Saturday, June 25, 2011
Goin' ridin'
Going today to ride the Hard Rock Trial put on by SactoPITS. First time out this season, may produce comical results. Saturday is always 'Vintage - Beginner' day and I qualify on both counts. See yas.
Headline of the Day
Did Bachmann "Win" the GOP Debate by Not Spewing Vomit as Her Head Twisted Around?
That guy must not have been watching. She spews colorless, odorless vomit every single time she opens her mouth.
To all my ...
Gay and lesbian friends. I expect invitations. Heh ...
For the first time in 235 years, the New York State Legislature did something really good. It's a great day in New York.
Update:
And nobody says it better than The Rude One:
Indeed. And, on the Eighth Day, God said (quoting that hack Tom Friedman) "Suck. On. This."
Update II:
And, as I'm watching the local news, you know what's pissing me off? The amount of black folks out protesting against gay marriage. Religious beliefs aside, a lot of other-than-black people (including many gay people) put their ass on the line with you in the 60s and early 70s in the South when you were fighting for your civil rights at a time when they were institutionally denied. Woulda been nice of you to pay that back this time. At the very least, if gay marriage bugs you so much, stay the fuck home.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- At New York City's Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village pub that spawned the gay rights movement on a June night in 1969, Scott Redstone watched New York pass a historic same-sex marriage law with his partner of 29 years, and popped the question. "I said, 'Will you marry me?' And he said, 'Of course!'" Redstone said he and Steven Knittweis walked home to pop open a bottle of champagne.
...
For the first time in 235 years, the New York State Legislature did something really good. It's a great day in New York.
Update:
And nobody says it better than The Rude One:
...
And if the New York Senate passes the gay marriage bill? By implication, it must mean that God says, "Oh, suck my sacred sack" to evangelicals.
Update: And, lo, God presented his balls and said unto the fundamentalists, "Yea, place these hairy orbs into your mouths and wash 'em real good."
Indeed. And, on the Eighth Day, God said (quoting that hack Tom Friedman) "Suck. On. This."
Update II:
And, as I'm watching the local news, you know what's pissing me off? The amount of black folks out protesting against gay marriage. Religious beliefs aside, a lot of other-than-black people (including many gay people) put their ass on the line with you in the 60s and early 70s in the South when you were fighting for your civil rights at a time when they were institutionally denied. Woulda been nice of you to pay that back this time. At the very least, if gay marriage bugs you so much, stay the fuck home.
Saturday Emmylou Blogging
Emmylou Harris, Born To Run, Admiralspalast, Berlin, 08.06.2011
Emmylou Harris in Berlin, ein Superereignis.
I don't know what 'Superereignis' means, but I bet it's something good!
Thanks to fanal63, Germany.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Last night on Charlie Rose
There were two very interesting segments on Charlie Rose last night. Go see, if these topics interest you. They did me.
One was on the arrest of Whitey Bulger. Some about him, but a lot about how the FBI's account of his capture doesn't pass the smell test amongst other law enforcement and Those In The Know and that a lot could be gained by having some agency other than the FBI conduct his "debrief". Interesting. We have not heard the end of this story by a long shot, and the FBI might be sweating bullets over what might come out on their complicity in his crimes. I would say that a mass exodus of retired FBI agents to countries with no extradition treaties with the U.S. is not out of the question.
The other good segment is an interview with Richard Stengel about his upcoming article in Time magazine about the Constitution. I paraphrase a memorable comment:
"The Constitution is not the yellow line in the center of the road. It's the guard rail."
I like that!
One was on the arrest of Whitey Bulger. Some about him, but a lot about how the FBI's account of his capture doesn't pass the smell test amongst other law enforcement and Those In The Know and that a lot could be gained by having some agency other than the FBI conduct his "debrief". Interesting. We have not heard the end of this story by a long shot, and the FBI might be sweating bullets over what might come out on their complicity in his crimes. I would say that a mass exodus of retired FBI agents to countries with no extradition treaties with the U.S. is not out of the question.
The other good segment is an interview with Richard Stengel about his upcoming article in Time magazine about the Constitution. I paraphrase a memorable comment:
"The Constitution is not the yellow line in the center of the road. It's the guard rail."
I like that!
Private Prisons Love Mass Incarceration Dollars
Locking up our fellow citizens is good for the economy. We're not buying as much stuff as we should because we're being careful with such money as we've got, but fear not, we still pay our taxes and the Prison Industrial Complex prospers on them.
TPMMuckraker
Naturally we're not going to buy prison sentences for ourselves, and they make lousy gifts, but we seem to be quite happy buying them for 'other' people such as minorities and minor drug offenders. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for incarceration of real criminals and am happy to pay for locking up murderers, rapists, arsonists, and especially Wall St. and corporate executive thieves and their political enablers. We don't lock up near enough of the latter, and they're too in cahoots with private jailers to go to private prisons so they should go to government-run ones. Gitmo is very nice for that, and when it gets too overcrowded maybe we can make a deal with the Frogs or their successors and lease the Îles du Salut. Even more of a tropical paradise for our finest class of criminals!
