Oh noz!!

Somebody left "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance...JUST LIKE THE AUTHOR INTENDED!! I just hope they didn't also include the salute the author also intended.

Unleash 72 straight hours of FoxNews outrage!

No turning back

If New York State approves same-sex marriage it will effectively break the opposition while simultaneously stick it to California. Win-win.

Meanwhile, I see the ol' bromides are coming out:

New York's Archbishop, Timothy Dolan, reiterated his and the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage on Sunday, vowing to oppose "any radical bill to redefine the very essence of marriage."

"One has to wonder why the proponents of this radical redefinition, who claim overwhelming popular support, would not consider" a referendum "on such a drastic departure from traditional values?" he wrote on his blog.

Yeah, and you claim the Almighty's support on all sorts of shit, so why not bring a vote on birth control and if you lose in New York you have to shut up about it? Didn't think so.

He lives precariously by the Sword...everybody else gets the shaft

It is ironic that a quiet and miserable career on the Supreme Court almost derailed twenty years ago by Long Dong Silver will now be quite possibly be saved by another's junk-shot. But such is the lot of Clarence Thomas.

In the late 1960s Abe Fortas a man of no small accomplishment (as a lawyer Gideon v. Wainright as a justice Epperson v. Arkansas) was forced to resign from the Supreme Court when a millionaire began paying Fortas $20,000 a year for advice. An action which was legal, but shameful enough for him to step down in shame.

Enter Clarence Thomas.

Mr. Crow has done many favors for the justice and his wife, Virginia, helping finance a Savannah library project dedicated to Justice Thomas, presenting him with a Bible that belonged to Frederick Douglass and reportedly providing $500,000 for Ms. Thomas to start a Tea Party-related group...

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
But, if there's one thing we've learned about Clarence Thomas it is that he is in no way affected with a sense of personal shame...just grievances.

The person who was until just recently leading the call to investigate Thomas' ethical shortcomings? Anthony Weiner.

Somewhere Hannah Arendt is missing the banality of it all.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Sparks Fly on E Street When the Boy Prophets Walk It, Handsome and Hot

RIP Clarence Clemons and also my friend and former boss Michael, who died last Wednesday night.

Take that trip, write that book, kiss that girl, Hegemaniacs. It's later than you think.

Herman Cain would like you to know

He will only hate Muslims openly as much as the polling allows him to at this time.

"We brought you here to eat fried chicken and dance dammit!"

Apparently, once an Obama impersonator steps outside of the expected minstrel show the Republican Leadership Conference brings out the white version of Sandman Sims.

Fake Obama began to make fun of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), but then he was suddenly ushered off stage.

Next year, I believe they are getting rid of live entertainment and just showing 'Birth of a Nation'.

Olberman in Rolling Stone

Interesting interview here. The stuff about Russert is a surprise. I don't have cable, so I can't watch The Current unless I go visiting. Which I guess I'm going to have to do.

When considering which of the two political parties are believers in the nation

Ask which one actually tries to keep people from voting?

And in today's story of religious stupidity

Somebody had one too many accidents.

JERUSALEM (AFP) – A Jerusalem rabbinical court condemned to death by stoning a dog it suspects is the reincarnation of a secular lawyer who insulted the court's judges 20 years ago, Ynet website reported Friday.

Will inspire a new website. Dogs that look like Arafat.

So courageous

Paul Ryan bravely wants to get rid of those tax subsidies...except those that will net him millions.

Yeah, but where's your plan?!

I Now Pronounce You ...

The next few days are going to be big ones for marriage equality in New York, which reminds me of this terrific 2009 speech in the New York State Senate by Staten Island Democrat Diane Savino. It's awesome and she rocks.

Great

Now a Republican governor is tweeting pictures of his penis.



What, that's his face?

I dispute the Al-Zawahiri election

Everybody knows the guy was really born in Africa.

I have to tell you....

Getting the 3 a.m. panel gig at Netroots Nation kind of sucks. I mean not even Dan Choi is here to destroy an Obama bobble-head.

ACORN story proven to be bullshit

I'd say film at 11, but we all know that's not going to happen.

Besides this is like 85,000 outrages ago for Steve Doocy, hell the New Black Panthers story was 78,000 ago.

Heard This Morning on the Radio

Arthur Levitt, former SEC chair:

"Dodd Frank was seriously flawed in that it abdicated the responsibility
for rule-making to the regulators".

