right taken away by the Patriot Act and its subsequent horrors. You are not patriotic for fighting against gay marriage. You are not patriotic for fighting to extend government's reach into the wombs of women everywhere.

You are not patriotic for cheering — yes, cheering — at the thought of Rick Perry executing hundreds of people. You are not patriotic for wanting poor people to die without medical care. You are not patriotic for wanting to shut down schools and hospitals to keep the size of government more to your liking.

...

And if you claim to be a Republican nowadays, your assholery is almost guaranteed.

Stimulating the economy ...

The roof guy just left and I'm gonna be putting a crew to work here for a day (it's an easy job, relatively speaking) in a few weeks. After hearing the cost*, I shoulda ripped a couple more shingles off the roof and put in a homeowners claim after the hurricane.

*They are tearing off two layers of shingle and all of the sheathing, adding ridge and soffitt vents, new plywood, and 30-year shingles in a color the Mrs. (of course, heh ...) picked out.

Rocky Horror? Really?

Via Pam Spaulding on the Facebook, they're banning Rocky Horror Picture Show in a shitbag town in Georgia.

In a case of life imitating art (or at least a Glee storyline from last year), political officials in Georgia have shut down a community theater's production of The Rocky Horror Show after deeming it "too risqué," reports Entertainment Weekly.

...

I was 13 when I first saw it, along with almost every other kid in school. My mom even saw it. Grow the fuck up.

Quote of the Day

John Sheirer on the Republican Clown Car:

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They claim that God has called them to run for office--several of them. God apparently can't make up his mind which one to support.

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The causes ...

Continuing on a theme from yesterday's post. If you wonder how Afghanistan got to be the way it is, and why it was almost inevitable the 9/11 attacks would originate from there, you should read this:

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This history has implications for the war the United States is waging in Afghanistan today. Many Americans would be surprised to learn that some of the same “freedom fighters” to whom the Central Intelligence Agency provided billions of dollars worth of Stinger missiles and other weapons in the 1980s are the same “terrorists” who today are fighting U.S. forces – such as we saw in the Sept. 13th attack on the U.S. embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul, purportedly carried out by the Haqqani Network, one of the CIA’s favored clients in the 1980s.

...

We laid the groundwork for the 9/11 attacks and this endless war 30 years ago.

The Big Casino ...

You know, back when I was young, growing up in a blue collar world in the 1960s, not many people were "invested" in the stock market. When someone "owned stock" (usually connected with the old American Telephone and Telegraph), you knew they were pretty well off, probably not punching a time clock.

Now, I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have some sort of an investment, a 401(k) or 529 at minimum. You know the banksters want it that way. McKenna:

Confirmation that a “rogue” trader somehow lost $2 billion making “unauthorized” trades at UBS “will test the faith of investors, clients and regulators,” says Wall Street Journal. It should also test the credulity of anyone who would still argue that investment bankers are fundamentally different from degenerate blackjack players with a lot of money to lose.

...

You know, if that guy cheated somebody out of a couple bil to the banks favor, he woulda got a promotion instead of a pair of silver bracelets.

If a bear shits in the woods ...

And there's nobody there to smell it, does it still stink?

...

If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? Good question. Now try this one: If a ranting lunatic doesn't have a show on Fox, does anyone know he exists? Apparently not. For some reason, we have bestowed this power to define who matters and who doesn't on Roger Ailes and Fox News. Why?

Glenn who?

Thanks, Skippy!

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Emmylou Harris 2005 - Love Hurts

Recorded and broadcast live on July 22, 2005 in New York, NY. Featuring Larry Campbell on guitar and mandolin.

Thanks to docinwestchester.

Sarah Palin, take note

$2 million for a double-wide

This is in the same place where Rockford lived, although they just propped up his piece'a crap in the beach parking lot. I used to go there occasionally to fish (the pier used to be a lot longer and they had a barge) and these trailers, pardon me, mobile homes, have been there forever.

Surprisingly, this $2 million transaction doesn't go down in history books as the most expensive double-wide ever sold. During the housing hey day, other mobile homes in the park went for as much as $2.5 million. The premium buys access to a prime lot and Malibu shoreline views often only seen at the multi-million dollar homes of Hollywood celebrities.