TPMMuckraker
Report: Private Prisons Love Mass Incarceration, And Want Politicians To Love It Too
Private prison companies have helped fuel government policies which lead to an increase in prison population and boost their profits, according to a recent report.
The private prison population has grown 353.7 percent in the past 15 years, according to a study by the Justice Policy Institute. Major private prison companies have an incentive to encourage policies which keep that number on the rise.
"Steady increases in the number of people in private prisons, especially those coming from federally contracted beds, translate into increased revenues for private prison companies," the report says.
"With most states and the federal government operating under record deficits and decreasing budgets, private prison companies have a growing desire to establish influential connections with policymakers, with two goals: pitching private prisons as a lower cost alternative to building or maintahttp://www2.blogger.com/img/blank.gifining state facilities; and fighting policies that might reduce the use of incarceration," the report states.
The report also points to the revolving door between the private prison companies and the government agencies that have a say in their spending.
Naturally we're not going to buy prison sentences for ourselves, and they make lousy gifts, but we seem to be quite happy buying them for 'other' people such as minorities and minor drug offenders. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for incarceration of real criminals and am happy to pay for locking up murderers, rapists, arsonists, and especially Wall St. and corporate executive thieves and their political enablers. We don't lock up near enough of the latter, and they're too in cahoots with private jailers to go to private prisons so they should go to government-run ones. Gitmo is very nice for that, and when it gets too overcrowded maybe we can make a deal with the Frogs or their successors and lease the Îles du Salut. Even more of a tropical paradise for our finest class of criminals!
When the GOP doubled down on crazy
Good article in Salon by Gene Lyons:
I call that last line "When right-wing delusional dogma ate us old folks' store-brand cat food".
*Like store-brand cat food?
I heard that somewhere before. Hmmmm... Mr. Lyons must be very smart!
Swell. Rigid frames, flimsy wheels, and brakes and lights that let you think you can see and stop until you actually try to. That's what the Repugs want. Thank you, but no.
"Defending the American Dream," they call it.
Granted, it's hard to feel sorry for gullible listeners who hear Beck ranting about how Armageddon approaches, so they should hoard canned goods and buy gold. This on a program sponsored by Goldline. Somebody's going to con them out of their savings, so it may as well be Beck.
Shoot, they can always fall back on Social Security until President Michele Bachmann does away with it.
I call that last line "When right-wing delusional dogma ate us old folks' store-brand cat food".
[...] "If the grass roots found out that these guys were getting paid seven figures a year to say this stuff, it might leave a bad taste in their mouth."*
I have every confidence, however, that the grass-roots talk radio audience can rise above such niggling concerns -- and for the same reason that a failed "end of days" prophet's deluded followers patiently await his recalculations.
*Like store-brand cat food?
After the catastrophic Bush presidency, the Republican right had two choices: rethink or go crazy. A disturbing number chose to double-down on dogma. As a consequence, the estimable Fareed Zakaria argues in Time, the GOP has become as dependent upon abstract ideology as its worst enemies.
"They resemble the old Marxists, who refused to look around at actual experience," Zakaria writes. "'I know it works in practice,' the old saw goes, 'but does it work in theory?'" [...]
I heard that somewhere before. Hmmmm... Mr. Lyons must be very smart!
No more "compassionate conservatism" for them. The GOP candidates competed to describe an imaginary paradise of sweeping tax cuts, vastly reduced spending, an end to government regulation, the bolstering of state's rights, and burgeoning prosperity for all. It's as if the presidency of George W. Bush never happened.
...
Never mind President Barack Obama. The real class enemy is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Back to the Roaring '20s!
Swell. Rigid frames, flimsy wheels, and brakes and lights that let you think you can see and stop until you actually try to. That's what the Repugs want. Thank you, but no.
Clarence Thomas Must Go
William Rivers Pitt:
Details follow. To his credit, Mr. Pitt never uses the term "affirmative action hire" with regard to Thomas. He doesn't need to. Unethical partisan behavior is independent of being hired by a gross political mistake-on-purpose. Replace Thurgood Marshall Thomas most certainly has not.
Indeed.
For the sake of full disclosure, I will tell you that I do not like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In my opinion, he has no business sitting on the high court after the reprehensible treatment he forced Anita Hill to endure, and has been a disgrace to the bench lo these last twenty years. Anthony Weiner, one of Clarence Thomas' most ardent critics, was just run out of Washington DC on a rail for behavior far less offensive; Mr. Thomas is lucky there was no such thing as Twitter when he was sexually harassing Hill, or he'd be chasing ambulances outside of muni court like the hack he is. He sits up there like a lump, never speaking or offering questions to petitioners, and has not had an original thought since his shameful Senate approval.
But his vapid intellectual presence on the bench is only a small part of the story. Mr. Thomas has, by all appearances, turned his position on the court into a license to print money for himself, his family, and a few choice friends.
Conservative corruption is nothing new in Washington, but Mr. Thomas has taken the practice to bold new heights, and finally, people are beginning to sit up and take notice. Thomas has been playing fast and loose with judicial ethics for a long time now, and though Supreme Court Justices are not technically beholden to judicial rules of ethics, his behavior has become so egregious as to warrant deep attention, and in my opinion, removal from the high court.
