Saturday, February 9, 2008
Get mad at something important ...
There are plenty of things to get mad about out there. The ads you see on other folks' blogs ain't it. Aravosis explains:
I don't do ads here because I have my own principles (not saying people who do don't have principles) and for the same reason John had to spell this out. Give bloggers who have ads running on their pages a break. Running a blog (even a little shitty one like this) is a pain in the ass and takes up a lot of time. Get mad about stuff that's important.
...
1. Most of the ads that you see on this blog, and most sites on the Web, are randomly generated by the ad companies we use. Advertisers buy run-of-network ads that run on thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of Web sites at once, often randomly. Not only does the advertiser have no idea what site their ads are running on, but the sites have no idea what ads are coming (you may recall Obama recently having an ad on Drudge or something, this is what happened). In our case, Google tries to hone in which ads match our content, and they often see us talking about politics. So they send us political ads. Unfortunately, computers are dumb, so the political ads we get are sometimes Republican ads. So that's why you see ads you don't like on this, or any other, site.
2. I like to think that our readers are a step above the rest. Any of you who are going to suddenly turn into a conservative Republican because you accidentally saw an Ann Coulter ad on this Web site, well, I'm not sure we have a single reader who's that dumb.
3. Here's our ad policy. It's the same as Markos'. It's the same as The Nation. In a nutshell, we'll accept advertising from anyone, in principle. As Markos has clearly stated, if he starts cherry-picking which ads he deletes then it means he's endorsing the ads that remain. And I am not going to start endorsing every advertiser on this site. The advertising is separate from the editorial, period.
4. Having said that, I do block some ads sometimes. I'm certainly not going to take racist ads, bigoted ads, sex ads, or the like. But I am not going to get into the business of trying to decide whether 51% of you like the advertiser, which company is in favor or not this week, etc. It's just not going to happen, we have bigger and better things to focus on, all of us.
...
I don't do ads here because I have my own principles (not saying people who do don't have principles) and for the same reason John had to spell this out. Give bloggers who have ads running on their pages a break. Running a blog (even a little shitty one like this) is a pain in the ass and takes up a lot of time. Get mad about stuff that's important.
Saturday whorage
Another chapter of Thirty Days at Zeta is up at The Practical Press.
Blogwhore your own links in comments.
Blogwhore your own links in comments.
Friday, February 8, 2008
McCain's a Dem?
At least Fox 'News' says so. The Swan:
... But it's the people who actually look to Faux for their information and opinions that are maligned in my view by these rank shenanigans. I have as much respect for those people as I do for a steaming loaf of shit floating in a vat of diarrhea.
Yeah, how come?
Monkey Muck via 'Da Roo':
Back after dinner.
...now that Mitt's boys aren't serving their country by helping get their dad elected anymore, I wonder how many of them will join up to fight the war of terror? ...
Back after dinner.
Hoisted by a crazy petard
Courant
This is gettin' so good! My sides hurt...
Thanks to Zell Miller, there is a rule to deal with Joe Lieberman.
Lieberman's endorsement of Republican John McCain disqualifies him as a super-delegate to the Democratic National Convention under what is informally known as the Zell Miller rule, according to Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo.
This is gettin' so good! My sides hurt...
"Fail away, ladies, fail away..."*
Digby
Blame it on whomever you wish, wingnuts. Just lose.
*Apologies to The Kingston Trio, but no apologies at all to these bozos in Tucson! Or to "don't sheetrock the patio". Heh. Boy, the stuff ya run across...
Do you get the feeling that the conservatives are gaming this thing? I knew that you would.
They know they are going to lose. They will blame the loss on the fact that McCain wasn't a real conservative (just like Bush.) They know when to fall back and regroup. They're already playing for the next election.
Everybody sing: Conservatism can never fail, it can only be failed.
Blame it on whomever you wish, wingnuts. Just lose.
*Apologies to The Kingston Trio, but no apologies at all to these bozos in Tucson! Or to "don't sheetrock the patio". Heh. Boy, the stuff ya run across...
Mittpocalypse Now
From TPMtv.
Caution: Contains barf-o-matic scenes of Romney talkin' out his ass just before the door hits it, and Laura Ingraham praising Willard for his 'embodiment of conservative ideals' which apparently is wingnut-speak for 'talks outta both sides of his neck'.
Thanks, Josh.
Caution: Contains barf-o-matic scenes of Romney talkin' out his ass just before the door hits it, and Laura Ingraham praising Willard for his 'embodiment of conservative ideals' which apparently is wingnut-speak for 'talks outta both sides of his neck'.
Thanks, Josh.
FedUp Marine wants an energy policy
Newsweek:
I think the analysts are being a little, er, conservative in their estimate.
Much more. Read.
Frederick W. Smith is not one to shy away from a difficult fight. A former Marine and a Vietnam War veteran, he founded Federal Express in 1971 and built it into the world's largest express-transport company. In recent years he's taken on a new battle by joining the Energy Security Leadership Council, a group of transportation executives and retired military officers advocating greater American energy independence. NEWSWEEK's Fareed Zakaria asked him why the CEO of a company with almost 700 planes and 80,000 trucks would push for stricter energy policies. Excerpts:
And could that, in turn, lead to military confrontation?
It shouldn't be forgotten that the proximate cause of World War II was the U.S. oil embargo against Japan, when we were an oil-exporting nation. And World War II was largely won in Europe by the United States' attack on the fuel supplies of Germany. In fact, they were making more Messerschmitt fighter planes in late 1944 and early 1945 than anywhere else in the world—they simply didn't have the fuel to train the pilots to fly them. The first gulf war was caused totally by oil—it was Saddam Hussein's insistence that he own certain oilfields that led to his invasion of Kuwait and our ouster of his forces there. The subsequent presence of the United States in the Middle East was in large measure driven by the protection of the oil trade. And a lot of analysts think that as much as 40 percent of the entire U.S. military budget can be attributed to protecting the oil trade (my em).
I think the analysts are being a little, er, conservative in their estimate.
Much more. Read.
But can they close the canopy?
AFP
The best joke will win a prize...
Joke #1:
"Israeli Jets To Have Additional 'Hard Point' Installed In Cockpit"
More as I think 'em up. Lucky you...
Israeli combat pilots may soon fly high on Viagra
The best joke will win a prize...
Joke #1:
"Israeli Jets To Have Additional 'Hard Point' Installed In Cockpit"
More as I think 'em up. Lucky you...
Gloves off
Politico
I get a visual of a toothless, bald old fart, spittle a-flyin', rantin' an' ravin' and wavin' his cane and yellin' at the kids to get off his lawn...
Now give the old fart a Big Red Button...
In related news:
Send her all your own money, Limpdick. Ill-gotten gains are best quickly spent.
The hot-air radio wingnut quacks are comin' apart at the seams over McCain. I'm fuckin' lovin' it!
O Schadenfreude, it's been a long wait for you! I will enjoy this as long as it lasts.
With John McCain poised to win the Republican nomination, Democrats are already gathering ammunition to use against him in the general election.
In more than a few instances, the best fodder has been provided by the candidate himself.
Then there are the matters of McCain's advanced age and his temperament.
I get a visual of a toothless, bald old fart, spittle a-flyin', rantin' an' ravin' and wavin' his cane and yellin' at the kids to get off his lawn...
Now give the old fart a Big Red Button...
In related news:
Conservative talker Rush Limbaugh had an unorthodox solution to Mitt Romney's departure from the Republican race; he's thinking about raising money for Hillary Clinton.
"Here's the slogan" for the fundraiser, he said: "Keep her in it, so we can win it."
Send her all your own money, Limpdick. Ill-gotten gains are best quickly spent.
The hot-air radio wingnut quacks are comin' apart at the seams over McCain. I'm fuckin' lovin' it!
O Schadenfreude, it's been a long wait for you! I will enjoy this as long as it lasts.
Bush is right about something before he's wrong about it
Raw Story
For once the sonofabitch is right, but not the way he means.
Yeah, let's have more of that 'prosperity and peace' you and your minions have brought us. Yeesh.
Bush Says 'Prosperity and Peace' at Stake in November Presidential Election
For once the sonofabitch is right, but not the way he means.
"So with confidence in our vision and faith in our values, let us go forward, fight for victory and keep the White House in 2008."
Yeah, let's have more of that 'prosperity and peace' you and your minions have brought us. Yeesh.