Sounds like the kinda place a trailer-trash grifter who cashed in on the Mother Lode of Gullible could live comfortably and stay in touch with her roots.

Street food cred

Ah, ambiance...

LATimes

Vendors of tamales, hot dogs, fruit and more in L.A. County are supposed to be licensed by the health department and get regular inspections. The proof is a yellow sticker.

I've never been one for eating food off the street.

But this week, in pursuit of journalistic truth, I purchased a tamale — or tamal, in Spanish — from a street vendor pushing a shopping cart in South Los Angeles.
...

But this tamal, wrapped in a corn husk with several strips of green chile inside, was clearly unlicensed. It was made by a woman from Acapulco, Mexico, who will never get a letter grade and who will run away if you try to give her one.

Nevertheless, her tamales were greasy and delish. They tasted authentically homemade, too, which wasn't surprising, since she makes them in her apartment. Every weekday, she told me, she wheels around her South Figueroa neighborhood, tooting a little horn to announce her presence.

"One dollar each," she said in Spanish. Quite a bargain.

These are the kind of people, I learned later, that drive Khaled Hassan crazy.
...

Latino immigrants dominate the street-food trade. As Hassan sees it, he's trying to help one group of Latino immigrant vendors stay in business despite unfair competition from another group of Latino immigrants.

There's more, but I'll cut to the chase:

Adela, a Salvadoran immigrant, didn't want to give me her full name — for reasons that will soon become apparent — even though she had a yellow health department sticker on her cart.

She described being stuck between two business cultures. "You try to do things right," she told me in Spanish. "If the inspector gives me a note, then I have to go to court for it." But following these rules has earned her the wrath of other, unlicensed vendors, she said.

"I've been threatened with death," she told me, wiping tears from her face. Other vendors think Adela is the one calling the inspectors and the police, because when those officials arrive, she doesn't have to gather her fruit and take off running.

Now, to make things worse, business has gone down the tank. "If you know of a job cooking or cleaning, let me know," she said.

You can help out the Adelas of L.A. by shopping at carts with a county Public Health Department sticker on the side.

I bought some mango slices for $3 from her. They were succulent, sweet and tart. And unlike the unlicensed tamal I had eaten earlier, they didn't burn and roil in my stomach.

What, first time out? And a 'licensed' green chile tamal would have been different how?

L.A.'s been giving letter grades to be prominently displayed in the front windows of restaurants for years. This is apparently relatively new for restaurants on wheels and is probably a good idea, but I've eaten street food in Tijuana where any 'license fee' went into some cop's pocket and it was delicious and I'm not dead yet.

To quote that guy Zimmern who eats stuff I'd run away from and call the bio-hazard crew in on, "if it tastes good, eat it!"

The law and Justice Clarence Thomas

...and ne'er the twain shall meet.

Semper Fi

LATimes

On Sept. 8, 2009, then-Cpl. Meyer and Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez were part of a contingent of U.S. forces visiting an Afghan village to train fighters and persuade elders to support the Afghan government. It was a dangerous area, and as the meeting was underway, the village was suddenly plunged into darkness. Insurgents on the ridges above began firing on American and Afghan soldiers. Meyer was back with the trucks at that moment, but his comrades who were posted farther forward were cut off by the ambush.

Amid gunfire so intense it "sounded like static," Meyer and Rodriguez-Chavez radioed for permission to rescue the embattled Marines and soldiers. They were denied. Defying orders, they commandeered a Humvee and, with Rodriguez-Chavez at the wheel and Meyer manning the gun, made five trips through the fire zone. For six hours, they kept up their heroic efforts, even after Meyer was wounded in the arm. All told, they brought 13 Americans and 23 Afghans to safety before, on the last foray, risking their lives yet again to recover the bodies of four fellow Marines. At Meyer's request, those four, and a fifth American killed that day, were honored Thursday with private ceremonies in their hometowns as Meyer was receiving the Medal of Honor from President Obama.

