Live Whiskey-Blogging Obama's Big Damn Middle East Policy Speech

Who else? A few highlights:

12:09: It's Hillary Clinton, dressed in the sky blue pants suit of socialist defeat.

12:13: Clinton asks for a "sophisticated" understanding of issues, which means she's not talking to Americans.

12:14: Obama hugging Clinton reminds me of when Eisenhower would slap John Foster Dulles on the ass.

12:21" Offers support for Israel, which will be interpreted as his Muslim desire to re-Holocaust Israelis.

12:24: Again offers support for Israel, which will be interpreted as his Kenyan desire to spear Jewish babies there.

12:38: "America respects all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard, even if we disagree with them." (Somewhere, John Bolton's mustache just attacked the rest of his face.)

12:39: Expects respect for the rights of minorities, especially when it comes to how people talk to an invisible sky wizard of various colors.

12:40: Supports rights of women in countries where women are treated like veiled cattle. Good on him.

12:49: Our devotion to Israel's safety is "unshakeable." Which means Bill Kristol will say he means the opposite.

12:51: Says that there needs to be a "state of Palestine." The Heritage Foundation riots.

12:52: Israel must be able to defend itself, by itself. Which is secret Indonesian code for "Death to Israel."

Much more.

I don't know much about the Israeli/Palestinean conflict other than it's damn near impossible to broker peace between two sides that want each other dead until one of them is dead. The only question is which one.

Newt: Worst Campaign Promise Ever?

I'm still havin' fun with Neut "Don't Believe What I Say Just Because I Said It" Gingrich. What a royal fuckin' ignoramus.

Right Wing Watch

“I know how to get the whole country to resemble Texas.”
Newt Gingrich on Sean Hannity, May 11, 2011

“I dearly love the state of Texas,” the late Texan and progressive icon Molly Ivins wrote, “but I consider that a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults.” Noting that Texas was a state that provided relatively few services to its residents, she once wrote, “The only depressing part is that, unlike Mississippi, we can afford to do better. We just don’t.” Maybe that should be the motto for Newt Gingrich and his fellow anti-government demagogues.

Does Newt think we really want the whole country to look like Texas, which ranks:

Links to all of these.

50th in percentage of population without health insurance (2010)

50th in percentage of children insured (2009)

50th in percentage of women receiving early prenatal care (2010)

45th in rate of infectious diseases (2010)

44th in percentage of children in poverty (2010)

42nd in per capita health care funding (2010)

40th in overall health (2010)

36th in high school graduation rate (2010)

35th in crime (2010)

35th in percentage of children immunized (2010)

34th in rate of occupational fatalities (2010)

30th in percentage of people with college degree (2008)

Texas also ranks:

1st in amount of recognized carcinogens released into the air (2002)

4th highest in release of toxic chemicals into the environment (2002)

8th highest in percentage of people below poverty level (2008)

13th highest in obesity (2010)

“I know how to get the whole country to resemble Texas.” Uh, thanks, Newt, but no thanks.

No shit. Texas would look better as a state of Mexico, wouldn't lower their numbers much. If they still want it.

Headline of the Day

Forget About Libya: Let's Invade the Caymans and Get the Offshore U.S. Corporate Loot Back!

A nice thought, but it isn't piles of cash, just bits and bytes, and it would be somewhere else at the touch of a button as soon as the bow ramps of the landing craft touched the beach.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

An appropriate tune for Rapture Day, I think! This is from 1000Magicians, from whom I found out 'Laurie' is Limeyspeak for 'Larry'! Boy is my face red!

From 1998

Emmylou Harris & Spyboy ~ Aint Living Long Like This

Dirty Movie

Continuing with Fixer's "Man In Motion" theme for the day, I have posted a 'dirty' video at Fixer & Gordon.

I got things ta do today involving getting the bear damage to my truck fixed. See yas later.

Yay!!!!