¥€$!
Heh. I've wanted to do that for a while! Yahoo!News
Well, if Manhattan is doing it, I guess it's o-fish-ul: The dollah's in the tank. Thanks, George.
In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain't what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise.
"We didn't realize we would take so much in and there were that many people traveling or having euros to bring in. But some days, you'd be surprised at how many euros you get," Chu said.
"Now we have to get familiar with other currencies and the (British) pound and the Canadian dollars we take," he said.
While shops in many U.S. towns on the Canadian border have long accepted Canadian currency and some stores on the Texas-Mexico border take pesos, the acceptance of foreign money in Manhattan was unheard of until recently.
Well, if Manhattan is doing it, I guess it's o-fish-ul: The dollah's in the tank. Thanks, George.
Dependency ...
Blogrolling has been down since yesterday and all our rolls disappeared. A temporary problem, right? No. You see, I've been navigating around Left Blogtopia (y!sctp!) using the blogrolls here for the last few years and never bothered bookmarking any blogs I visit.
As soon as Blogrolling comes back, I'm bookmarking everything.
As soon as Blogrolling comes back, I'm bookmarking everything.
Female Lieberman
Dianne Feinstein is proving, almost daily, that she's the female version of Joe Lieberman. Maybe she should put an 'I' behind her name like he did too? Our pal Ted, blogging at Creature's place:
You know she'll vote for confirmation, regardless of what we say. She hasn't yet met a Bush appointee she didn't like. As Ted points out, the judgeships Bush has filled will remain as his stain on our discourse long after the little bastid is gone.
The best we can do is bombard Feinstein with emails and letters and hopefully she'll come around.
...
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing for February 12th on the nomination of Richard Honaker to the federal district court in Wyoming, a hearing that Senator Feinstein (D-CA) will chair. Throughout his career, Mr. Honaker has actively worked to undermine a woman's right to choose. [em in original]
...
You know she'll vote for confirmation, regardless of what we say. She hasn't yet met a Bush appointee she didn't like. As Ted points out, the judgeships Bush has filled will remain as his stain on our discourse long after the little bastid is gone.
...
We may get rid of Dubyah and Darth on 1/20/09, but their right wing judicial appointees will chip away our personal freedoms for many years.
...
The best we can do is bombard Feinstein with emails and letters and hopefully she'll come around.
It is to laugh ...
Watching the Freeper faithful freak out:
Been a long time coming. Pass the popcorn. Extra butter if you please.
Update:
Had to get this in before I left for work. Turkana:
"I’m sick."
"We have been abandoned by our party."
'There'll now be two RATS on the ballot I receive in November.I don't vote for RATS...EVER! Not even when they call themselves Republicans.So I guess I'll write in Romney's name...or Thompson's...or mine."
"So sick over this. The GOP is stuck on stupid. I am just disgusted."
"Romney's campaign dies, while the un-dead cadaver candidate shuffles forward in a fog of senility and betrayal toward epic general-election blow-out." [My favorite, BTW. - F.]
"I just had a daydream. Huckabee was on the phone with Thompson. Thomson said yes to the VP slot."
"Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap!"
"The GOP left me! I will NEVER support the GOP again! Good riddance!"
"The Manchurian Candidate never gets my vote. Never."
"This is a nightmare."
"I will not be listening to Rush for a very long time. He could have helped Romney so much."
"Where’s that picture of the crying Frenchmen as Hitler’s tanks were storming in?"
Been a long time coming. Pass the popcorn. Extra butter if you please.
Update:
Had to get this in before I left for work. Turkana:
I've been saying for some time that the Republican race would come down to McCain and Huckabee. A big chunk of the Party base hates them both. Now, those lucky Republicans get to decide which they hate more.
...
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Dig it all up ...
Nieman Watchdog via Aravosis:
That's right. Give the next batch of neocons (you know, the ones who will inevitably say "if we would have stayed in Iraq a little longer we would have won") nothing to hide behind when they make their next power play. Take away all their talking points on 'national security' and 'terrorism', on 'fiscal responsibility' and 'trickle down', on 'clear skies' and 'healthy forests'. Let everybody see not just how awful this philosophy is, but also how criminal it is as well.
By now no one expects the Bush Administration to make itself accountable for its controversial and possibly illegal practices. But the next President will have a unique opportunity to reveal what has been kept hidden for the last seven years. Secrecy watchdog Steven Aftergood suggests a few questions for the presidential candidates about their willingness to disclose just what the current Administration has done.
...
That's right. Give the next batch of neocons (you know, the ones who will inevitably say "if we would have stayed in Iraq a little longer we would have won") nothing to hide behind when they make their next power play. Take away all their talking points on 'national security' and 'terrorism', on 'fiscal responsibility' and 'trickle down', on 'clear skies' and 'healthy forests'. Let everybody see not just how awful this philosophy is, but also how criminal it is as well.
What? Global warming? Puh!
One of Mrs. F's clients made the news last night (days like this are not good to be a troubleshooter for an insurance company). It's fucking February, people. Ain't supposed to have no damn tornadoes in February.
And, if you can help, check in with Monkeyfister, the "Scout Prime of the Mid-South".
And, if you can help, check in with Monkeyfister, the "Scout Prime of the Mid-South".
Bye-bye, Mittster
Don't let it hit ya in the ass.
Now it's time to beat up McCain.
Update:
And I just had to steal this from Jason, the Intern Gone Bad:
CNN is now reporting that 3 GOP sources tell them that Republican Mitt Romney will suspend his presidential campaign. Romney underperformed on Super Tuesday and it now appears he has no chance of beating Senator John McCain for the GOP nod. Goodbye, Mittens ...
Now it's time to beat up McCain.
Update:
And I just had to steal this from Jason, the Intern Gone Bad:
Did you hear Scary Plastic Mormon Dude just dropped out of the race? The republican game is over, and they're stuck with a candidate who the base hates. It's a good day to be an American! There's a general air of depression in the world of right wing punditry today and that is always a beautiful thing to see. Game over, fuckers! It doesn't matter who the dems choose. You lose. America wins. Sort of.
The Crux of the Biscuit
Robert Scheer on Bush's 'legacy':
There you have it. Our country is being allowed to fall apart for the profit of the military-industrial complex.
The U.S. already spends more than the rest of the world combined on its military, without a sophisticated enemy in sight. The Bush budget cuts not a single weapons system, including the most expensive ones, those designed to combat a Soviet military that no longer exists. Those sophisticated weapons have nothing to do with combating terrorism and everything to do with jobs and profits that motivate both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. It is not known whether Osama bin Laden even possesses a rowboat in his naval arsenal, but that won't stop Joe Lieberman from pushing, as is his habit, for an increase in the defense budget to double the funding for the $3.4-billion submarines built in his home state of Connecticut. Nor does the collapse of the old Soviet Union—and with it the need for enormously expensive stealth aircraft to evade radar systems the Soviets never built—dissuade congressional supporters of those planes from pushing for more, not less, than Bush is requesting. Nor does wasting an additional $8.9 billion on ICBM missile defense have anything to do with stopping terrorists from smuggling a suitcase nuke into this country.
The centerpiece of the Bush legacy is a "war on terror" based on a vast disconnect between military expenditures and actual national security requirements that the presidential candidates all fully understand. The question is whether the voters and media will force them to face that contradiction or whether we're in for more of the same—no matter how much the candidates go on about change.
There you have it. Our country is being allowed to fall apart for the profit of the military-industrial complex.
Hey ...
I thought John McCain cared about veterans? Stolen from Dave Johnson:
Guess not ...
The Republicans blocked the stimulus package from passing because it contained unemployment benefits, a small payment to seniors and some money for disabled veterans.
John McCain didn't show up to vote on this.
...
Guess not ...
Charlie Wilson's War ...
Unlike almost everybody I've read on the subject, I don't get all fuzzy about looking back on the time Charlie Wilson was conjuring his 'magic' in Afghanistan. I was serving at the time and knew some of the operators who risked (and lost) their lives in an adventure that was, for all intents and purposes, useless. The blowback from arming Osama's Mujaheddin in their effort against the Russians has hurt us almost as much as it did the Soviets, maybe more in some aspects.