Details follow. To his credit, Mr. Pitt never uses the term "affirmative action hire" with regard to Thomas. He doesn't need to. Unethical partisan behavior is independent of being hired by a gross political mistake-on-purpose. Replace Thurgood Marshall Thomas most certainly has not.
Given the simple, unavoidable fact that Mr. Thomas is bereft of both shame and a code of personal ethics, it is highly unlikely he will resign, especially if his wife is raking in the cash thanks to his decisions. In that event, the final remedy of impeachment must be deployed. The Supreme Court must not be a place for partisan political fundraising or friendly-donor back-slapping. It is the place of last recourse in our system of laws, and must be as far above reproof as can be humanly managed. Clarence Thomas is an embarrassment to the ideals of our system of government, and must go. He can choose to leave, or be removed by Constitutional remedy, but his time on the bench must be concluded.
Indeed.
Listen up, kid ...
Professor Myers writes a beautiful, open letter to a little girl:
...Another problem is that if we can only trust what we have seen with our own two eyes in our short lives, then there's very little we can know at all. You probably know that there are penguins in Antarctica, and that the Civil War was fought in the 1860s, and that there are fish swimming deep in the ocean, and you also believe that Jesus was crucified two thousand years ago, but if I asked you "Were you there?" about each of those facts, you'd also have to answer "no" to each one. Does that mean they are all false?
Of course not. You know those things because you have other kinds of evidence. There are photographs and movies of penguins and fish, there are documents from the time of the Civil War, as well as the fact that in many places you can still find old bullets and cannon balls buried in the ground from the time of the war, and you have a book, the Bible, that tells stories about Jesus. You have evidence other than that you personally witnessed something.
...
Joke of the Day
Like Mitt Romney, Governor Goodhair of Texas only has a sense of humor if it's politically expedient. Also, like Mitt Romney, he can't tell a joke or read his audience:
Dipshit. Oh please, please, please run for President. There's a couple more spots left in the Republican Clown Car. If anything, it's gonna be entertaining*.
Perry reportedly joked that he liked how a man named Jose Cuevas had been appointed to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission because his name sounds like Jose Cuervo, a brand of tequila. The joke fell flat.
Dipshit. Oh please, please, please run for President. There's a couple more spots left in the Republican Clown Car. If anything, it's gonna be entertaining*.
*And not because of the jokes ... or maybe more so.
Finally ...
Somebody's growing a set:
It's been obvious to most of us since 20 Jan 2009. It's about time the Dems realize that the "collegial atmosphere" in the Congress is bullshit and the Rethugs are dealing in bad faith. I once thought (before the Bush years) that the Rethugs actually had the nation's best interest at heart, with merely a different way of getting there. I realized a while back that they don't care what happens to this nation because there is always some profit in it for them, whether the economy takes off or circles the bowl. They don't give a shit about anyone or anything except their "contributors" and their own careers.
All I can say is it's about time some of the Democrats are calling out Republicans for something that's been obvious to me for some time, their willingness to wreck the economy for short term political gain.
...
It's been obvious to most of us since 20 Jan 2009. It's about time the Dems realize that the "collegial atmosphere" in the Congress is bullshit and the Rethugs are dealing in bad faith. I once thought (before the Bush years) that the Rethugs actually had the nation's best interest at heart, with merely a different way of getting there. I realized a while back that they don't care what happens to this nation because there is always some profit in it for them, whether the economy takes off or circles the bowl. They don't give a shit about anyone or anything except their "contributors" and their own careers.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
False Alarm!
Colorado To End Medicaid Coverage Of Circumcision
Tamron Hall of MSNBC just said MediCARE coverage of circumcision had been eliminated! Whew! Glad I looked it up. Don't worry, my turtlenecked Alternate Brain, I'm not planning on that! You can come out now...
I bet that long line of old grey heads at the bris clinic evaporated in a hurry, though. Heh.
Desperadoes Waiting For A Train?
Going through old family photos is a trip! I have no idea when or where this photo was taken. Coulda been when my dad was in the Indian Service amongst the Assiniboine Sioux on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana in 1914 or twenty years later around my uncle Gordon's placer claims near Bumble Bee AZ. I tend toward the latter, but ¿quien sabe?. Thanks ta the interwebs I getsta look lotsa stuff up!
The sign in the upper left says 'Western Union - Telegraph - ?' I can't make out the 3rd line. Could these gents be waiting for a telegram to come in hopes one of them will get to ride the bicycle?
The sign in the upper left says 'Western Union - Telegraph - ?' I can't make out the 3rd line. Could these gents be waiting for a telegram to come in hopes one of them will get to ride the bicycle?
Click to make-um big
Stems and seeds
Fixer's other garden
Raw Story
Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX) will introduce legislation on Thursday to the U.S. House of Representatives that ends the federal prohibition on marijuana.
There's more, but 'Frank and Paul' is all you have to read. Nice try, gents, but that's the end of that. The two libs (-eral and -ertarian) don't have a snowball's chance in hell against the liquor, pharmaceutical, and prison lobbies.
Poof!
GOP magic trick: Making George W. Bush vanish
The way to do that is just hide him. Behind steel bars until his bones turn to dust.