The big yellow thing in the sky is back so me and the girls are headed out to the garden. Don't stop me now, I'm a man in motion:

From BBC's Top Gear; Queen - Don't Stop Me Now

John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)

Happy Friday!

Froth*-speak

*See Fixer's post and google 'Santorum'. He's No. 1! Or is that No. 2? This is getting confusing... Heh.

Navy Names Ship for Civil Rights Activist Cesar Chavez

USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1)

This is cool.

YubaNet

May 18, 2011 - Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today the selection of the USNS Cesar Chavez as the 14th Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo/ammunition ships.

Continuing the Lewis and Clark-class tradition of honoring legendary pioneers and explorers, the Navy's newest underway replenishment ship honors the memory of Mexican-American civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. Chavez served in the Navy from 1944-1946 after which he became a leader in the American Labor Movement and a civil rights activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers.

"Cesar Chavez inspired young Americans to do what is right and what is necessary to protect our freedoms and our country," said Mabus. "The Cesar Chavez will sail hundreds of thousands of miles and will bring support and assistance to thousands upon thousands of people. His example will live on in this great ship."

Watch for the outcry from the wingnuts that our socialist President is naming US Navy ships after commies.

I think there's an understated tongue-in-cheek irony in naming a ship that carries large loads after a man whose claim to fame is that he organized laborers.

Since Chavez is still being built, maybe the wingers can get the name changed to one of their "large load" icons. May I suggest USNS Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh? There are not many larger loads than those.

Brinksmanship for Dummies

Digby

It's one thing for the Republicans and centrist Democrats to defy their voters. But is there anyone on the planet who believes hey are really going to defy these guys?

Sixty-two business groups, including the American Gas Association, the Telecommunications Industry Association, and the National Association of Manufacturers, urged congressional leaders on Wednesday to raise the federal debt ceiling amid fears that political brinkmanship could lead to another financial crisis.

Defy their masters? In a word, no.

According to Village rules it's OK for the markets if these ideologues run out the string on the debt limit to the very last minute so they can use it to check off items on their screw-the-people wish list, but if the Democrats just say no and refuse to negotiate for something they know the other side has already agreed to do, it's irresponsible and dangerous. But the least the Democrats could do is get something in return. Are they asking for anything aside from what both sides already intend to do in return for slashing spending on their own constituents? I haven't heard of anything.

Going by precedent, the Democrats will probably cave to the empty bluff. They'll bend over for the Repugs as per usual and, also as per usual, we'll get it dry and hard.

Arizona SWAT Team Shoots Latino Former Marine Dozens of Times

Colorlines

Police authorities in Pima County, Arizona are under fire this week after shooting a former Marine dozens of times during a SWAT team raid. Jose Guerena, a 26-year-old Tucson native, was shot and killed on May 5 during the raid. In total, more than 70 shots were fired, and Guerena was suffered a total of 60 wounds. What’s even worse is that Gerena’s wife spent more than five minutes pleading for help from emergency responders. Police officials still have not released information about why Guerena’s home was targeted.

The Arizona Daily Star reported Saturday that Guerena, 26 was alarmed by his wife at about 9:30 a.m., when he was sleeping after a graveyard shift, that she heard noises outside and a man was at their window. Guerena grabbed a AR-15 rifle and was mortally wounded by authorities.

Vanessa Guerena tearfully told 911 operators that her husband had been shot by a “bunch of people” who came into their home. During the five-minute call, dispatchers worked to determine if she was calling from a residence where the SWAT team was serving a search warrant. Audio records show that Drexel Heights Fire Department dispatched a medical unit at 9:43 a.m., but the Sheriff Department told them to hold off because they might be dealing with a “barricaded subject.”

Let's see: Unknown person at your window, prepare to defend yourself, Latino. Three strikes and you're dead. Must be some new Arizona veteran's outreach program for Marines, who are trained to roll out of bed ready to fight, to break them of the habit.

Arizona, you suck.

Any excuse for a party!