"Oop against the wall, eh, muutherfuuuckers!"

Canadian Hockey Riot was not on the top of the list of things I expected to see recently.


"TIM HORTON'S IS OUT OF TIMBITS!!!!!!"

Promotions

With the news that Ayman al-Zawahiri has gotten the top spot in Al Queda, now would be a good time to read Lawrence Wright's 2002 profile of this particular nut. Oh, and by the way, have you read The Looming Tower yet? The profile ultimately wound up as a chapter in that book, and you know how Attaturk and I feel about that book.

Golly wonder what political and economic philosophy predominates in these areas?

The red areas are locations in the nation where women's life expectancy is in decline...decline!

This man has a future in politics

The brainpower is staggering.

A security guard came up with a bizarre remedy to remove a wart - he shot off his finger with a shotgun.

Sean Murphy, 38, from Doncaster, had seen his GP repeatedly about the problem and also tried a variety of traditional ointments and creams.

But when the persistent wart refused to disappear, he opted for the firepower of a 12-bore Beretta he claimed he had found under a hedge a few months earlier.

His technique successfully removed the wart - along with most of the middle finger of his left hand.

I'm pretty sure life has given Mr. Murphy a proverbial middle-finger as a replacement.

I thought he saved his teabagging for trips to the Dominican Republic?

So Rush Limbaugh is pushing some god-awful tea dressed up as Paul Revere?

That poor horse.

What comes up when you google ‘hypocrite’?

Rick Santorum appears to think he's a serious candidate for the GOP Presidential nomination as this occurred yesterday.

Rick Santorum...has quit his post as a member of the board of directors of Universal Health Services Inc., a for-profit mental-health hospital chain

Ol' Ricky was paid a not too measly $168,000 to do things like rubber-stamp the CEO of Universal getting a $10 million compensation package.

But this becomes more interesting considering some of Santorum's policy positions:

Unlike Rep. Paul Ryan and the GOP leadership, which has excluded today’s seniors from their plan to destroy Medicare, Santorum wants “most” kicked off the program, and he said so in a recent interview with Fox News conservative opinion host Sean Hannity.

Pretty bold statement considering how Ricky's just now former employer supported his cushy salary:

Universal relied on taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid payments for 38% of its $5.6 billion in revenues last year, according to the company's annual report.

I'm sure he bravely refused 38% of his check the last four years.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

I'd much rather see another Weiner junk shot

Than this, Newt Gingrich shirtless in his swim trunks...waiting for the "snorkling" to begin.

NSFW ... if you click on the above, you are being blinded by the white.

We've found the replacement

Apparently Jesus asked Michele Bachmann to run for President ... so she's not running for reelection as a Congressperson.

But we've got an even crazier replacement ready in waiting, Tom Hackbarth, he lives in her district and everything.

In her e-mail to the representative, Robin Seifert wrote: "You have a choice. As a legislator, you could chose to ask the most fortunate among us to pay their fair share or you could inflict severe pain on the middle-class and vulnerable Minnesotans. … Please tax the richest two per cent of Minnesotans. Ask them to pay their fair share." She ended with a "sincerely."

In other words, not an unusual constituent-to-legislator communication.

In fact, public employee unions are urging their members, and others, to send similar letters and emails to their legislators. Hackbarth's response, via email, however, was unusual.

"Robin,

"I can't believe what I'm hearing from folks? All similar letters to yours.

"Are you a Union member? If so, are they the communist giving you this propaganda?

"Do you know the who, what, when, where, why, and how, of Fidel Castro?

"Hitler rose to power using and blaming the jews for the destruction of the German economy. Castro built his army of murderers by blaming the rich bankers and capitalist for destroying Cuba and taking advantage of the Cuban people.

"Hummmmm?

"Representative Hackbarth."

Hackbarth is renowned for more than going full Godwin at the drop of an email. Last year he was the Minnesota moron found waiting in the parking lot of a Planned Parenthood with a gun...because he wanted to talk sense into some woman he met online...talk sense with a gun.

It all figures

Best find of the day at Balloon Juice (as of 3:15 a.m.) over an article on Supreme Court justices on good writing:

“The only good way to learn about writing is to read good writing,” says Chief Justice John Roberts.