Quote of the Day
Fareed Zakaria hits the nail right on the head in "How Today's Conservatism Lost Touch with Reality":
In theory, you can't get your head up your own ass, but in practice it sure works for Repugs.
[...] We need more market mechanisms to cut medical costs, but Republicans don't bother to study existing health care systems anywhere else in the world. They resemble the old Marxists, who refused to look around at actual experience. "I know it works in practice," the old saw goes, "but does it work in theory?"
In theory, you can't get your head up your own ass, but in practice it sure works for Repugs.
Digby's right ...
We can heap on the brown people all we want, but the truth of the matter is Osama bin Laden could have been hiding out here for all we knew:
This guy was on the lam 6 years longer than Osama and the FBI couldn't find him, though he was sunning his ass (and getting regular ass) in Santa Monica.
Maybe we should just shut up about "American Exceptionalism"; ya think?
In all seriousness, it is terribly ironic that [wanted murderer "Whitey"] Bulger was referenced by the Pakistanis as evidence that it's entirely possible for a notorious criminal to hide in plain sight and, lo and behold, it turns out he was doing just that.(Coincidence?)
...
This guy was on the lam 6 years longer than Osama and the FBI couldn't find him, though he was sunning his ass (and getting regular ass) in Santa Monica.
Maybe we should just shut up about "American Exceptionalism"; ya think?
Georgia is short 11,000 farm workers
Slippytoad at Kos pulls no punches:
It's almost too easy, but as ye sow, so shall ye reap. If there's little brown people to do your reaping, that is. The white farmers'd all have heart attacks and keel over in their fields if they tried doing that. I hope I am proved correct.
GA guv Fuckwad's got it all figured out:
"Legal options available"? What? Round up parolees for forced labor at minimum wage or less if they can get away with it "legally"? I wonder what color the draftee farm workers will be?
And if the parolees don't wanta go, they can bust 'em for violating parole and put 'em back in the hoosegow. Then the state and private prisons can rent 'em out to the farmers at the minimum wage, pay the inmates a buck a day and pocket the difference. Sooner or later even the dimwit Georgians'll figure out how to skip the parolee middle-man. Look for an upswing of convictions for minor crimes come each harvest time.
There's an upside to this tho'! Good ol' nigger work songs!
I can't be condescending enough about the emerging economic clusterfuck in Georgia.
Arizona's massively racist immigration laws were seen to be a major political bonanza, and states across the nation have rushed to emulate it based on the fake popularity of the teabagger movement (and its inherent racism). So in 2010 Georgians voted in a raft of racist, stupid teabaggers to their statehouse. That racist teabagger government promptly wrote up and passed a racist immigration law that in no way, shape, or form took into account reality. Us stupid hippies on the left kept saying that the problem can't just be solved with a stroke of the pen, and that a lot of economic activity is predicated on the cheap illegal immigrant labor. And we were routinely mocked and ignored by right-wingers with partisan blinders stapled right the fuck over their corneas.
Well, as events have now shown, Georgia's farm economy faces a crisis of 11,000 laborers short and food is rotting in the fields. Nathan Deal, who looked like such a smug asshole a month ago as he signed the new racist immigration law now looks like a fumbling imbecile who will probably never hold public office again since he just deliberately derailed his states' economy.
...
I can't make it any clearer. I'm not happy that Georgia's farmers are currently hurting because they elected a racist fucknut to their Governor's office who then signed legislation that fucked over their economy. I'm just pointing it out for those who refuse to make the connection that these people are getting EXACTLY. WHAT. THEY. DESERVE.
I have zero sympathy for Georgia farmers. I hope it fucking hurts like hell, guys. You BLOODY WELL ASKED FOR IT.
It's almost too easy, but as ye sow, so shall ye reap. If there's little brown people to do your reaping, that is. The white farmers'd all have heart attacks and keel over in their fields if they tried doing that. I hope I am proved correct.
GA guv Fuckwad's got it all figured out:
Georgia authorities say there are about 100,000 people on parole in the state, of whom about 8,000 reside in the heavily agricultural southwestern portion of the state.
A quarter of the parolees in southwestern Georgia are unemployed, according to the governor.
Deal said that allowing parolees to replace the missing immigrant workers is an alternative which could at least partially solve the labor shortfall problem being faced on many Georgia farms.
"I believe this would be a great partial solution to our current status as we continue to move towards sustainable results with the legal options available," he said.
"Legal options available"? What? Round up parolees for forced labor at minimum wage or less if they can get away with it "legally"? I wonder what color the draftee farm workers will be?
And if the parolees don't wanta go, they can bust 'em for violating parole and put 'em back in the hoosegow. Then the state and private prisons can rent 'em out to the farmers at the minimum wage, pay the inmates a buck a day and pocket the difference. Sooner or later even the dimwit Georgians'll figure out how to skip the parolee middle-man. Look for an upswing of convictions for minor crimes come each harvest time.
There's an upside to this tho'! Good ol' nigger work songs!
Big deal ...
WASHINGTON - Congressional Democrats are leading the criticism of President Barack Obama’s troop withdrawal plan from Afghanistan, arguing that his timeline for bringing 33,000 U.S. troops home by next summer isn’t fast enough.