From Montana Cowgirl Blog:



These folks have the best idea yet to honor the religious right:

When this happens, you’ll probably be home protecting your stuff from end of the world looting, but just in case the religious fundamentalists are wrong (which has never, ever happened before), put on your poker face and most bedazzled outfit and get yourself to Missoula’s FUSE at Deano’s Casino on Saturday, May 21, for a drag show to honor Lady Gaga and raise money for Pride Foundation, which works to connect and strengthen Montana’s gay rights movement. Doors opening at 9 p.m. [...]

This assumes, of course, that there is a 9 PM on Saturday. The world's supposed to end at 6. Kind of a time zone-sensitive rolling Armaggedon.

Reminds me of an old joke about Reno NV's Gay Rodeo:

Q: What's the difference between a gay rodeo and a straight rodeo?

A: At the straight rodeo, they yell "Ride them suckers!"...

(rimshot)

Update:

Doomsday leader says gay pride is ‘proof’ the world will end

If it doesn't, it seems to follow that God must like gays better than fundies. I guess the ever-wrong fundies can go to the party to drown their sorrows. Maybe if they could admit certain things to themselves they could get laid too.

Headline of the Day

When Republicans Call Public Schools "Government-Run Propaganda Camps," All Reason Has Been Abandoned

And yer point is...? Been off-planet for a while, eh?

Neutie's Fast Dive & Sister Souljah Moment

Please pardon me for flogging a dead horse, but the Repug phony presidential three-ring circus is more fun than, and bears an uncanny resemblance to, a barrel of horny retarded monkeys with diarrhea. This is hilarious in case you missed it.

The Daily Show - Fast Dive
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Daily Show - Fast Dive - Sister Souljah Moment
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Heh ... 2

Talk about shit details:

The official Twitter account of the U.S. Secret Service posted a tweet on Wednesday afternoon that blasted Fox News.

"Had to monitor Fox for a story. Can't. Deal. With. The. Blathering," the tweet said, before being deleted almost immediately, according to the Huffington Post.

"An employee with access to the Secret Service's Twitter account, who mistakenly believed they were on their personal account, posted an unapproved and inappropriate tweet," Secret Service Spokesman Edwin M. Donovan told CBS News. [my em]

...

I'd rather take needles to my eyeballs. Thing is, now they're gonna be doing an even shittier job, though I'm at a loss to think of what could be worse than having to watch Fox.

Link thanks to They Gave Us A Republic.

Heh ...

Montag.

Give it up, Mitt ...

You ain't got a chance. Don't worry about distancing yourself from your "previous self" as Governor of Massachusetts and the health care system you designed, that the President loves so much. It's the least of your worries. You see, Mr. Aravosis points out that, just like Neutie, another blast from your past will take you down:

...

Don't forget to add gay rights to the mix. Romney ran for Senate against Ted Kennedy in 1994 claiming that he was just as pro-gay as Kennedy. I remember, I helped on the race and was asked to help Kennedy rebut Romney's claim that he was just as liberal Kennedy, in 1994 no less. Romney was an social liberal before it was cool, folks. And now he pretends like he's Mr. Family Values. He's a liar and a fake. It's good to see that at least some people in the GOP are able to smell a fraud.

Obamacare and Queer Love? OMG! He's a damn commie!

See ya, Mittens. Heh ...

Go home, Neut. Go anywhere. Just STFU.

RawReplay, with video.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says that anyone that uses direct quotes from his Sunday interview about Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan to dismantle Medicare is lying.

“I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering,” Gingrich had told NBC’s David Gregory Sunday. “I don’t think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for free society to operate.”
...

“Any ad which quotes what I said Sunday is a falsehood,” he told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Tuesday.

Sounds like he's channelling Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, "the lamestream media is twisting my words by quoting them verbatim".

Here's the real beauty: The GOP and the 'baggers are climbing Neutie's frame for inadvertently TELLING THE TRUTH about Ryan's plan to kill Medicare. Anything remotely like the truth goes 180° against everything the Repugs stand for and are running on. Worse, he appears to have let slip that he agrees with the individual mandate for health insurance just like he said in '93. Oh my sides, they hurt...