At the time, the Soviet system was befouled, corrupt, and bankrupt. The fall had already begun (things move slowly in Russia) and it would have taken maybe a year or two (without our intervention) longer for the same result. The Soviets couldn't afford their Afghanistan expedition, just as we can't afford ours in Iraq, and would have had to leave regardless. All we did was train and arm the people who would eventually use their U.S.-acquired skills to kill 3000 of us.
There is, however, something to be learned from the machinations of the time and Lance Mannion highlights it very well. We can learn what a good Democratic leadership can do if they put their minds to it. Our two leaders look like amateurs compared to Tip O'Neill:
Our current congressional leadship are simpering cowards. Digby highlights that quite clearly this morning:
I could just imagine what dire straits this nation would be in had Pelosi and Reid been the counterforce to Reagan.
Home sick today (I think I caught something fromthe little tramp Sam yesterday at work).
Update:
Speaking of our Afghan expedition, Meatball notes (link might not be safe for work) it's not going well either.
If we don't get out of Iraq, we'll be leaving Afghanistan with our tail between our legs, just like the Russians ... just like the British ...
At the time, the Soviet system was befouled, corrupt, and bankrupt. The fall had already begun (things move slowly in Russia) and it would have taken maybe a year or two (without our intervention) longer for the same result. The Soviets couldn't afford their Afghanistan expedition, just as we can't afford ours in Iraq, and would have had to leave regardless. All we did was train and arm the people who would eventually use their U.S.-acquired skills to kill 3000 of us.
There is, however, something to be learned from the machinations of the time and Lance Mannion highlights it very well. We can learn what a good Democratic leadership can do if they put their minds to it. Our two leaders look like amateurs compared to Tip O'Neill:
...
Tip O'Neill cut a deal with Charlie Wilson, "an implicit quid pro quo arrangement," Crile writes,"in which he'd agreed, in effect, to sell out the Contras in exchange for leading in the House when it came to funding the Afghan war."
Wilson felt bad about this. His conscience bothered him. But he knew, because O'Neill made it clear, it was either the mujahideen or the Contras, and if Charlie had chosen the Contras that would have pretty much ended any influence he had in Congress over anything. He'd stop being an effective representative of his district. His constituents, a conservative and religious bunch, would very likely stop forgiving him for the sins and indiscretions in his personal life if in his public life he wasn't bringing home the bacon.
All politics is local.
Coelho again:Nicaragua was a bitter, bitter, vicious fight with State, CIA, the military, and the White House against us. If Charlie had gotten caught up in any of those battles he wouldn't have gotten anywhere.
Reading this stuff has made me nostalgic about Tip O'Neill. More nostalgic. It's often pointed out that Reagan didn't govern like the Right Wing idealogog he ran as and talked like. George W. Bush has out-Reaganed Reagan on most issues. Partly that was because Reagan had a pragmatic streak. He liked to get things done more than he liked to get his way. Mostly though it was because Tip O'Neill stood in his way.
Makes me wish O'Neill had left a manual on how to run a successful opposition for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
...
Our current congressional leadship are simpering cowards. Digby highlights that quite clearly this morning:
...
With republicans setting the world record for filibusters in one year (with absolutely no pushback) and the asinine "we need 60 votes for anything" suddenly becoming the new rule, who does Reid stick it to on a filibuster? His own damn party – brave folks and true leaders like Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold. When republican Senators put holds on bill after bill, Reid respects the hold. But when one of his own party does the same, he overrides it.
Sad, but true. The Democrats have adopted the "don't make trouble" strategy and this is the result. They got punk'd again today: [my ems]
...
I could just imagine what dire straits this nation would be in had Pelosi and Reid been the counterforce to Reagan.
Home sick today (I think I caught something from
Update:
Speaking of our Afghan expedition, Meatball notes (link might not be safe for work) it's not going well either.
...
Afghans are disillusioned by the failure of real progress in securing and rebuilding their country, again a narco-state as half of the country's GDP is drug-related. The Bush administration promised a Marshall Plan for Afghanistan it never delivered. Compared to other recent post-conflict countries, Afghanistan receives minimal assistance. This despite the fact that Afghanistan remains the home to much of al Qaeda and has served as the largest terrorist haven in the world.
Like McDonald's dropped Kobe and Pepsi a Madonna, Jackson, and Ludacriss, some are now suggesting it's time to deconflict the GWOT matrix and save what can be saved of an Afghanistan critically foundering in the shadow of an embarrassing and debilitating controversy called Iraq.
...
If we don't get out of Iraq, we'll be leaving Afghanistan with our tail between our legs, just like the Russians ... just like the British ...
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Gotta love the Vermonters ...
They've had enough and they ain't waiting until 1/20/09:
Why do I get the funny feeling our favorite Vermonters are in on this somehow? Damn subversives. Heh ...
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) — The tone has changed in e-mails this Vermont town has been receiving on its proposal to issue warrants for the arrests of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Now, more people are supporting the resolution.
Brattleboro's town offices have been flooded with 7,000 e-mails since its selectboard voted Jan. 25 to include the item on its Town Meeting Day agenda.
...
Why do I get the funny feeling our favorite Vermonters are in on this somehow? Damn subversives. Heh ...
Early Morning Irony
Tony Peyser
Ol' Hucktard sure got the ignoramus vote he was a-goin' fer!
There was actually a scene of Butz' line in a movie with Steve Martin. The music for it was in the style of Cab Calloway. I can't recall the name of the movie. Help me out here, you film buffs.
McCain, now the certain GOP frontrunner, will address a major gathering of conservatives in Washington later this week. He'll get as warm a reception as he did in Vietnam.
The real surprise Tuesday was Mike Huckabee making a bigger plash than Mitt Romney; he won Alabama, Arkansas, West Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee. Southern voters clearly responded to his homespun message essentially promising a squirrel in every pot and an old pickup without a carburetor on cinder blocks in every garage.
Ol' Hucktard sure got the ignoramus vote he was a-goin' fer!
Earl Butz, former Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon and Ford, died last Saturday. He was fired for making this comment: "The only thing the coloreds are looking for in life are tight pussy, loose shoes and a warm place to shit." In related news, Trent Lott by now has surely told reporters, "We're proud of Butz. If the rest of the country had followed his lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years."
There was actually a scene of Butz' line in a movie with Steve Martin. The music for it was in the style of Cab Calloway. I can't recall the name of the movie. Help me out here, you film buffs.
Commie Folkie Backs Osbama
I saw where Joan Baez is backing Barack Obama. Boy, that'll fire up the wingnuts! Fuck 'em.
Anyway, since I missed my usual Saturday Music Video Blogging, I'd like to offer what is still the most powerful song ever on the hypocrisy of the christofascistic religionists who want to master us. Applies to any fundies of any religion as well.
Anyway, since I missed my usual Saturday Music Video Blogging, I'd like to offer what is still the most powerful song ever on the hypocrisy of the christofascistic religionists who want to master us. Applies to any fundies of any religion as well.
There's Been No Contest Like It
Excellent article by Michael Tomansky. From the Guardian UK via Truthout.
When I was a kid in L.A., Knott's Berry Farm was the only theme park. Disneyland didn't happen 'til '56. My aunt and uncle would sometimes take me there as a destination for their 'Sunday drive'. And a drive it was - there weren't any freeways in those days and it was about 30 miles of surface streets. Yes, I'm old enough to remember when the Arroyo Seco Parkway was what passed for a freeway in Southern California.
The park had an Old Western Town theme and a full-size train ride that got held up by robbers who would shoot off their pistols. That was big stuff to a 10-year-old kid. They also had terrific chicken dinners and boysenberry pie, which is why I think my uncle liked the joint. To this day, Knott's is my gold standard for boysenberry jam.
The former family-owned farm and theme park today is just another plastic fantastic, and the jelly and jam biz is owned by ConAgra. It's a statement of what the right-wing has wrought upon our country over the years. That is not a compliment.
And the beer? I've drunk my share of Coors (pronounced 'sewers') over the years, but it sucks.
Q: Why is Coors like making love at the beach?
A: Because it's fuckin' near water.
This actually happened - one time in a Mexican restaurant, the waiter brought me my Dos Equis, set it on the table with a flourish and said, "Por usted, amigo, una cerveza mas fina!". He sorta plunked my buddy's can of Coors down in front of him and said, "Y por usted, señor, un vaso de agua...". I got a good laugh out of seeing the egg on my pal's face from gettin' caught out as a nekulturny boob. So did the waiter.