An initial drawdown of 10,000 troops is expected to take place in two phases, with 5,000 troops coming home this summer and 5,000 more by the end of the year. An additional 20,000-plus are to follow by September 2012.
...
So what.
15 months to bring a third of our troops home? That's nothing and can easily be "surged" back when some ass-kissing flag officer decides we're "losing" again. The only thing I'll be satisfied with at this point is if the President comes on the TV and gives a firm date for all of our troops to come home. Fuck Karzai and fuck the Afghans. It's almost 10 years; if the Afghans wanted to "build a nation", they'd have done it by now or at least been well on their way. Another 5 years ain't gonna make a damn bit of difference one way or the other.
Achtung und Vorsicht!
Der Kommissar geht 'rum:
What's happening in Michigan is a little Fascist's wet dream.
A little musical accompaniment:
Republican/Teabaggers have long been known for their contempt for democracy. When the Republican/Teabaggers took over all three branches of the Michigan government, one of the first things they passed, after tax cuts, was a law overturning democratically elected city and town governments in favor of a Commissar with Plenary powers appointed by the governor. This was only to be done in emergencies, a common ploy of power grabs by tyrants, with the governor determining what is an emergency. Now a group of Michigan citizens have filed a law suit to declare this law unconstitutional and regain their democracy.
...
What's happening in Michigan is a little Fascist's wet dream.
A little musical accompaniment:
Falco - Der Kommissar (German)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Senseless, Reckless Driver Injures Cattle Dog, Animals, During Cattle Drive
Not as bad as the incident in Fixer's post but horrible just the same. This one happened in the next small and rural county north of me.
Maggie working the herd
YubaNet
There's a lotta meth out in those hills and I suspect it is involved here. I hope the bastard tries to escape and the cops have to shoot him. Not to kill him, just to cripple him.
By the way, Sierra County is so small and lightly populated that it doesn't have its own jail. It has one flashing red traffic light. There aren't many cops either, sometimes no backup at all. You don't fuck with 'em.
Maggie working the herdYubaNet
June 21, 2011 - We started out the day on our annual cattle drive into the mountains with family and friends, and also celebrating Father's Day. This annual trek to the mountains involves about 200 head of cattle, a pilot car with signs and flashing lights, many riders and the cooperation of nearby residents.
...
The people living along the approximately two-mile stretch of road (Alleghany, Ridge Road east of Hwy 49 above North San Juan) bring their families to watch the cows go by, set up chairs roadside, take pictures and wave to us as we go by each year. It's usually a special event and most people love to watch it.
About 40 minutes into the event, an individual drove his car into the herd at high speed.
...
We all screamed for the driver to stop and spare the dog. He accelerated right into our dog and ran over her twice, then sped away at high speed on a rural road in Sierra County. Witnesses further down the road saw the driver racing along the road at extreme speeds.
The vehicle has been identified and the name of the suspect has been provided to Sierra County Sheriff and to CHP. This person is still on the loose and has not been apprehended yet. It happened Sunday on Father's Day about 9 am.
Editor's Note: According to the latest update, Maggie is doing better. Her owner, John Reader, hasn't been able to visit his dog yet as they have been in the mountains trying to find the hurt cattle from the incident.
There's a lotta meth out in those hills and I suspect it is involved here. I hope the bastard tries to escape and the cops have to shoot him. Not to kill him, just to cripple him.
By the way, Sierra County is so small and lightly populated that it doesn't have its own jail. It has one flashing red traffic light. There aren't many cops either, sometimes no backup at all. You don't fuck with 'em.
Hummmmmm...
If it's Wednesday it must be Morford. Links.
I get that too, but it stops if I don't put quarters in it...
Creepy. Fascinating and entertaining too. Enjoy.
A mysterious throb deep in your bed
I get that too, but it stops if I don't put quarters in it...
We think we know so much. For every answer and breakthrough, a hundred more questions unpeel and spin off into the ether, beckoning us to follow. Maybe the Hum is just the Earth itself, doing what it's always done, vibrating low and deep, singing its timeless tune, occasionally reaching a pitch baffled bipeds can barely hear. Maybe it's the shift of the planet itself, the poles calmly realigning for the giant 2012 metaconscious whoopjamboree. Maybe the great goddess left her vibrator running. Again.
Creepy. Fascinating and entertaining too. Enjoy.
"one of the scariest sights in the entire American cultural tableau"
Opening ¶s from a piece by Matt Taibbi on the Crazy White Woman in Rolling Stone:
Go.
One more:
Shorter: Batcrap crazy and no joke.
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and, as you consider the career and future presidential prospects of an incredible American phenomenon named Michele Bachmann, do one more thing. Don't laugh.
It may be the hardest thing you ever do, for Michele Bachmann is almost certainly the funniest thing that has ever happened to American presidential politics. Fans of obscure 1970s television may remember a short-lived children's show called Far Out Space Nuts, in which a pair of dimwitted NASA repairmen, one of whom is played by Bob (Gilligan) Denver, accidentally send themselves into space by pressing "launch" instead of "lunch" inside a capsule they were fixing at Cape Canaveral. This plot device roughly approximates the political and cultural mechanism that is sending Michele Bachmann hurtling in the direction of the Oval Office.