That sentiment is echoed by Breyer, who points to Proust, Stendhal and Montesquieu as his inspirations. Justice Anthony Kennedy loves Hemingway, Shakespeare, Solzhenitsyn, Dickens and Trollope.

Justice Thomas says a good legal brief reminds him of the TV show 24. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says one of the great influences on her writing was her European literature professor at Cornell, Vladimir Nabokov — yes, the same Nabokov who later rocked the literary world with his widely acclaimed novel Lolita.

Somebody is shocked that Ginsburg references Nabokov, but just glosses over Thomas citing writing that isn't actually, you know presented in written form, and who's primarily line of dialog is "RUN!" or "WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?!"?

One hell of a charity

Newt Gingrich doesn't just make the old bromide about one's favorite charity, he see's that it lives at home.

A charity founded by Newt Gingrich paid Gingrich's for-profit company $220,000 over two years, ABC News reports. The non-profit, Renewing American Leadership, was meant to spur conversation about restoring Christian principles in Washington, and mostly did that through letters seeking donations. The list of people who responded to those letters with checks was given to Gingrich--something that would be very valuable to a potential presidential candidate building support early in the campaign. ReAL, as the non-profit is called, also paid full-price for Gingrich's books and DVDs. ABC News asked Gingrich for comment ahead of a speech in New Hampshire, but the candidate would only respond, "I'm not concerned about that. The American people aren't concerned about that. Try covering the speech."

The DVD One Night on the Mediterranean with Newt & Calista (and a strap-on) sold some 100,000 copies to the charity I hear.

Class Warfare? Yes please.

Yesterday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court did exactly as predicted and limited public employees collective bargaining rights -- showing their priorities "with unusual speed". So Madison is about to see yet another large demonstration. In addition to guaranteeing his recall, will Governor Scott Walker start off his campaign to do the Koch Brothers bidding by placing provocateurs in the crowd this time?

And so let this new round of protests bring on the fluttering Noonian cries of horrible liberals trying to foment class warfare (maybe Austan Goolsbee will join in too?). After all what could the poor and middle class possibly have to complain about? Charts showing the cliff diving of workers' income is turned into a smile your average CNBC viewer hears because businesses (as opposed to most people, or State governments) are sitting on large piles of cash and not using it to hire people. So somebody is getting wealthy...and it's people like the Koch Brothers.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Food, Glorious Food (in Grand Junction, CO, and beyond)

Hey, remember I asked if any of you had been to Grand Junction, CO and could recommend some good eats? First of all, thanks for your recommendations. The GC and I didn't get into town early enough for dinner, but we did have a tasty breakfast at a placed called The Dream Cafe. They had a bunch of vegetarian options and the place had a nice cheerful ambiance. If you're ever in Grand Junction, check them out.

I had a couple of other good meals on my trip. In Boulder, I liked the Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant, which served these tasty little dates stuffed with blue cheese that I'm still thinking about. If you're ever in Denver, you need to try WaterCourse Foods. Their biscuits and green chile sauce rocked, and they make a great cup of coffee. When in Salt Lake City, please get to the Red Iguana. I think theirs is the best Mexican food I have ever tasted. And I also had a kick-ass breakfast at a place called Cowboy's Smokehouse Cafe in a little town called Panguitch, Utah. I loved their bacon (The GC is the vegetarian, not me), biscuits, and coffee. We definitely don't have enough biscuits in the northeast.

Oh, in between meals I managed to see Independence Pass, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Park among other natural wonders. I wish I could go back to Zion right this minute. No photograph I have seen has ever done it justice.

Stretching the definition

Of breaking news.



Of course he did -- they're both frothy mixtures of humpitude.

Musn't discuss

Right-wing terrorists.

Federal and state agents searched a 30-square-mile swath of rugged Montana forest on Monday for a former militia leader following a shootout with sheriff's deputies, authorities said.

He's armed to the teeth and planned on killing several politicians and if he was a black guy FoxNews would have 30 minutes out of every hour calling him a "New Black Panther" and exploring his ties to Obama...and if he had a muslim name it would be 58 minutes out of every hour all devoted to exploring his ties to Obama.

But as it is, doubtful it will even get brought up.

Maybe somebody should do something?

As Atrios regularly says (and not fondly I would imagine).

Look at these two charts:



Corporate profits bouncing back. How about the workers?

What the ...

How many middle-aged men are posing as lesbians on-line?