Another right-wing transformation of a good old German-inspired lager into a weak, insipid, tasteless concoction for the masses, but it's a money-maker.
Note to Coors: It'd be better beer if you ran it through the horse one more time.
Knott's Berry Farm and Coors are perfect examples of how right-wing corporate culture, AKA 'greed', has fucked America all up.
Their number is no longer negligible, but they're still stupid. Actually, their ideas are stupid - to take, take, take to their own enrichment and fuck the rest of us, but they were smart enough to realize they could spread corruption and greed like a cancer, and do it quietly so no one would notice until it metastasized and threatened the nation.
I think the Dems are experts at taking a knife to a gunfight...
It's a good article. You should go read, and please pardon my ramble down memory lane.
This is not just the most joyously unpredictable election in US history, writes Michael Tomasky. It is fundamentally about whether America is finally ready to give liberalism another chance.
The grand theme of this contest, to hear the candidates tell it, is "change." That's a shallow buzzword that doesn't say much, and to listen to the candidates strain to persuade the public that "I represent change too!" (Obama was first) is to be reminded of schoolchildren in pursuit of gold stars from teacher.
But amazingly enough, it's not entirely inapt. This election is fundamentally about whether a majority of Americans are prepared to give liberalism another chance. The story goes like this. The modern conservative movement in America was founded in the mid-1950s. We had conservatives before then, Lord knows. But this was something new. This was conservatism as a dedicated project.
Clarence "Pat" Manion, a dean at the University of Notre Dame and a founder of the movement, convened groups of conservatives to get together and start infiltrating (legally and above board - by winning elections) their local Republican parties. Rich conservatives in various walks of life started putting massive amounts of money into conservative-movement politics - financing candidates, starting ideological magazines, publishing rightwing books. If you drink Coors beer or have ever visited the California theme park called Knott's Berry Farm, you've pitched in yourself.
When I was a kid in L.A., Knott's Berry Farm was the only theme park. Disneyland didn't happen 'til '56. My aunt and uncle would sometimes take me there as a destination for their 'Sunday drive'. And a drive it was - there weren't any freeways in those days and it was about 30 miles of surface streets. Yes, I'm old enough to remember when the Arroyo Seco Parkway was what passed for a freeway in Southern California.
The park had an Old Western Town theme and a full-size train ride that got held up by robbers who would shoot off their pistols. That was big stuff to a 10-year-old kid. They also had terrific chicken dinners and boysenberry pie, which is why I think my uncle liked the joint. To this day, Knott's is my gold standard for boysenberry jam.
The former family-owned farm and theme park today is just another plastic fantastic, and the jelly and jam biz is owned by ConAgra. It's a statement of what the right-wing has wrought upon our country over the years. That is not a compliment.
And the beer? I've drunk my share of Coors (pronounced 'sewers') over the years, but it sucks.
Q: Why is Coors like making love at the beach?
A: Because it's fuckin' near water.
This actually happened - one time in a Mexican restaurant, the waiter brought me my Dos Equis, set it on the table with a flourish and said, "Por usted, amigo, una cerveza mas fina!". He sorta plunked my buddy's can of Coors down in front of him and said, "Y por usted, señor, un vaso de agua...". I got a good laugh out of seeing the egg on my pal's face from gettin' caught out as a nekulturny boob. So did the waiter.
Another right-wing transformation of a good old German-inspired lager into a weak, insipid, tasteless concoction for the masses, but it's a money-maker.
Note to Coors: It'd be better beer if you ran it through the horse one more time.
Knott's Berry Farm and Coors are perfect examples of how right-wing corporate culture, AKA 'greed', has fucked America all up.
The Republican party of the day, I should note, was a mostly moderate amalgam. Dwight Eisenhower as president embraced the New Deal. There is a quote of Ike's, famous now in the era of George Bush and Dick Cheney, and piquant enough in light of current circumstances to warrant reproducing here in full:
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labour laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible, and they are stupid."
Their number is no longer negligible, but they're still stupid. Actually, their ideas are stupid - to take, take, take to their own enrichment and fuck the rest of us, but they were smart enough to realize they could spread corruption and greed like a cancer, and do it quietly so no one would notice until it metastasized and threatened the nation.
Ah well. By 1964, this faction had taken over the Republican party. It nominated Barry Goldwater. But he was massacred that November by Lyndon Johnson, and the wise observers of the day declared this strange conservative thing, this malformed aberration, mercifully deceased.
But it turned out that that was liberalism's high-water mark. The changes, political and cultural, set in train that year - the House of Representatives passed the historic civil rights bill the very day after we Americans first saw the Beatles, on Ed Sullivan's TV show - had, within four or five years' time, unleashed uncontrollable forces.
So another interesting question: will the Democrats finally understand that a campaign isn't a college debate but is an obstacle course that must be negotiated with a velvet glove on one hand and a switchblade in the other?
I think the Dems are experts at taking a knife to a gunfight...
It's a good article. You should go read, and please pardon my ramble down memory lane.
The new Baseball ...
Jim Yeager:
You can thank the conservatives for that, my friend.
... Politics as I now perceive it isn't merely a sport; it's our national pastime. I now understand why Vince Foster committed suicide...
You can thank the conservatives for that, my friend.
Lucky ...
I agree with Froggy (DBK):
Regardless of what you think of Barack or Hil, look at who the Rethugs have to choose from.
... In any event, today is the day that Democrats pick the president for the next four years. The Democrats are lucky; they get to choose between people who are competent, sane, and mostly honest ...
Regardless of what you think of Barack or Hil, look at who the Rethugs have to choose from.
It doesn't matter ...
Lance Mannion put up a good post the other day that I meant to blog about. A lot of people won't vote for Hillary because of Bill's baggage and are afraid the Republican Noise Machine, The Mighty Wurlitzer, or whatever you want to call their propaganda apparatus, will be kicked into high gear and start dredging up the past. I suppose a vote for Obama might avert that eventuality but Lance doesn't think so:
That's right. Be it Hillary or Barack, you need just think back to 1998. Be it an errant blowjob or a pic of him puffin' up a fattie, you can bet Drudge will have a flashing light alert up about it soon enough. Jesus couldn't escape it if he were running.
I voted for Hil, but it wouldn't bother me if Barack won. I just hope Barack is prepared for the tidal wave of bullshit coming his way if he does.
...
This is not sour grapes. This is the way it's been going on for fifteen years now. And those of you who think that this is a good reason not to support her, so we can get away from this, those of you who think that Obama will somehow be able, through the sheer force of his personality or the beauty of his rhetoric or the wonderfulness that is him or through the plain fact that he is not a Clinton need to consider this very real possibility:
The reason he's a media darling now is because he's not a Clinton. He gives them a way to dump on the Clintons while congratulating themselves on how cool and post-partisan they are.
If and when Hillary's beaten and Obama's the nominee he becomes the Democrat running for President.
And you watch.
...
That's right. Be it Hillary or Barack, you need just think back to 1998. Be it an errant blowjob or a pic of him puffin' up a fattie, you can bet Drudge will have a flashing light alert up about it soon enough. Jesus couldn't escape it if he were running.
I voted for Hil, but it wouldn't bother me if Barack won. I just hope Barack is prepared for the tidal wave of bullshit coming his way if he does.
Word ...
Our pal Skippy:
Personally, I'm glad we don't have an emergent winner from Super Tuesday. One, everybody who had to have their primaries earlier and earlier in an effort to be king makers all lost out. Good. Two, as many Americans as possible should have a voice in selecting their party's nominee and it looks like this year it will happen. Good.
And Mitt Romney is a loser. Heh ...
super tuesday has come and gone, and about the only thing that has been decided is what a loser mitt romney is.
Personally, I'm glad we don't have an emergent winner from Super Tuesday. One, everybody who had to have their primaries earlier and earlier in an effort to be king makers all lost out. Good. Two, as many Americans as possible should have a voice in selecting their party's nominee and it looks like this year it will happen. Good.
And Mitt Romney is a loser. Heh ...
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Until We Meet Again
Go see this audio-visual tribute to our troops. If you look close there's a coupla photos of what me 'n Fixer might look like on liberty in (hopefully) Kuwait.
Update:
When you get done watching that, hit 'Back to Semper' at the bottom and noodle around a little. I like this one by Tom Lehrer.