From El Rude-o:

If turds had legs, they'd be called "Gingriches" because Newt is simply one of the most vile politicians...no, no, one of the most vile Americans of the last half century. He is a bloated reminder of the depravity inflicted on the nation during the Clinton administration. [...]
...

As Gingrich flames out, as anyone who paid attention during the 1990s knew he would, as he makes barely-coded racist statements, as he pisses off members of the cult of Paul Ryan and then offers to blow them, we can all sit back and watch the hubristic Hindenburg burn and say, "Oh, the inhumanity."

When Chucky Krauthammer and Lawrence O'Donnell agree on something, it must be so: Neutie's out. He will never be the GOP candidate, much less POTUS.

Add to that wife#3's revolving bling bill of a $half mil, more than most Americans' net worth, (and her Reverse Donald haircut!) and we're safe from his despicable ass. Another funny part is that Neutie will be the last to know. Heh. Watch this:

Thanks to thinkprogress5.

Hi! In three days you will all be dead

Since it's the last Wednesday ever, it must be Morford.

Good news for you! All worries, over soon. All concerns laid to rest. Everything transformed in a white-hot eyeblink of OMG WTF into a lukewarm puddlepool of odious harp music, angel squeals and tepid moral pudding. I know, right? Finally!

Flashback to the Dark Days of Bush, when the fundamentalists were all giddy from inhaling the toxic fumes of their own homophobic xenophobic bloviation and doom-tracking lists like the Rapture Index were happily sucking at the tit of guys like Ted Haggard; megachurches were all the rage in collective psychosis, and even Bush himself said God told him that launching a few wars and murdering thousands of Islamic innocents was "totally cool" with Him.

Aliens among us, peak oil, 9/11 holograms, a single global currency, lizard overlords from the fifth dimension, Area 51, Osama bin Laden killed and secretly frozen in 2002 and kept in Dick Cheney's freezer and then thawed out 10 years later just so Generation Facebook can gawk at his withered mug and go, "Him? Really? That frail, filthy imp of human pathos is the reason I have to take my goddamn shoes off at the airport and suffer the Tea Party, Alex Jones and Islamophobia?"

Maybe we've been going at it all wrong. Maybe if there's one thing we've should have learned by now about the Rapture, about the end of everything, it's this: It's a slow bitch.

Here's a fun thought: Maybe Armageddon is already happening, piece by piece and storm by storm, but we clever humans are smart/dumb/lucky enough to adapt just enough to stay barely one step ahead, to stretch poor Mother Earth's resources a little further and to whistle past the graveyard one more time to make it home in time for some pizza and porn. Barely.

Go.

No adult supervision ...

Which might be a good thing. As Gordon said below:

I'm just havin' the best time watching the Repugs stompin' all over each other, fallin' in the holes they've dug for themselves and shovelin' the dirt back in on themselves.

While the "candidates" for the Rethug nom are all distancing themselves from themselves, the budget "negotiations" are going on. Thankfully, they can't agree on anything:

Sen. Jon Kyl hinted on FOX News Sunday that the rightward 'Gang of Six' aren't making much progress in their efforts to come up with a deficit-reducing compromise bill that will possibly cut benefits for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. All I can say is: Hallelujah!

...

Of course, "no tax increases" is the watchword for the Rethugs so let's see what programs they want to cut and still have any chance of getting reelected. I'm just hoping the Dems don't cave too early.

Ode To Joy, Sorta...

I'm just havin' the best time watching the Repugs stompin' all over each other, fallin' in the holes they've dug for themselves and shovelin' the dirt back in on themselves. The only thing better would be if they started pukin' on each other's shirt fronts, oh please dear God! I know it isn't going to last so I'll enjoy the shit out of it while it does.

This song conveys my giddiness. There are dozens of versions of this on YouTube and I looked at a lot of 'em* before I decided the proper spirit of this song should be a family affair. Jim Beam as Cap'n Crunch sauce, so to speak. I've posted the lyrics below. Enjoy.