I thought this went out the window with AOL chat?

"I was just doing what other media outlets were doing

I only added the racism!"

- Eric Bolling.

I thought he'd save this look for off-stage when the debate ended

And he looked at his competitors.



Gif by Exterminador from here.

"Let's Amend the Constitution...not that it will apply to the States"

I watched as much of the Republican debate last night as I could stand. In other words, it would be better if I analyzed the Stanley Cup finals. Vote Emrick 2012!

But that does not mean I failed to catch the most humorous part of the debate...those gay people and their assault on state's rights by asking for, uh rights. All the candidates, naturally, indicated their disdain for the very concept of same-sex marriage. Though Ron Paul's novel answer involved banning legal marriage all-together...and backing the gold standard. Newly committed, er, confirmed candidate Michelle Bachmann -- declared the debate winner by Chris Matthews' restless leg syndrome and other villagers' trick knees -- handled the question with her usual aplomb. She would demand a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage while simultaneously not interfering in the states' abilities to make their own decisions. I guess in practice that would mean no same-sex marriages in National Parks, so do not feed, nor marry, the bears*.

 

*Joke sponsored by Santorum 2012.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Well if these are your standards

Moron:

Barack Obama is more of an international,” Cain said. “I think he’s out of the mainstream and always has been. Look, he was raised in Kenya

By that standard, since you worked for Godfather's Pizza you have mob ties.

OMG, first they know how to breed

And now they've learned how to hack twitter.



Be afraid...or as Palin might say, "afraider".

Funny how that worked

The National Institute of Health wanted to declare formaldehyde a carcinogen for years, but there was an appointed representative on the board who held it up, when he finally resigned, voila!

That asshole?

Why David Koch, whose company is a giant in the formaldehyde production business.

Of ridiculous myths and worse realities

Oh look, in the midst of the so-called "Arab Spring", there's a rather old democracy we always take for granted.

Near-complete results from Turkey's election show the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a third term...More than 50 million people, about two-thirds of Turkey's population of 73 million, were eligible to vote in Sunday's election. NTV television said turnout was 84.5%.

Of course, Turkey's AKP party has its roots in Islamic faith. This leads many American conservatives to get the vapors and decry how reactionary they must...just must be.

Meanwhile, later today the Republican Presidential Candidates will assemble to debate whether physicians who perform abortions on victims of rape and incest deserve to be merely hung, or also drawn and quartered. Because they're part of the great non-extremist American political tradition.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Being a gigantic prick

Not just for non-sports talk radio, some of the biggest are on sports talk -- and not only do they not know sports, they spread their ignorance around like a solid STD because confidently expressed ignorance allegedly makes for 'good' talk radio.

...if you still live in Cleveland at this point, you're bringing unemployment on, couldn't I?"

"If you live in Youngstown, Ohio should I have no sympathy that you're unemployed? You're kinda bringing it on yourself."

"If you live in Ohio or Indiana rurally, you're kinda bringing unemployment on yourself."

Because if there is one thing the unemployed have, it's the money to move for the hopes of landing a job somewhere else.

One brave person

Pictures of Gabby Giffords released.

Much better than other pictures we've had released lately.

Meanwhile in "jobs" news

But of course:

Rep. Peter King announced today he will hold a second round of Muslim radicalization hearings on June 15th, with a focus on U.S. prisons.

Let me guess, Plymouth Rock landed on them?

The IRA approves.

Idiot

Currently watching one of ESPN's '30 for 30s' on the USFL, seeing the way Donald Trump ran that league into the ground (sitting there at a press conference with Roy Cohn) just sums up what a idiotic jackass the guy is.

Bring on No. 4

The game is afoot, time for Newt to blame wife No. 3 for sinking his otherwise "awesome" chances in 2012.

...officials close to the Gingrich campaign privately pointed fingers at Callista Gingrich as the source of the tension between her husband and his staff. They say she exerted enormous influence on the former House speaker, controlling his schedule and encouraging him to disappear on a luxury cruise in the Greek Isles just weeks after he got into the race. That trip was the final straw, for some, who pleaded with him not to go.

Looks, I know it is all fashionable to completely blame the "woman" because a guy cannot keep a vow worth a shit (because he's so innocent and noble, just ask him), but this strikes me as a bit rich. Cowardly Newt is totally going to blame her and her kneepads for his idiocy.