Update:
When you get done watching that, hit 'Back to Semper' at the bottom and noodle around a little. I like this one by Tom Lehrer.
The CIA operation that should have prevented the Iraq war
Yahoo!News
As we suspected at the time and now know for certain, the Iraq clusterfuck came about, nay, was inflicted on the world because Cheney convinced Bush to do it. The truth was out there for all to see, had they looked. Or having known the truth, acted upon it.
The cowed and cowardly Congress and Media enabled this war and occupation. They could have stopped it and they didn't.
This criminal war, its casualties and expense and aftermath are issue #1 for me.
AMMAN (AFP) - When Saad Tawfiq watched Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations on February 5 2003 he shed bitter tears as he realised he had risked his life and those of his loved ones for nothing.
As one of Saddam Hussein's most gifted engineers, Tawfiq knew that the Iraqi dictator had shut down his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes in 1995 -- and he had told his handlers in US intelligence just that.
As we suspected at the time and now know for certain, the Iraq clusterfuck came about, nay, was inflicted on the world because Cheney convinced Bush to do it. The truth was out there for all to see, had they looked. Or having known the truth, acted upon it.
The cowed and cowardly Congress and Media enabled this war and occupation. They could have stopped it and they didn't.
This criminal war, its casualties and expense and aftermath are issue #1 for me.
Do you have a voting ritual?
In answer to the question, yes I do.
Mrs. G picks me up after work and we go to our polling place at the Public Utility District building where we enter a cardboard-and-trash-bag booth and mark our ballots with a #2 pencil. Then I stick the 'I Voted' sticker on my forehead and we go to Safeway, after which we get take-out burritos from Jalapeño Joe's and go home and eat dinner.
You?
Mrs. G picks me up after work and we go to our polling place at the Public Utility District building where we enter a cardboard-and-trash-bag booth and mark our ballots with a #2 pencil. Then I stick the 'I Voted' sticker on my forehead and we go to Safeway, after which we get take-out burritos from Jalapeño Joe's and go home and eat dinner.
You?
Morning Irony
Tony Peyser
Starting tonight, former top Bush aide Karl Rove will be a regular contributor on FOX News. In related news, Satan has been hired as a lifestyle reporter on "FOX & Friends" and his ongoing new segment is called "Ask Beelzebub."
Some people say they're against McCain because they don't want him picking the next three Supreme Court judges. I don't want him picking the next three "American Idol" judges.
In a move that surprised longtime political observers, the White House erased all videos related to the George W. Bush presidency.
A new book says the Sept. 11 commission's executive director, Philip Zelikow, had closer ties with the White House than publicly disclosed. He tried to influence the final report in ways that limited the Bush Administration's responsibility, You know those mobsters -- Santo Trafficante Jr. and Carlos Marcello -- who supposedly had JFK killed? This is like having one of them on the Warren Commission.
McCain? Bring him on...
This piece by Josh Holland will make you feel better:
I still think, reinforced by McCain's temper and age, that he might just blow his head gasket before election day, although it would be fine with me if he just develops a leaky bottom end, as long as it's on camera. The eventual, er, outcome? Depends.
Once you crack the media myths surrounding him, it's unlikely voters are going to go for an angry, unstable, hypocritical warmonger.
This means that Democrats are not so much running against McCain, the candidate, as McCain, the myth. The Republican Party will be a serious obstacle for the Democratic nominee, but ultimately election 2008 will be as much a battle to overturn the conventional wisdom as it will be a fight with the senator from Arizona. It should be a source of some encouragement then that the progressive movement, with its blogs, social-networking space and alternative media outlets, is far better prepared to fight and win that kind of battle than it has been at any other time in recent memory.
The popular "straight-talking" McCain? Bring him on. We have eight months to chip away at a leviathan of spin.
I still think, reinforced by McCain's temper and age, that he might just blow his head gasket before election day, although it would be fine with me if he just develops a leaky bottom end, as long as it's on camera. The eventual, er, outcome? Depends.
Financing the Common Good
Excellent article by Robert Reich:
Common sense advice to the new President:
What? Let the public in on what you're doing and educate them? What a concept! The public will never stand for being involved in their own fate!
On 'leadership', not a new concept, but sadly lacking under Bush:
It's more than a 'difficult hand', it's a stacked deck. I remember from Westerns how the locals dealt with crooked cardsharps. Dealt 'em a pair o' fours, as in .44...
Lots more. Go read.
Meanwhile, the fiscal demands facing a new Democratic president in 2009 are far greater than when Bill Clinton took office in 1993. Clinton's investment agenda in schools, job-training, health care, and infrastructure was badly needed then. Today, it's urgent. Inequality of income and wealth is wider and upward mobility has slowed. Our schools are worse than they were when Clinton became president, classrooms more overcrowded, and school buildings, falling apart. Job-training is almost nonexistent. At least 10 million more Americans lack health insurance than they did in 1993. Among the 13 wealthiest nations, America now ranks last or nearly last in infant mortality, low birth weight, and life expectancy. Some 5.3 million more Americans are living in poverty than when Bush became president. America's infrastructure is older and even more prone to breakage. From New Orleans levees to Minneapolis bridges to New York City's water lines, the nation is literally falling apart.
[...] The Bushies will vanish into history. But the stench they have created will remain.
In this way, the administration of George W. Bush has exploited the asymmetry in American politics. By trashing the institutions of government, the younger Bush personified his central thesis that government cannot be trusted to do anything well. He has shown that Republicans cannot lose at this game. There is no downside in treating government like a sewer. To the extent they have been careless or negligent with it, or crassly mendacious, illegally rewarding cronies and punishing opponents, splurging and plundering at every turn, they still come out on top. If, against all odds, a program or initiative somehow succeeds, they can show how wise they were all along. If programs or initiatives fail, as has been more likely, the failures only illustrate why citizens and taxpayers should not rely on government in the first place. Bush has thus enlarged upon the Reagan-era fiscal tactic of "starving the beast" of revenues into a more insidious strategy of starving the beast of public trust.
Common sense advice to the new President:
In everything you do, emphasize and illustrate competence. Appoint people who palpably take government seriously. Avoid even the suggestion of cronyism. Give the public specific benchmarks for how you, and the public, will be able to judge whether an initiative is succeeding and, hence, whether tax dollars are being spent wisely. If a program or an initiative fails to meet the benchmark, end it.
You won't raise nearly enough revenues merely by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Responding to all the deferred needs of the nation will cost several hundred-billion dollars more. Where to get the additional money? Three sources: The peace dividend from ending the Iraq War, a more progressive tax, and modest deficit spending. Because many of America's deferred needs are felt so directly by a large majority of citizens -- health care, early education, child care, training for good jobs, better public transit, and so on -- you can gain support for additional revenue if you educate the public about what you're doing and why.
What? Let the public in on what you're doing and educate them? What a concept! The public will never stand for being involved in their own fate!
On 'leadership', not a new concept, but sadly lacking under Bush:
Under the other model, presidents decide what's good for the public and then try to sell, cajole, intimidate, or lie their way toward gaining public support. George W. Bush didn't waiver in any of his beliefs, including the wisdom of his supply-side tax cuts for the rich and of invading Iraq. But leading by fiat isn't leading, either; it's bullying. It's also profoundly anti-democratic. Worse yet, it leads to large errors because a president who's dogged in pursuit of his goals is often incapable of hearing evidence that shows those beliefs to be mistaken. If you choose this model of leadership, you subject the nation to grave danger.
[...] In other words, enter into an ongoing dialogue with your public. Educate them, but be humble enough to be educated in turn. That's the only way to preserve and build the trust in your leadership.
Given the difficult hand you've been dealt, it's your only hope for success.
It's more than a 'difficult hand', it's a stacked deck. I remember from Westerns how the locals dealt with crooked cardsharps. Dealt 'em a pair o' fours, as in .44...
Lots more. Go read.
The Campaign Speech I'd Like to Hear
Somebody should make all the candidates go read this piece by John Cory:
I fear that to return to the dream of America is gonna require some major ass-kicking. Not by angels, either.
These have been dark days for American democracy and the American dream. We have lost trust in one another, trust in our inalienable rights and trust in the principles upon which this nation was founded.