*Damn dirty job, but someone has to do it.

This is a great old time tune including the lyrics. It's often played as an instrumental; however, the lyrics are quite entertaining.

Thanks to jbredbug.

Early one morning 'fore the sun could shine
I was walkin' dow@ the street, not feelin' so fine
I saw two old men with a bottle between' em
And this is the song that I heard them singin'

cho: Lord protect us, Saints preserve us
We been drinkin' whiskey 'fore breakfast

I passed by the steps where they were a' sittin'
I couldn't believe how drunk they were gettin'
I said "Old men you been drinkn' long?"
"Long enough to be singin' this song"

They handed me a bottle, said, "Take a little sip"
And it felt so good, I just couldn't quit
So I took a little more, next thing I knew
There were three of us sittin' there singin' this tune

One by one everybody in town
Heard our ruckus and they all came down
Pretty soon all the streets were a-ringin'
With the sound of the whole town laughin' and singin'

The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic

Chris Hedges on Cornel West's critiques of Obama. I'm a big fan of Dr. West but that doesn't mean I always agree with him, hell, I don't always agree with myself, but I always listen to what he has to say.

“When you look at a society you look at it through the lens of the least of these, the weak and the vulnerable; you are committed to loving them first, not exclusively, but first, and therefore giving them priority,” says West, the Class of 1943 University Professor of African American Studies and Religion at Princeton University. “And even at this moment, when the empire is in deep decline, the culture is in deep decay, the political system is broken, where nearly everyone is up for sale, you say all I have is the subversive memory of those who came before, personal integrity, trying to live a decent life, and a willingness to live and die for the love of folk who are catching hell. This means civil disobedience, going to jail, supporting progressive forums of social unrest if they in fact awaken the conscience, whatever conscience is left, of the nation. And that’s where I find myself now.

“I have to take some responsibility,” he admits of his support for Obama as we sit in his book-lined office. “I could have been reading into it more than was there.

I think that's where a lot of deeply disappointed liberals are. I'm not thrilled by a lot of what he has continued from the Chimp's maladministration or his caving to the Repugs either, but I'm generally fine with him when I consider the alternative. Shudder.

“This was maybe America’s last chance to fight back against the greed of the Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats, to generate some serious discussion about public interest and common good that sustains any democratic experiment,” West laments. “We are squeezing out all of the democratic juices we have. The escalation of the class war against the poor and the working class is intense. More and more working people are beaten down. They are world-weary. They are into self-medication. They are turning on each other. They are scapegoating the most vulnerable rather than confronting the most powerful. It is a profoundly human response to panic and catastrophe. I thought Barack Obama could have provided some way out. But he lacks backbone.

“Our last hope is to generate a democratic awakening among our fellow citizens. This means raising our voices, very loud and strong, bearing witness, individually and collectively. Tavis [Smiley] and I have talked about ways of civil disobedience, beginning with ways for both of us to get arrested, to galvanize attention to the plight of those in prisons, in the hoods, in poor white communities. We must never give up. We must never allow hope to be eliminated or suffocated.”

Agree with him or disagree with him, and I do both, go read. You decide.

Just as an aside, my biggest unfounded nightmare is to be stuck on a desert island with Dr. West, Rachel Maddow, and Tavis Smiley. Three of the smartest and most assuredly the three fastest talkers on the planet. Since I would only catch about one word in ten and would never get a word in edgewise, I'd just gather coconuts...

Surprised?

I'm not:

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after she learned he had fathered a child more than a decade ago — before his first run for office — with a longtime member of their household staff.

Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier this year, after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the paternity. The staff member worked for the family for 20 years, retiring in January.

...

Another philandering Republican, par for the course. Didn't we all bring up the fact that he was a womanizing bastid when he ran for the office? I thought so.