In a respectable era of politics

This would have made one persona non-grata, but when you're Rich and prop up destructive policies with your billions, your teat is your credit.

...the New American, the official mouthpiece of the John Birch Society, published a piece this morning celebrating Fred and the Koch family’s pivotal role in developing the group

Teleprompt her

We all remember how the party that worships fictional Reagan went after Obama for using teleprompters. One of those people was well-known intellectual titan Sarah Palin.

Naturally, projection is a real karmic kick in the ass.

Just a note for those who enjoy tweaking President Barack Obama for using a teleprompter. (Doesn't every president or governor use a teleprompter for speeches?) On March 20, 2007, Gov. Palin's staff was setting up an interview on natural gas issues with Energy TV from Canada. Here's how the interview was set up: Her aide, Sharon Leighow, asked the questions, and the answers were posted on a teleprompter for Palin to read. Then the fake interview was uploaded by satellite to Energy TV. "You're awesome," the governor told her staff. "You're all awesome. What a day..."

So that means Sarah Palin needs a teleprompter to answer questions in meetings run by her staff.

Real Reaganesque. I guess it beats writing it on your hand.

A Mighty Wind

The alternative reality of the man Mike Huckabee thinks we all need to listen too...even if it is required at gunpoint:

On Wednesday, Right Wing Watch flagged a recent interview Barton gave with an evangelcial talk show, in which he argues that the Founding Fathers had explicitly rejected Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Yes, that Darwin. The one whose seminal work, On the Origin of Species, wasn't even published until 1859.

I guess we all forgot about Thomas Jefferson's time-machine...the one he built and then has repeatedly used to hit on Halle Berry.

That's a lot of spelling errors

How many of these come from Nigeria?

Alaska is releasing the more than 24,000 pages of emails in paper form only and asking news organizations to pick up several boxes worth of documents in Alaska's capital city, accessible by only air or water. Reporters from several news organizations have already begun arriving in Juneau and are making various plans to disseminate the emails to the public.

I'm willing to bet a lot of them or the spam emails best dealt with by Snopes.com

A Teaparty worse than one with that tri-cornered hat guy

Along with news that the meltdown may have become a melt-through at Fukushima, comes this "delightful" information.

Radioactive cesium exceeding the legal limit was detected in tea made in a factory in Shizuoka City, more than 300 kilometers away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Shizuoka Prefecture is one of the most famous tea producing areas in Japan...detecting 679 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium. The legal limit is 500 becquerels.

I just hope somehow a member of the Democratic Party of Japan has a candid picture to tweet so that country has something important to be obsessed about rather than something trivial like radioactivity.

In more metaphorical stories of radioactivity, at least Newt Gingrich's former staffers have something to read...and edit.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

It'd be hilarious if they did this after seeing other candidates behind his ample back

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

In a major blow to Newt Gingrich's presidential hopes, senior advisers to his 2012 campaign resigned en masse today, citing strategic differences.

Here's the fun we had in my town this morning

At least I didn't suffer alone. Although the video doesn't adequately capture how hard the hail came down.

It was like this.

And now it has been raining to beat hell all morning. Not a great thing for our already swollen rivers.

But, of course

Anthony Weiner-inspired condoms on sale.

Where are the David Vitter-inspired Huggies?

Oh, and how the Daily Caller is letting out all of Tucker Carlson's repressed sexuality into giggling headlines.

Meanwhile, in other "ignored stories"

Of unreported income and defeating of all notions of judicial independence...

As for the relationship between the Tea Party and the Republican establishment, Virginia Thomas suggested that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should be doing more to embrace the conservative movement.

Thomas said that she hopes "the most conservative candidate" will emerge victorious in the GOP presidential primary race in 2012.

Wonder how much money ol' Virginia got paid for this interview and when it will get reported on Clarance's disclosure forms? At his current rate 2025.

Because if there's one thing Clarence Thomas doesn't know, it's the law.

And now back to weiner jokes.

Pointing and laughing

Apparently, the rest of the world pays more attention to our politics than we do...without having to suffer through it...or maybe by this time they just point and laugh?

The social network and dating website Badoo.com asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name both the "funniest," or best at making people laugh," and "the least funny" nationality.

Americans took the funniest prize

And all this before our latest round of Weiner jokes and tea-wrestling.