Where once we dreamed beyond the boundaries of oceans and stars, we now huddle in apprehension and frame our fears within fences and borders and walls that limit our imagination and our compassion. Where once we embraced the magic of diversity, we now seek shelter in the mold of sameness, hesitant to break that mold. Where once we embraced the right to assemble and dissent, we now corral and censor. We now legislate corporate protection, regardless of the crimes of those corporations against our citizens. Where once we understood that freedom of religion also included freedom from religion, we now administer spirituality litmus tests for any and all citizens and political candidates. Where once we understood that majority rule must be balanced with inclusion and protection of the minority, we now seek to empower select elite minorities to override the rights and well-being of the majority. And that was never the American way.
In America, we dream; not from gluttony and greed, but from our natural-born desire for betterment, from the longing to improve our lot in life and that of our children and neighbors and fellow citizens. Ours is not a dream of empire, but of empathy for those who suffer and those who struggle to provide even the barest of necessities; a dream not of wealth, but of health for every child and adult so that they may live their American dream. It is a dream of inclusion, not exclusion. Ours is the dream of the angels.
I fear that to return to the dream of America is gonna require some major ass-kicking. Not by angels, either.
Question of the Day
From Pissed Off Patricia:
I'll tell ya, my timetable for moving to Europe will be moved up by a lot.
What will you do if we wake up in November to find our next president is John McCain?
I'll tell ya, my timetable for moving to Europe will be moved up by a lot.
5 Years ...
Since Colon Colin Powell tried to do his Adlai Stevenson impersonation:
Thing is, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a credible threat to the United States. Iraq was just an attempt to pilfer a sovereign nation's oil.
...
On February 5, 2003, Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations to rally support for an invasion of Iraq.
...
This year’s fifth anniversary coincides with a Super Tuesday primary like no other. As Americans across the country go to the polls, a couple of hundred thousand American troops, contractors, and mercenaries are still stewing in America’s longest and most ill-conceived war.
...
Thing is, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a credible threat to the United States. Iraq was just an attempt to pilfer a sovereign nation's oil.
Decisions, decisions...
Since this is Extra Special Super Bitchin' Double-Throw-Down Typhoon Tuesday, I figgered I'd toss in maybe 2¢ worth.
The other day, Fixer wrote a great post about his decision as to which candidate to vote for today, and the next day he did a follow-on likening the President (Damn, it'll be good to put a capital 'P' on President again, God willing!) to a mechanic.
I'm gonna take this analogy a step farther and compare the President to the guy who makes the A- or C-guy decision: the service writer.
The service writer is the face of the repair shop to the customer. He greets the customer and listens to his tale of automotive woe. He writes down the complaint as to what the car is or isn't doing, and then assigns the work to a mechanic, who does the actual diagnosis, and then figures out an estimate of time and cost and relays this to the customer for his approval.
The service writer always tries to match the mechanic to the job as best he can. Some mechanics (like me 'n Fixer, ahem...) can do it all, but sometimes they can't. You don't necessarily want the large bozo who R&Rs Cummins engines doing an exacting electronic diagnosis, just as an example.
Most service writers have mechanical experience, but it is only really necessary that they are conversant with theory and practice. They don't have to be master mechanics to assign a job to one. Hell, you don't want mechanics talking with the customers either. Shudder!
One of the big skills in being a good service writer is the ability to put the customer at ease and make his upcoming expense palatable to him. Call it a sales job, or maybe tact and diplomacy, which are about the same thing. Nobody likes to get their car fixed (or pay taxes) but sometimes it's necessary.
The main thing is that they are honest and can communicate clearly to and from the customer. What you don't want is a rip-off who takes your money and your car still doesn't work right. As Presidents go, we already have one of those. Bush could fuck up a junkyard with a rubber hammer and charge for a precision repair.
Which brings up that the service writer is also the complaint department if there's a problem with the customer's car after the repair. He didn't do the work, but he gets the blame. It is his responsibilty to ensure the finished product is up to snuff. Mechanics will tell you it doesn't matter what happens in the shop, but when that car goes out, it has to be right. If it's not, it's the service writer who catches the initial heat, which will be passed along in due course.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that our President doesn't have to do the actual work himself. What he is, is the face of our government. As long as he has an idea of what it is that he wants to do, he has 'mechanics', such as SecState, SecDef, AG, etc., to carry out the actual work. He has to have honest people whom he can trust, since the work goes out with first his name on it as President of the United States and then in our name as Americans.
Like a mechanic, though, he should be smart, know what he's doing, take pride in his work, admit his mistakes and clean up the rare comeback with a public smile, no matter what might pass between him and the guy who did the job in the first place.
In light of the president we have now, the next one should also have good judgment and a sense of shame so he doesn't commit criminal acts and poor policy decisions that benefit the few at the expense of the many. I always get the feeling that Bush is laughing at us for being suckers for lettin' him get away with all his shit and for not coming for him with pitchforks like we should have.
From my standpoint on 'experience' not being the main quality I'm looking for in a President, I'll bet you've already guessed that I'm going to vote for Barack Obama. Sometimes you need to vote with your head, and sometimes with your heart. I'm old enough to remember the promise of John Kennedy, even though he never really got the chance to pull off very much of it. We believed in him and felt good about the future.
I'm also old enough that there aren't many years left to me to see a better America. The old ways don't work. A new one might, and that's the way I'm going. With hope in my heart.
The other day, Fixer wrote a great post about his decision as to which candidate to vote for today, and the next day he did a follow-on likening the President (Damn, it'll be good to put a capital 'P' on President again, God willing!) to a mechanic.
The Chimp took this nation apart and it barely runs. You gonna give your tools to the C-mechanic to fix it or to the A-guy?
I'm gonna take this analogy a step farther and compare the President to the guy who makes the A- or C-guy decision: the service writer.
The service writer is the face of the repair shop to the customer. He greets the customer and listens to his tale of automotive woe. He writes down the complaint as to what the car is or isn't doing, and then assigns the work to a mechanic, who does the actual diagnosis, and then figures out an estimate of time and cost and relays this to the customer for his approval.
The service writer always tries to match the mechanic to the job as best he can. Some mechanics (like me 'n Fixer, ahem...) can do it all, but sometimes they can't. You don't necessarily want the large bozo who R&Rs Cummins engines doing an exacting electronic diagnosis, just as an example.
Most service writers have mechanical experience, but it is only really necessary that they are conversant with theory and practice. They don't have to be master mechanics to assign a job to one. Hell, you don't want mechanics talking with the customers either. Shudder!
One of the big skills in being a good service writer is the ability to put the customer at ease and make his upcoming expense palatable to him. Call it a sales job, or maybe tact and diplomacy, which are about the same thing. Nobody likes to get their car fixed (or pay taxes) but sometimes it's necessary.
The main thing is that they are honest and can communicate clearly to and from the customer. What you don't want is a rip-off who takes your money and your car still doesn't work right. As Presidents go, we already have one of those. Bush could fuck up a junkyard with a rubber hammer and charge for a precision repair.
Which brings up that the service writer is also the complaint department if there's a problem with the customer's car after the repair. He didn't do the work, but he gets the blame. It is his responsibilty to ensure the finished product is up to snuff. Mechanics will tell you it doesn't matter what happens in the shop, but when that car goes out, it has to be right. If it's not, it's the service writer who catches the initial heat, which will be passed along in due course.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that our President doesn't have to do the actual work himself. What he is, is the face of our government. As long as he has an idea of what it is that he wants to do, he has 'mechanics', such as SecState, SecDef, AG, etc., to carry out the actual work. He has to have honest people whom he can trust, since the work goes out with first his name on it as President of the United States and then in our name as Americans.
Like a mechanic, though, he should be smart, know what he's doing, take pride in his work, admit his mistakes and clean up the rare comeback with a public smile, no matter what might pass between him and the guy who did the job in the first place.
In light of the president we have now, the next one should also have good judgment and a sense of shame so he doesn't commit criminal acts and poor policy decisions that benefit the few at the expense of the many. I always get the feeling that Bush is laughing at us for being suckers for lettin' him get away with all his shit and for not coming for him with pitchforks like we should have.
From my standpoint on 'experience' not being the main quality I'm looking for in a President, I'll bet you've already guessed that I'm going to vote for Barack Obama. Sometimes you need to vote with your head, and sometimes with your heart. I'm old enough to remember the promise of John Kennedy, even though he never really got the chance to pull off very much of it. We believed in him and felt good about the future.