"Voting is ‘a privilege, it’s not a right’ "

The Minnesota Independent

House Speaker Kurt Zellers said that voting is not a right, but a privilege Wednesday evening, the Star Tribune reports. Zellers is not the first conservative to make that claim during the debate over voter ID which is heating up the Minnesota Legislature. Republicans and voter ID advocates have compared showing identification for voting to everything from cashing a check to boarding a plane to buying cigarettes.

If that isn't perfectly representative of the right-wing mindset, nothing is. If it was up to them, and they are trying desperately to make it so, it would be a privilege granted only to old white men who are afraid of The Other.

That 'goddam piece of paper', aka the Constitution, keeps getting in their way. So far.

The 14th Amendment, Section 2:

But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

The 15th Amendment, Section 1:

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

The 19th Amendment:

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

The 24th Amendment, Section 1:

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax.”

The 26th Amendment, Section 1:

“The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.”

Lying racist power-seeking fascist bastards, the lot of 'em, who have a plentiful audience of the ignorant who agree with them. At least they think they do. It's coming to a head in different places and we will see.

The quaint and obsolete Nuremberg principles

Glenn Greenwald expands on Fixer's post.

Benjamin Ferencz is a 92-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, American combat soldier during World War II, and a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, where he prosecuted numerous Nazi war criminals, including some responsible for the deaths of upward of 100,000 innocent people. [...]
...

All of Ferencz's answers are thought-provoking -- including his discussion of how the Nuremberg Principles apply to bin Laden -- but there's one answer he gave which I particularly want to highlight; it was in response to this question: "so what should we have learned from Nuremberg that we still haven't learned"? His answer:

I'm afraid most of the lessons of Nuremberg have passed, unfortunately. The world has accepted them, but the U.S. seems reluctant to do so. The principal lesson we learned from Nuremberg is that a war of aggression -- that means, a war in violation of international law, in violation of the UN charter, and not in self-defense -- is the supreme international crime, because all the other crimes happen in war. And every leader who is responsible for planning and perpetrating that crime should be held to account in a court of law, and the law applies equally to everyone.

These lessons were hailed throughout the world -- I hailed them, I was involved in them -- and it saddens me to no end when Americans are asked: why don't you support the Nuremberg principles on aggression? And the response is: Nuremberg? That was then, this is now. Forget it.

Some of us support the Nuremberg principles, but some think they were simply our due for beating the Nazis and they don't apply to us. Show trials of the vanquished by the victors. Most people haven't a clue what Nuremberg was or meant and couldn't care less.

No decent human being contests that the 9/11 attack was a grave crime. But there are many grave crimes, including ones sanctioned by (or acquiesced to) those leading the chorus of cheers for bin Laden's killing. To much controversy, Noam Chomsky recently wrote: "uncontroversially, Bush's crimes vastly exceed bin Laden's." [...]

His invasion of Iraq caused the deaths of at least 100,000 (and almost certainly more) innocent Iraqis: vastly more than bin Laden could have dreamed of causing. It left millions of people internally and externally displaced for years. It destroyed a nation of 26 million people. It was without question an illegal war of aggression: what the lead prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials -- as Ferencz just reminded us -- called the "the central crime in this pattern of crimes, the kingpin which holds them all together." And that's to say nothing of the worldwide regime of torture, disappearances, and black sites created by the U.S during the Bush years.

[...] The claims being made about why the killing of bin Laden is grounded in such noble principles would be much more compelling if those same principles were applied to ourselves as well as our enemies. And the imperative to do so, more than anything, was the prime mandate of Nuremberg.

War crimes are war crimes regardless of their magnitude. Whether a war criminal kills 3000 or 100,000, you can only kill him once.

Capturing bin Laden alive would have opened a can of worms that the powers-that-be-and-were in this country simply did not want. Alive, he could speak. I think the guiding principle of the realpolitik in his case was Dead Men Tell No Tales. It's done and I'm fine with it, next case.