Apparently, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and our newest "target audience" Yemen were not allowed to participate.

[cross-posted to Firedoglake]

You forgot though, that Al Gore is fat!!!!

Behold the "Mustache of Wisdom" speaks:



All those shopping malls fueling the consumer society that made me rich...have helped to destroy the world, now that I've lost a lot of that stock value, I realize the error of my ways!!!

Why do I have a feeling we'd be reading something different if they were still worth hundreds of millions?

If you're going to tweet your junk

Do it now or you may have to wait a few days.

An unusual solar flare observed by a NASA space observatory on Tuesday could cause some disruptions to satellite communications and power on Earth over the next day or so, officials said.

So get crackin' male celebrities.

The world of intentional contrarianism

Somehow, Slate manages to bring a guy who raped somebody to the same level as politicians who engage in conduct that may not be great, but was at least consensual.

Oh it sounds like a good idea

Until you realize the suggestion is made because the majority of their candidates have never read anything more than four pages long.

I am only going to allow small bills - three pages. You'll have time to read that one over the dinner table. What does Herman Cain, President Cain talking about in this particular bill?

Oh sure

She may think she's a nut. But it will not be too much longer before Palin can meet Margaret Thatcher the way she could meet Jeremy Bentham right now.

Holy Crap

The Chilean volcanic eruption is scary and awesome at the same time.

Beyond Banality

The whole point of the Libya military incursion, helping the rebels, long ago ceased to be particularly relevant it would seem.

That was the point, wasn't it? I cannot remember whether I'm suppose to actually remember.

Yes, Gaddafi is a terrible person, murderous asshole and a flamboyant dresser. His added bellicosity just makes the farce greater than ever [second only to the tragedy].

But one does start to wonder if we're also batting two out of three?

Nato warplanes repeatedly pounded targets in and around [Gaddafi's] Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli. Reporters counted at least 27 air strikes by Tuesday afternoon.

Some of the bombs hit a military barracks near the compound, officials said. Others hit the compound itself, Libyan television reported.

The New York Times said what appeared to be bunker-busting bombs had destroyed six or seven buildings, including a reception house and VIP guesthouse where South African President Jacob Zuma was received last week.

Officials told the newspaper that 10 to 15 people had died in the attack, but the figure could not be verified.

But we don't target specific individuals...as long as it involves bunker busters.

Because then it's totally moral.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

not so well-hung

And so timely:



From here.

Proof of Evolution in reverse

Birch was a long-standing Senator and a well regarded man.

His son is a self-serving pig.

PENIS PENIS PENIS!!

Meanwhile in the real world...the world of little interest to our media.

Japan's nuclear safety agency has more than doubled its estimate of the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

And plutonium believed to have come from the plant has also been found in a town near the facility - the first time plutonium has been found in soil outside the facility.

Now back to all Penis, all the time.

Not buying American

Nothing reminds folks of "expensive jewelry account" quite like a luxury cruise of the Mediterranean instead of visiting scenic Iowa and New Hampshire.

Good job Newtie and Resusa-Annie.

Not as newsworthy as snow in December

One of our media's great obsessions...other than tweeted dick pictures of course...is to look for any snowstorms that occur during any meeting concerning climate change and blurt our "What Global Warming?"

While the village obsesses over the porn-possibilities of the internet (Peggy Noonan must be fainting like a Santorum supporter) somehow this will get scant mention.

BAD news awaits delegates from about 180 countries at the start of two weeks of climate talks beginning on Monday to debate a new global warming accord.

Greenhouse gas emissions are going up instead of down despite 20 years of effort, hitting record highs, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The meeting is in Bonn, Germany, where it is not snowing so...back to the dick pics.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

I don't know about you

But I prefer the old days, when a gentleman had to take a picture of his penis with a Polaroid Instamatic and send it lovingly to the recipient in a brown envelope.

Classy.

Saving Ryan's Privates

Rick Santorum (GOOGLE HIM!) throws his hat in the Presidential ring. And why, not, it's not like it's necessary to protect his brain.

D-Day Troops Fought For Health Care Freedom

Another fine job by F1

This weekend, the racing circuit that once was run by the nazi-fetishist who was the child of an actual Nazi sympathizer, said they were going to run this year in Bahrain anyway.

So naturally, this comes out.