Go.
One more:
In modern American politics, being the right kind of ignorant and entertainingly crazy is like having a big right hand in boxing; you've always got a puncher's chance. And Bachmann is exactly the right kind of completely batshit crazy. Not medically crazy, not talking-to-herself-on-the-subway crazy, but grandiose crazy, late-stage Kim Jong-Il crazy — crazy in the sense that she's living completely inside her own mind, frenetically pacing the hallways of a vast sand castle she's built in there, unable to meaningfully communicate with the human beings on the other side of the moat, who are all presumed to be enemies.
Shorter: Batcrap crazy and no joke.
I don't care where, just hope it's soon...
Crazy White Woman announced her candidacy at the tiny-brained forum, er, 'Repug debate' the other day but nobody was watching so she's going to do it again this coming Monday in Waterloo IA in hopes someone other than the Dead End Quarter will notice. Or give a shit.
I offer her this classic old country song. I think it would make a nice campaign theme:
I offer her this classic old country song. I think it would make a nice campaign theme:
Thanks to rflowers57.
Took 'em a couple days ...
But they got this cocksucker:
Bastid killed 4 people, including a 17 year old girl, in cold blood in a pharmacy on Sunday for prescription drugs. Good on the Suffolk County PD. Times like this I like the death penalty.
Suffolk police Wednesday morning arrested a Medford* man in connection with the quadruple murder at a Medford pharmacy, according to a source familiar with the case.
Police took David Laffer, 33, into custody three days after the murders at Haven Drugs on Sunday, the source said.
...
Bastid killed 4 people, including a 17 year old girl, in cold blood in a pharmacy on Sunday for prescription drugs. Good on the Suffolk County PD. Times like this I like the death penalty.
*About 6 miles from my house.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Dirt Bike Shootout!
Last week I posted on the non-ridin' puke playing Jon Huntsman in a campaign video. Santorum's fighting back. At least he got an actor who can ride. Probably had to pay him extra to take a dive as Huntsman at the end.
By the way the correct "Frothy Mixture" for the Huntsman/Santorum motorized turkey slap should be about 32:1. Heh.
TPMDC
By the way the correct "Frothy Mixture" for the Huntsman/Santorum motorized turkey slap should be about 32:1. Heh.
TPMDC
Thanks to RickSantorum. No link for you.
On a personal note...
I was going through some old - and I mean old - family photos and ran across this one of my dad, Harley Atkins Moore, receiving a military education at Wentworth Military Academy, Lexington, Missouri, in 1910. That's him in the center. I think he's just made a strategic rollout and the other cadets are straining to see his point...
One more. Here's dad, center, eight years later at the United States Army School of Military Aeronautics at the University of Illinois in Champaign IL in 1918. He went on to be a Jenny pilot at Chanute Field, Rantoul IL. Air Force weenie, my ass. State of the art though they were, it took a pair to go up in one of those crates!
I don't know who the gents flanking him are, but at least they don't have MP armbands.
The white hat bands signify Aviation, but the other UofI students told the local girls it meant they had a venereal disease.
Click to embiggen
One more. Here's dad, center, eight years later at the United States Army School of Military Aeronautics at the University of Illinois in Champaign IL in 1918. He went on to be a Jenny pilot at Chanute Field, Rantoul IL. Air Force weenie, my ass. State of the art though they were, it took a pair to go up in one of those crates!
I don't know who the gents flanking him are, but at least they don't have MP armbands.
The white hat bands signify Aviation, but the other UofI students told the local girls it meant they had a venereal disease.
Rabid Dog Mistaken for Tea Party Candidate
JEFFERSON CITY, MO (The Borowitz Report) – A rabid Doberman Pinscher jumped on stage at a Tea Party rally in Missouri on Labor Day and barked at the crowd for nearly twenty minutes before people realized he was not a candidate.
The dog, later identified by its owner as “Mister Buster,” held the crowd spellbound as he barked, growled, and frothed at the mouth, eventually receiving a standing ovation for his exertions.
“I liked what he had to say,” she said. ”He reminded me of Glenn Beck, only furrier.”
...
“I liked the way he bit off that guy’s hand, and the way he did his business in the middle of the stage,” she said. ”We need more of that in Washington.”
An understandable mistake, given the tone of the 'Bagger candidates and the intelligence of their supporters.
I wonder if he got road rash?
Think Progress
I have nothing against enthusiasm for any particular activity of choice. I'm a Motorcycle Enthusiast, but I don't do it in diapers. Heh.
Prostitute Enthusiast David Vitter Continues To Be Embraced By GOP Leadership
I have nothing against enthusiasm for any particular activity of choice. I'm a Motorcycle Enthusiast, but I don't do it in diapers. Heh.
Question of the Day
When Did the US Begin Sacrificing Freedom and Democracy for Corporate Governance and Wealth as a Sign of Virtue?
Short A: The day Ronald Reagan got inaugurated.
Senator Arrested After Alleged Drunken SUV Joy Ride
Gawker
His BAC was .15. Speaking as a former professional drunk driver, that's almost twice the legal limit but barely a good buzz. Amateur Hour. It's always fun to see a Repug get busted for doing something illegal he's no good at.