The next case oughta be Bush and Cheney and their cohort of warmongering neocon minions. Let me make perfectly clear that I do not want them to be assassinated. We need those bastards alive. We need from them all the debriefing that bin Laden is no longer capable of. Then while they are sitting in prison awaiting trial, we need to confiscate their holdings and return them to the treasury or disburse them to help those they hurt that are still alive. It's not much, just twisting the knife in them a little, minor vengeance if you will, but they'll get to watch their ill-gotten gains disappear.

Then on to due process under the law. They each get a fair and speedy trial and then we hang them. En masse if possible. A formation of ranks of twelve. Hang twelve, "next rank forward". The last object lesson.

We won't learn from that either. Sigh.

What you need to know and do for Saturday "Rapture Day"

A practical guide at DK. Do not miss this and set yer drink down!

Think of this Saturday as sort of an "evacuation day for believers, leaving the planet to the rest of us for a few months.

Like the Christians who plan on being airlifted outta here, you too must make arrangements, and plans.

If you are planning any plane travel on Saturday make sure those in the cockpit aren't planning on being raptured. You don't want the entire cockpit empty at 30,000 feet.

The safest bets would be no Christians in the cockpit. A crew of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists/agnostics, etc. would be best. (lapsed Christians, those who belong to liberal or gay welcoming churches, or pretend piety but are schtuping a flight attendant on the side, etc. are probably pretty good too)

If your entire police force plans to be raptured you will need some precautions for your own safety. You might not need to run out to buy a gun, if your neighbor is a right wing Christian who believes he/she will be raptured on Saturday, ask them for the stock pile they've put up since President Obama was elected. They aren't going to need it where they are going and they won't need the cash either!

Send out invitations to your Jewish, Muslims, Hindu, Sikhs, atheist, agnostic, and the wrong type of Christian friends for a Sunday, May 22, 2011 After Rapture Party and or picnic or barbaque.

You may also want to send invitation out to your right wing Christian neighbors, friends and family who are "left behind," they are sure to be depressed and will need a pick me up. ;-)

Much, much more, including links and videos. Just go. Try and get back before Saturday...

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Marijuana Crop Found Near Bin Laden's Compound
Explains three tons of Nestle's Crunch bars discovered in basement.

U.S. Commandos Discover Stash of Porn in Osama’s Hideout
White House announces porn will only be shown to select members of Congress.

They'll probably form a study committee. There may be something issued...

Gingrich's Past Could Be Plus for Some Voters
Many men would love to dump their dying wives for younger, more nubile women half their age.

Wall Street Nervous as Government Cracks Down on Insider Trading
Prosecutors dump holdings in firms under investigation.

So is Schumer (D - Wall St.). Heh.

Rush for Domain Names After Bin Laden Death
If you were lucky you already registered www.osamaobamaohmama.com.

Who'da thunk there was such comedy gold in an assassination? Heh. We should do it more often!

That's fine ...

But while we're bandying war crimes charges around, why aren't Bush and Cheney (and the rest of their cabal) there too?

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor is seeking the arrest of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi and two others for crimes against humanity.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Col Gaddafi, his son Seif al-Islam, and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanusi bore the greatest responsibility for "widespread and systematic attacks" on civilians.

ICC judges must still decide whether or not to issue warrants for their arrest.

...

It's such a double standard where we champion the International Criminal Court for everybody else but our cruminals. If we tried them here it would be another story but one way or the other, the players in the Bush administration should, in no way, be allowed to walk the streets with impunity.

That would be a "no"?

Seems Secaucus Fats doesn't have the voter enthusiasm he had when he sold the people of New Jersey a steaming, stinky pile o' bullshit:

TRENTON — A majority of New Jerseyans do not think Gov. Chris Christie should run for president, with a majority saying he would be a worse executive than President Barack Obama, according to a new poll.

Of the 700 surveyed in New Jersey, only 15 percent said Christie should run for president and 73 percent said he should not run. The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for WABC-TV in New York City, included cell phones and an automated poll to landlines and has a margin of error of about 3.8 percentage points.

...