I'm also old enough that there aren't many years left to me to see a better America. The old ways don't work. A new one might, and that's the way I'm going. With hope in my heart.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Football is a Republican game ...
Who knew? Carl has an excellent post up at Michael's place about the similarities between football and Republicans:
Like I said, who knew? Heh ...
...
Like Republicans, football coaches can demand a "recount" (video review) if things don't go their way, rather than rely on the fact that people make mistakes, life is unfair, and you have to deal with the consequences when luck breaks against you.
...
Football is about possession, too, so there's another parallel to Republicanism. The more time you "have," the more time they are the "have-nots," and Lord knows, the Republicans are all about the "haves"! I imagine interceptions and fumbles are a liberal Robin Hood plot in football to Republicans.
...
Like I said, who knew? Heh ...
Bourdain in NOLA
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations is in New Orleans tonight to see what changes have been wrought since Katrina. Should be good. 10 and 11PM on the Travel Channel.
The neocon candidate
If there's a better reason than this to wish for McCain's defeat, I haven't seen it.
Middle East Internet cable cut
Jerusalem Post
Submarines can do that. But whose? And why?
Ours used to fuck with Soviet undersea cables all the time to include tapping into them to listen in.
No ships were present when two marine cables carrying much of the Middle East's internet traffic were severed, announced Egypt's Ministry of Communications Sunday, contrary to earlier speculation about the causes of the cut.
The ministry had originally stated that a ship dropping its anchor on the two key cables was most likely responsible for Wednesday's cut in service that robbed Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India of much of their internet.
"A marine transport committee investigated the traffic of ships in the area, 12 hours before and after the malfunction, where the cables are located to figure out the possibility of being cut by a passing vessel and found out there were no passing ships at that time," said the statement.
The ministry added that the location, 8.3 kilometers (5 miles) from the port of Alexandria, was in a restricted area so ships would not have been allowed there to begin with.
Submarines can do that. But whose? And why?
Ours used to fuck with Soviet undersea cables all the time to include tapping into them to listen in.
Bush: As Valuable As Whale Shit?
Gore Vidal
The word 'ambergris' popped into my head, so I did a little research:
A piece o' shit, worth a lot of money, and can't get any lower because it's already at the bottom of the ocean. Yep, that's Bush all right.
Just as an afterthought, the Arabic word for whale shit, also the root of the word for the similar vegetal substance 'amber', is anbar. As in Anbar Province. Take it for what it's worth, which if it were whale shit would be a lot more than it is now.
While contemplating the ill-starred presidency of G.W. Bush, I looked about for some sort of divine analogy. As usual, when in need of enlightenment, I fell upon the Holy Bible, authorized King James version of 1611; turning by chance to the Book of Jonah, I read that Jonah, who, like Bush, chats with God, had suffered a falling out with the Almighty and thus became himself a jinx dogged by luck so bad that when a Stone Age cruise liner, thanks to his presence aboard, was about to sink in a storm at sea, the crew for safety’s sake threw him overboard and—Lo!—the storm abated. The three days and nights he subsequently spent in the belly of a nauseous whale must have seemed like a serious jinx to the digestion-challenged mammal who extruded him much as the decent opinion of mankind has done to Bush.
The word 'ambergris' popped into my head, so I did a little research:
According to the ancients, parfumeurs and Arab royalty, the old saying might as well go: "Worth its weight in whale waste"
But don't refer to it as "whale vomit"; scientists postulate that whales do not expel ambergris through their mouths. No one has ever seen a sperm whale excrete ambergris, although sperm whale expert Hal Whitehead of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, admits that it is assumed the voiding takes place as fecal excretion, because when first cast out, he says, "Well, it smells more like the back end than the front."
A piece o' shit, worth a lot of money, and can't get any lower because it's already at the bottom of the ocean. Yep, that's Bush all right.
Just as an afterthought, the Arabic word for whale shit, also the root of the word for the similar vegetal substance 'amber', is anbar. As in Anbar Province. Take it for what it's worth, which if it were whale shit would be a lot more than it is now.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
The Mouse That Roared is still funny!
I hope great care is taken in choosing Bush's cellie as well. A 300lb transvestite biker rump ranger named Barbie would be about right.
Report: Military Unprepared for Attack on U.S. Soil
A small force, like one shown, could overwhelm our defenses.
The Mouse That Roared is still funny!
McCain Suggests Timetable For Iraq Withdrawal
Plan would have troops out by February, 2108.
Training Begun for 103 Secret Service Agents for Bush's Retirement
Not counting prison guards.
I hope great care is taken in choosing Bush's cellie as well. A 300lb transvestite biker rump ranger named Barbie would be about right.
China Chasing Down Dissidents in Preparation for Olympics
Those they can't catch make team.
Oy!
Super Duper, Holy Shit, Tsunami Tuesday can't come fast enough. God, I'm sick of the constant political ads.
Off to the shop ...
Off to the shop ...
Wow!
I don't know about you guys, but I'd have to say Skippy and Jon Swift's Blogroll Amnesty Day was a great success. Congrats to those guys for setting it up. Last night (while watching the game) I began stealing links from Skippy's pages (I got more to do tonight and I'm gonna glom the links from Jon too) and found a whole buncha great new blogs (I increased the size of our blogrolls by about 120 so far).
You know, the strength of Left Blogtopia (y!sctp!) is in the number and diversity of voices we have, not only Americans, but people from around the world who are aware enough to know that fortunes in their nations are directly tied to ours. It's a shame those of us who have the loudest voices turn their backs on the little guys but that's their problem. It's nice to see that most of us understand the meaning of the phrase "hang together or hang separately".
Thanks again to Skippy and Jon and the others who spearheaded Blogroll Amnesty Day.
And just a note: If I didn't get you up there last night, leave a link in comments on this post and I'll add you.
You know, the strength of Left Blogtopia (y!sctp!) is in the number and diversity of voices we have, not only Americans, but people from around the world who are aware enough to know that fortunes in their nations are directly tied to ours. It's a shame those of us who have the loudest voices turn their backs on the little guys but that's their problem. It's nice to see that most of us understand the meaning of the phrase "hang together or hang separately".
Thanks again to Skippy and Jon and the others who spearheaded Blogroll Amnesty Day.
And just a note: If I didn't get you up there last night, leave a link in comments on this post and I'll add you.
Michelle Obama
I caught her interview with Soledad yesterday. I don't know about you, but after listening to her, I wish she were running for President instead of her husband.
Champs!
Eli!
Contrary to what most believed would happen, the New York Football Giants are the Super Bowl Champions.
GLENDALE, Arizona (Reuters) - The New York Giants achieved one of the biggest upsets in NFL history with a 17-14 victory over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Quarterback Eli Manning engineered a 12-play, 83-yard drive for the game-winner, connecting with Plaxico Burress in the left corner of the end zone just 35 seconds from time and triggered wild celebration on the Giants' sideline. [my em]
...
So, as we say here: "Yo, how 'bout dem Jints?"
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Nein!
A couple weeks back, I put up a post about the Marines leaving Iraq for Afghanistan. One of the reasons was because NATO was reluctant to send more troops to Afghanistan:
Well, it looks like the German politicians actually listen* to their constituents:
We'll hear more of this from the other NATO nations involved with our Afghanistan expedition as public opinion of the U.S. circles the bowl. The Chimp can't leave too soon at this point.
... Being just back from Europe, public opinion (anecdotal) is clearly against getting involved (or further involved) in anything American when it comes to foreign adventures, at least until we have a new President. We won't see any more European troops over there for a year at least ...
Well, it looks like the German politicians actually listen* to their constituents:
A bitter diplomatic row between Germany and the United States deepened yesterday after Berlin flatly rejected demands from Washington that it deploy troops in war-torn southern Afghanistan and angrily dismissed the request as "impertinent" and a "fantastic cheek".
...
Details of what was described as an "unusually stern" letter written by Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, to Franz Josef Jung, his German counterpart, were leaked to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper yesterday.
...
Mr Jung later justified the German position insisting that there were "clear regional divisions" regarding troop deployment in Afghanistan. "Our current mandate only allows for German soldiers to be sent to the south in emergencies," he said. The issue is expected to come to a head next week when Nato defence ministers meet in Lithuania to discuss Afghanistan. Social Democrat MPs in Ms Merkel's conservative-led grand coalition government also argued strongly against the idea of sending troops south. Rainer Arnold, the party's defence spokesman, warned that the idea risked undermining the already shaky public support for Germany's entire Afghanistan mission. [my ems]
...