Especially if he's a Ford guy. Heh.
Idaho potato John McGee, who boasts on his website that he's the youngest member of his state's senate, celebrated Father's Day by engaging in some youthful indiscretions that he probably now very much regrets, as he sits in his Ada County Jail cell.
Seems McGee — state senate GOP Caucus chairman, a past "Republican Legislator of the Year," and a self-described advocate of roads and bridges—allegedly ended up driving along one of his beloved motorways last night after one too many rounds of drinks (and perhaps one too many rounds of golf, the sport of sin and scandal) (they forgot "boredom" - G):
According to the Ada County Sheriff's Office, McGee started the eventful night Saturday drinking in a golf course clubhouse. McGee left the clubhouse and began walking before coming to a Ford Excursion with a trailer hooked up. The SUV was unlocked with the keys inside. McGee got inside and drove away. At some point, McGee tried turning the vehicle and trailer around in a driveway near Overland and Victory in Boise. McGee was unsuccessful at turning around and the Excursion and trailer jack-knifed. McGee then exited the vehicle and walked back and forth a few times before climbing back in and going to sleep. Two witnesses in a nearby house were watching all of the events transpire and called police. When police arrived McGee told authorities he was on his way to Jackpot.
His BAC was .15. Speaking as a former professional drunk driver, that's almost twice the legal limit but barely a good buzz. Amateur Hour. It's always fun to see a Repug get busted for doing something illegal he's no good at.
Especially if he's a Ford guy. Heh.
Full Bras, Empty Heads
Think Progress
A California Girl, I am pleased to add!
It figures that most of the contestants believe in bullshit. Those beauty pageants are a throwback to the Good Old Days that never were and I'm sure appeal most to social conservatives, i.e. wingnut retards.
My idea of a Miss USA we can be proud of is more along the lines of Rachel Maddow.
Newly Crowned Miss USA Was One Of Only Two Contestants Who Believe In Evolution
A California Girl, I am pleased to add!
It figures that most of the contestants believe in bullshit. Those beauty pageants are a throwback to the Good Old Days that never were and I'm sure appeal most to social conservatives, i.e. wingnut retards.
My idea of a Miss USA we can be proud of is more along the lines of Rachel Maddow.
"...the sure-to-be stupid fucking documentary about Sarah Palin"
First and last coupla ¶ from El Rude-o on the poster for Snowbilly Snooki's direct-to-the-tiny-brained movie (Fantasy).
First of all, the name of the sure-to-be stupid fucking documentary about Sarah Palin is utter horseshit. In 2002, she lost the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor of Alaska. And, well, also as the vice presidential candidate. So "The Undefeated" is correct only if you disregard her, you know, defeats.
...
Let's not even get into the clip art flags. Or the listing of Mark Levin and Andrew Breitbart as appearing (which makes this movie about as appealing as going down on a porcupine's twat).
But there's all the nation needs to know about its idiot queen. Oil. Power. Despoiled nature. Lies. America. The hagiography of the mascot of our descent into the mad dry heaves of this wretched century.
John Wayne's ghost oughta sue her over the filched title and odious comparison. Nah, he probably likes her.
Comment on a post at On My Mind.
I think "Self-Defeated" might be more appropriate..
There's a good chance of that and she has a track record. Let's hope she quits before she destroys all those awful and un-American
I know a guy ...
In Germany who, around November every year, gets himself arrested so he'll have a warm place to sleep in the winter. Looks like people gotta do it here to be treated for their illnesses:
A 59-year-old man has been jailed in Gastonia, N.C., on charges of larceny after allegedly robbing an RBC Bank for $1 so he could get health care in prison. Richard James Verone handed a female teller a note demanding the money and claiming that he had a gun, according to the police report.
...
Thanks to Susie for the link.
Back to the home ...
Grandpa; you're babbling again. God, what a pandering idiot:
In a sane world, they'd have thrown a net over this old fool when he chose Snowbilly Snooki for a running mate. In our world, he gets to mumble incoherently, like a crazy homeless guy in NYC having a conversation with a sewer drain, on every Sunday morning 'news' show and is taken seriously.
What a country!
The former Republican presidential candidate John McCain has been accused of "scapegoating" Mexicans over comments he made linking wildfires in his home state of Arizona to illegal immigration.
The issue ignited over the weekend when the US senator said there was "substantial evidence that some of these fires have been caused by people who have crossed our border illegally. The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border".
...
In a sane world, they'd have thrown a net over this old fool when he chose Snowbilly Snooki for a running mate. In our world, he gets to mumble incoherently, like a crazy homeless guy in NYC having a conversation with a sewer drain, on every Sunday morning 'news' show and is taken seriously.
What a country!
Quote of the Day
Our pal Montag:
I'll drink to that.
...
Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between a US corporation and an enemy combatant. And we might all be better served if they were both treated the same way.
I'll drink to that.
Happy Summer!
And, right on cue, the humidity is cranking up here on the Isle of Long. I'm gonna be schvitzed all day.
At least ...
We won't have to turn the light on* when we go to the bathroom in the middle of the night:
It's just a mater of time until something not good happens. When the bottom line is involved, safety is the first thing to go out the window.