While I applaud this young Marine's actions and his humility, just once I'd like to hear a MOH recipient respond with, "Fuckin' A right I'm a hero!".

Hatin' on us for our freedoms?

Not really:

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People, it’s not our freedom they hate. Most of the world envies our freedom.

What the hate is our sense of entitlement to their resources, our indifference to their suffering and blinding need, our support of the sociopathic dictators who rob and subjugate them, as long as they allow our corporate rape of their children’s futures for our personal comfort and gain.

What they hate is our military presence in every far-flung corner of the world, assuring that we’ll always get our way at their expense.

What they hate is our self-righteous certitude that Our God is Good and their god is bullshit.

My Fellow Americans, they hate us because they think we live in a Democracy, and that We The People knowingly choose and approve of what our government and corporations do to them.

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Those who don't learn from history ...

I'm off to the hangings, back later.

Great thanks to MBRU for the link.

"Carlin Street"

I'm all for it; renaming a portion of W 122nd Street in NYC "Carlin Street" in honor of my favorite comedian, George Carlin. Lotta Carlin quotes in this post that make me smile:

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Now, speaking of consistency, Catholics, which I was until I reached the age of reason, Catholics and other Christians are against abortions, and they're against homosexuals. Well who has less abortions than homosexuals?! Leave these fucking people alone, for Christ sakes! Here is an entire class of people guaranteed never to have an abortion!

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Better than renaming the 59th Street (Queensborough) Bridge after that idiot Ed Krotch Koch. If they hadda rename it, it shoulda been the "Simon and Garfunkel Bridge".

I love these ...

Maybe because I have a one track gutter but heh. Heh (Part 2).

I tell you what ...

I'm no fan of Carville but considering what he accomplished with Bill Clinton (and Bill is still reaping the benefits of his association with Carville), I'll grant him his expertise in the field and I'd certainly take his political advice over the current crop of White House advisers.

People often ask me what advice I would give the White House about various things. Today I was mulling over election results from New York and Nevada while thinking about that very question. What should the White House do now? One word came to mind: Panic.

We are far past sending out talking points. Do not attempt to dumb it down. We cannot stand any more explanations. Have you talked to any Democratic senators lately? I have. It's pretty damn clear they are not happy campers.

This is what I would say to President Barack Obama: The time has come to demand a plan of action that requires a complete change from the direction you are headed.

I don't know how else to break this down. Simply put:

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We been saying most of this shit for 2 years now, but we're just "dirty fucking hippies". Carville is a pro and his advice makes far more sense than whatever the fuck Barry's doing.

Great thanks to David Dayen for the link.

Christ ...

Our Idiot King is making a fool of himself, and us, across the pond. Now, it's bad enough he acts like an idiot here, but the people in Europe already think we're idiots. Now they'll know we are.

Rep. Peter King was asked by the UK Parliament what kind of facility Guantanamo Bay is. This was after describing it as a vacation destination for prisoners. He was asked to justify how America could torture them and then call enhanced interrogation. It was just a little bit uncomfortable. He shrugged it off and said it wasn't really that bad because our military trains with it and hey, if torture saved lives it was all worth it. Usually that's the type of justification that you might hear someone from the Pinochet regime invoke.

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I wonder if they asked him, off the record of course because the Brits have something known as tact, mostly, about his affiliation with the bomb throwers in Northern Ireland. You know, known terrorists. Just saying.

God, what an asshole.

Shopping Day

See yas later.

Headline of the Day

Apocalyptic GOP Is Dragging Us Into a Civil War

IMNSHO it will start when some probably right-wing extremists show that they can wrest the "monopoly on violence" away from some police department in order to impose their own rule on some citizenry somewhere. That's as opposed to simply using the police to do the same thing while they "serve and protect" the Masters Of The Universe.

It will be a battle for control over the forces of evil on the right. It will be a civil war I can live with. Us lefties can shoot at both sides. Watch out for the crossfire. Heh.

Update:

Think I'm kidding?

The 11 craziest things in Rick Perry’s ‘Fed Up’ manifesto
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1. Wresting power back from the federal government is the battle of our time.

I rest my case.