We'll hear more of this from the other NATO nations involved with our Afghanistan expedition as public opinion of the U.S. circles the bowl. The Chimp can't leave too soon at this point.
*Link thanks to Maru.
"The hills are alive...
...with the sound of single-cylinder engines!"
This is what I've been up to today. So has everyone else in the 'hood. I counted eight of these things runnin' all at once this morning:
I am dedicating this post to that little machine, which makes it possible (just barely, sometimes!) for me to live here. All the snow in my driveway is since yesterday afternoon.
Except for one winter when the thing was broke down, it has been clearing snow for 15 years. It is powered by 8 tired horses and one smelly ol' goat.
Kindly notice a unique feature, the crank-operated wind direction changer, nominally known as the 'discharge chute'. No matter which direction you want to throw the snow, a few turns of the crank will automatically change the wind direction so it is always discharged into the wind and thence onto the operator.
Should I ever move to the tropics, I think I'll take it with me. I think I've figured out how to harvest coconuts with it. Should be able to shoot 'em right into the bed of a pickup. I just gotta figure out how to climb a palm tree with it...
Somebody has kindly been removing my berms for me and today I caught him at it: it's Dave, who's a huntin' buddy of my next door neighbor Clancy. I may have blown the whole deal when I asked him, "Are you my berm fairy?". I gotta remember to put my brain in gear before engaging my mouth...
This is what I've been up to today. So has everyone else in the 'hood. I counted eight of these things runnin' all at once this morning:
Clicking will make it huge!
I am dedicating this post to that little machine, which makes it possible (just barely, sometimes!) for me to live here. All the snow in my driveway is since yesterday afternoon.
Except for one winter when the thing was broke down, it has been clearing snow for 15 years. It is powered by 8 tired horses and one smelly ol' goat.
Kindly notice a unique feature, the crank-operated wind direction changer, nominally known as the 'discharge chute'. No matter which direction you want to throw the snow, a few turns of the crank will automatically change the wind direction so it is always discharged into the wind and thence onto the operator.
Should I ever move to the tropics, I think I'll take it with me. I think I've figured out how to harvest coconuts with it. Should be able to shoot 'em right into the bed of a pickup. I just gotta figure out how to climb a palm tree with it...
Somebody has kindly been removing my berms for me and today I caught him at it: it's Dave, who's a huntin' buddy of my next door neighbor Clancy. I may have blown the whole deal when I asked him, "Are you my berm fairy?". I gotta remember to put my brain in gear before engaging my mouth...
Go Jints!
Pic thanks to the New York Football Giants.
Update:
If you're not into football, I just put up a post on my travel blog about family-friendly Disney cruises. Also on the blog, a heads up on a trip you might be interested in.
On Hillary*
Yesterday, in my post endorsing Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic nomination and the Presidency, I wrote a line I received several emails on basically saying I wasn't giving Obama enough credit:
Look at it this way. I can wheel my toolbox over to any idiot (not that I'm likening Obama to an idiot, no emails please) on the street, point him to a car, and say "have at it". That person will probably figure out how to take the car apart, using the large assortment of tools I just placed at his disposal, in a modicum of time.
Now, once it's a pile of parts on the floor, who are you gonna ask to put it back together so it runs like it did before? Me? (A mechanic with 35 years of experience, the majority of which came in the race engine field) Or him? (The poor schmuck who's looking at my tools for thefirst ... second time)
The Chimp took this nation apart and it barely runs. You gonna give your tools to the C-mechanic to fix it or to the A-guy?
Well back to work. I'm in the same situation Gord was last week, though without the company.
... With the moron named Bush, we saw it doesn't take much to fuck up a country but it takes an experienced hand to repair the damage ...
Look at it this way. I can wheel my toolbox over to any idiot (not that I'm likening Obama to an idiot, no emails please) on the street, point him to a car, and say "have at it". That person will probably figure out how to take the car apart, using the large assortment of tools I just placed at his disposal, in a modicum of time.
Now, once it's a pile of parts on the floor, who are you gonna ask to put it back together so it runs like it did before? Me? (A mechanic with 35 years of experience, the majority of which came in the race engine field) Or him? (The poor schmuck who's looking at my tools for the
The Chimp took this nation apart and it barely runs. You gonna give your tools to the C-mechanic to fix it or to the A-guy?
Well back to work. I'm in the same situation Gord was last week, though without the company.
*No pun intended but I don't think it would be a bad position to be in. Heh ...
American Classics
I'd have to say my favorite American composer is Aaron Copland. I got three from him today.
Appalachian Spring via the DePauw University Symphony Orchestra
And a note about the ELP offering: You classical purists might consider it drivel (in the same light as you consider the Bond girls) but I ask you to open your minds. Personally, I find it amazing the works of the old masters can translate so well into the modern era. It says a lot for the timeless nature of the classics.
Appalachian Spring via the DePauw University Symphony Orchestra
David Matthies, Conducting
Hoedown via Symphonic Orchestra of Poznan's music high-school
Fanfare for the Common Man via Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
And a note about the ELP offering: You classical purists might consider it drivel (in the same light as you consider the Bond girls) but I ask you to open your minds. Personally, I find it amazing the works of the old masters can translate so well into the modern era. It says a lot for the timeless nature of the classics.
Sounds about right ...
Mixter has a premonition:
I've said for a while now, Bush and the neocons won't leave quietly.
Update:
I was reading a post at the Swedish Meatballs (not work-safe) during my regular flyby through there and realized our brother Lurch did a treatment on it the other day and I forgot to blog about it (pothead). I'm stealing some quotes from Meatball but I'm going to send you to it through Lurch's page because I believe both posts should be read. This is so related to the snip I took from Mixter this morning:
Look for more little 'incidents' the closer we get to Election Day. I don't put it past Bush to try and pull a 'Giuliani' and try to overstay his term if this 'Cold War' we're fighting with Iran heats up.
...
McCain wins the GOP nomination. Clinton wins the Dem nomination.
Clinton wins the election; Gee Dubs starts WWIII before she takes office.
That's my call.
...
I've said for a while now, Bush and the neocons won't leave quietly.
Update:
I was reading a post at the Swedish Meatballs (not work-safe) during my regular flyby through there and realized our brother Lurch did a treatment on it the other day and I forgot to blog about it (pothead). I'm stealing some quotes from Meatball but I'm going to send you to it through Lurch's page because I believe both posts should be read. This is so related to the snip I took from Mixter this morning:
...
What happened in Millennium Challenge is that the Navy brass picked a prickly retired USMC vet named Paul van Ripen to play the Iranian commander facing a naval incursion--and van Riper, with nothing but small speedboats, civilian prop planes, and low-tech surface-to-surface missiles, managed to sink two-thirds of the US force by buzzing them with annoying but not openly hostile civilian craft, then attacking simultaneously with everything he had.
...
Of course Cheney or whoever else ordered the fleet into a shallow deathtrap like the Gulf was playing the same sleazy game, just with a bigger budget. The only possible reason to send a US fleet close to the Iranian coastline right now is that Cheney and his friends are desperate to provoke a war with Iran fast, before they have to leave office.
...
Look for more little 'incidents' the closer we get to Election Day. I don't put it past Bush to try and pull a 'Giuliani' and try to overstay his term if this 'Cold War' we're fighting with Iran heats up.
Blogroll Amnesty Day*
Our good pal Skippy the Bush Kangaroo has been doing yeoman's work bringing smaller blogs to the fore; hell, I update our blogrolls by stealing links from him. That said, I got too much shit to do today to individually list the good small blogs I've run across over the past year, but Skippy has a great list of them for you to visit. This evening, I'll be adding all the blogs he's highlighted to our blogroll (if they're not on it already). If you want to make sure you get on our blogroll, leave me a link in comments on this post and I'll add you. Unlike some of the major blogs who look at us the same way politicians do, no names but you know who you are, we here at the Brain have an extensive blogroll rivaling Skippy's and we're always happy to add new blogs. We're all in this together, ain't we?
Update:
See Jon Swift too.
*Yes! Skippy coined that phrase!
Update:
See Jon Swift too.
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