Update:
And it ain't just the nuclear industry**, it seems:
*Thanks to Chris for the link.
LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Federal regulators have been working closely with the nuclear power industry to keep the nation's aging reactors operating within safety standards by repeatedly weakening those standards, or simply failing to enforce them, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.
Time after time, officials at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have decided that original regulations were too strict, arguing that safety margins could be eased without peril, according to records and interviews. [my em]
...
It's just a mater of time until something not good happens. When the bottom line is involved, safety is the first thing to go out the window.
Update:
And it ain't just the nuclear industry**, it seems:
Wondering whether natural gas and oil transportation pipelines are safe? Why not ask a neutral objective party -- like, say, the pipeline industry? The federal government’s Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is supposed to study and regulate pipeline safety. But as the San Francisco Chronicle discovered, in practice, the agency tends to hand that responsibility back over to the pipeline industry.
...
*Thanks to Chris for the link.
**Thanks to Blue Girl for the link.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Obama lookalike Kicked Off Stage At Repug "Leadership" Convention.
Crooks and Liars, with video.
Three K's, Nicole.
Some of the jokes were actually pretty funny. Good jokes are rarely in good taste, however.
More videos at YouTube, Part 1 and Part 2. The jokes that got his mic cut off and got him asked to leave the stage start at about 6:00 of part 2. Everything was going along OK until he started in on the Repug presidential candidates and the last straw was when he started in on the mental midget from Minnesota,
IOKIYAR to say any vile and untrue thing about Obama/Dems/liberals on F** or in Congress - our house - but to kid them in their house is beyond the pale. Thin skinned bastards when the joke's on them. They can kiss my ass.
Note to Mr. Brown: Gettin' kicked off the stage is the best thing that ever happened to your career! You got the Repugs nose outta joint and they've made you a star! You've got your 15 minutes. Run with it!
I tell you, Klassy with a "K", these GOPers:
Three K's, Nicole.
Brown took the stage to laughter a few shouts of "Where's your birth certificate?"
Hoo! That's a knee-slapper there! Hey, remember when liberals couldn't criticize the president in a time of war because that made meant the terrorists won?
Some of the jokes were actually pretty funny. Good jokes are rarely in good taste, however.
More videos at YouTube, Part 1 and Part 2. The jokes that got his mic cut off and got him asked to leave the stage start at about 6:00 of part 2. Everything was going along OK until he started in on the Repug presidential candidates and the last straw was when he started in on the mental midget from Minnesota,
IOKIYAR to say any vile and untrue thing about Obama/Dems/liberals on F** or in Congress - our house - but to kid them in their house is beyond the pale. Thin skinned bastards when the joke's on them. They can kiss my ass.
Note to Mr. Brown: Gettin' kicked off the stage is the best thing that ever happened to your career! You got the Repugs nose outta joint and they've made you a star! You've got your 15 minutes. Run with it!
Joke of the Day
Mitt Romney is reported to have actually told this joke with a camera present:
Q: Why should you eat Eggs Benedict off a hubcap?
A: Because the best plate is chrome for the Hollandaise...
I think I tell it better.
Q: Why should you eat Eggs Benedict off a hubcap?
A: Because the best plate is chrome for the Hollandaise...
I think I tell it better.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
Big whoop. McDonald's has been doing that for years.
Where do I sign up?!!!
Oh boy! I don't even have to hold it up with my other hand now! Ain't these interwebs great?
Planeloads of Cash Sent to Iraq Missing
Those with knowledge of the missing $6 billion urged to call WeTip.
Workers' Share of National Income Hits New Low
Better to quit your job and inherit a fortune, say experts.
Japanese Researchers Synthesize Meat From Human Excrement
Goes great with bottle of recycled urine.
Big whoop. McDonald's has been doing that for years.
Study: Magic Mushrooms Could Have Health Benefits
Much more testing needed, say subjects.
Where do I sign up?!!!
Playboy Puts Entire 57 Years Online
Hailed as nostalgic stroll down mammary lane.
Oh boy! I don't even have to hold it up with my other hand now! Ain't these interwebs great?
Quote of the Day
Digby on the media concerning Washington sex scandals:
***
Cable guy's supposed to be here between 8 and 11 because the TVs in the bar and the Mrs. office have gone schizoid. I'm pretty sure it ain't my system (the TVs in my office and the bedroom are fine) so we got the tech coming. If I had any time, I'd take the two boxes to the cable store and swap them out but I figure I pay them enough every month, they can come out to me for once.
... The juvenile glee with which they pore over the most salacious details is best described as Beavis and Butthead go to Washington.
...
Cable guy's supposed to be here between 8 and 11 because the TVs in the bar and the Mrs. office have gone schizoid. I'm pretty sure it ain't my system (the TVs in my office and the bedroom are fine) so we got the tech coming. If I had any time, I'd take the two boxes to the cable store and swap them out but I figure I pay them enough every month, they can come out to me for once.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Being we spend so much ...
On our defense budget, you would think we can afford not to buy shit:
...
Well, it turns out these ships are rusting faster than a '70s Datsun in New England.
...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)