After seeing some of the commercials the NJ Teacher's Union and municipal employees unions are running against him, he'll be lucky if he wins a second term as governor.

***

Waiting for 2 pallets of stone to arrive this morning. Gonna be fun working in the rain today. Thankfully, the snow Gordon got the other day came to us in liquid form.

Stupid, stupid day

I took these pics a coupla minutes ago when the sun came out for five minutes. Snow. Blech. The only good things about it are a) it'll melt quick if it doesn't keep up for a week, and b) it's fuckin' with the AMGEN Tour of California bike race big time. Heh.

You can see that I've almost got my deck railing rebuilt. I'm holding off on putting in the vertical stringers until the snow on the ground below melts enough to safely use a stepladder. I already tried with (thankfully) comic results. I'm not enough of a contortionist to put 'em in from this side.

The screen door needs replaced as well. Let's just say it got a little bent when the pups installed their own doggie door when a squirrel ran across the deck. The formerly attached screen didn't slow them down even a little bit. I will try for a pre-installed doggie door this time.



On the bright side, the little pile of snow behind the pickup is all that remains of the castle wall of snow I had after my roof got shovelled off. I was gonna take everything outta the back today to get the truck ready to get the cap taken off and get the rig into the body shop to fix the b'ar damage. It can wait.



Also on the bright side, I got my computer outta the shop Friday. I had a 'hard error' screen and it didn't work. Mike at Tahoe Tech Group did what amounted to a 100-gallon enema on it and now it works fine. He also put in a 2 Terabyte hard drive and a DVD capture program. Hal went from having 5% of its hard drive left to 99%. The speed's better too, like taking a moped inta the shop and getting a Multistrada back!

The tech shop is located on a short dirt road at the entrance to a seasonal campground. It's in what originally was a WWII army motor pool building and reminds me of some of the motorcycle shops I've worked in. It's got a sign on the highway, but basically when ya get to Spindleshanks* ya just throw a hard right. Primitive, nothin' fancy, but they do good work. They must be doing well as there were two techs this time.

*That joint's outta my price range, but I would love to hear what you folks think about the menu, prices, ambiance, etc.

Mrs. G got tired of gettin' outta bed to go smack the TV to make the colors go from shades of green to normal. Also, the set we paid 50 bucks for ten years ago had some kind of self-shutoff timer that seemed to be timed to shut the set off right at the crux of whatever program was on. Grrr. So we got a new one. A Westinghouse LED job. The damn thing is fully interactive/computer/tickle-yer-ass-with-a-feather capable. More ports than my computer. $229.99 at Costco. I don't see how they can sell 'em that cheap, but they better get good at it so when we're all getting Chinese wages we can still afford a new set when we need one. At 30% interest, of course.

We left home Friday morning with $10 cash between us and spent $900 and still have the sawbuck. Only in America.

Your Bullshit Abuse of Teachers Is Killing Education (Series Part 5)

The Rude Pundit

Let's conclude this week about how badly we've screwed with our children's education under No Child Left Behind (and whatever Frankenstein monster Arne Duncan and the President are stitching together) with a few words from some teachers. They were kind and gutsy enough to write into the Rude Pundit, and he will protect your identities (and do some minor edits). Offered without comment:

From Carla:
"Not a single teacher I know, including myself, has anything positive to say about NCLB. Topping the list is stopping teachers from teaching, thus stopping students from real learning, thus teachers getting the blame, thus teachers getting further underpaid, losing jobs, and classrooms becoming more crowded as schools are unable to meet the percentages, and lose funding and more teachers; the entire original concept of NCLB is doing what is was designed to do: destroy the public school system, all said here in one long run-on sentence because I can."

And entirely out of context which makes the point very well:

[...] This is probably the goal, as it keeps the masses from being successful in school. [...]

The goal of the Repugs and oligarchs is Chinese wages for everybody. Everybody but them.

Much, much more.

Related:

And don't forget an unending supply of prison labor as a result of Repug control of education. Even cheaper, and paid for with your tax money. Not theirs.