In March, doctors and nurses in "key US ally" Bahrain were being assaulted by government troops for treating injured pro-democracy protesters. And today, 47 doctors and nurses were arraigned on charges that they tried to topple the government.

Makes F1's powers that be look like the stereotype of NASCAR fans.

One if by hand, two if bi-curious

An amusing post from the Wiki editors on sad efforts to revise history to make it Palinized:

A humble suggestion for Sarah Palin fans

If you want to find a source to work into the article, you should search for sources that agree with what Palin said BEFORE she said it. Sarah Palin doesn't belong in this article, because it's an article about Paul Revere not about Sarah Palin, but if you want to bolster her position retroactively you just need to go back to anything released a week ago or more that counts as a RS and bring that to the forefront. --Opcnup (talk) 00:56, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

Awesome

So this becomes an excuse to stay and have it happen some more, right?

Five American troops were killed Monday in central Iraq, U.S. officials said — the single largest loss of life for the American military in Iraq in the past two years.

The military said in a brief statement that the five were killed Monday, giving no additional details about where the incident occurred or how they died.

Good news everyone

Tasers are totally safe...

"There is no conclusive medical evidence in the current body of research literature that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death to humans from the direct or indirect cardiovascular or metabolic effects of short-term CED exposure in healthy, normal, nonstressed, nonintoxicated persons."

...except if you're the kind of person who normally ends up getting tasered.

"You people have to understand, we're the United States of America"

"And you're not"

The Wall Street Journal reports that this "coup for the U.S." could also help backers of drone strikes in the U.S. government "push back against calls from some Obama administration officials to scale back the attacks," because they are widely hated by Pakistanis, who see them as a violation of sovereignty...

...People in Pakistan continue to be "angry" about the unpopular attacks.

Hard to believe, another country firing missiles that not only kill bad people, but also innocent people would be unpopular.

I'm pretty sure if another country country launched missiles into the United States that took out Charles Manson at the expense of killing a couple dozen innocent Americans we'd be cool with it, no?

The not-so-great Crusade

One thing you have to hand it to the far right about, there's really no topic too trivial to get worked up into a nice Santorum lather about. Take the quickly becoming middle-aged virgin Ben Shapiro. He's totally "FoxNews style" outraged about the liberal, homosexual leanings, of Big Bird on Castro District Sesame Street. Clearly the only way to deal with this dangerous agenda are tax cuts, medicare cuts [and apparently "Supercuts"] with a dash of poisoned suet.

This is especially true, and follows just as logically, because as Sarah Palin will modestly tell you, it is somewhere between the one-hundredth and fiftieth anniversary of D-Day. Tens of thousands of Americans along with a couple Brits and maybe one Canadian (Gordie Howe?) landed in France to liberate Europe from Hitler's anti-Second Amendment agenda. Thousands died that day in bloody fighting (or as the Russians called it just another "Tuesday"). All this occurred, of course, against the wishes of the "Democrat Party" head, that guy on the dime.



Look it up, it's all on Wikipedia people...or soon will be.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Assidental Tourist

I understand that Sarah Palin spent a half-hour in Gettysburg the other day, which which is two score and 17 minutes less than symbolically necessary.

I understand she summed it up this way:

"Well you know, the two sides were up here telling each other that they were being warned about, y'know guns and they weren't going to allow the British to come in here and take their guns away. And then Pickett put it on his credit card by charging it and runnin' up that there deficit and yellin' rebels at each other about not wanting death panels so they fired at each other and died to protect us against socialism."

They won't stop

Until it is illegal to have sex, period.

A fringe anti-abortion group, Personhood USA, has been startlingly successful at pushing forward legislation across the country that would redefine life as beginning at the moment of fertilization, effectively outlawing contraceptives like birth control pills.

...and I'm sure they are great advocates of privacy rights too.

In other things we don't hear much about any more...

Not looking good in Japan:

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday it has detected radiation of up to 4,000 millisieverts per hour in the building housing the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant...

The radiation is so high now that any worker exposed to it would absorb the maximum permissible dose of 250 millisieverts in only about four minutes. Tepco said there is no plan to place workers in that area of the plant and said it will carefully monitor any developments.

Drone

Who knows who else got taken out...and how innocent they may be...but apparently a drone strike took down a prominent Al Qaeda leader and bin Laden replacement -- and ending, if nothing else, a promising career as a Zach Galifianakis impersonator.

What puts the "ape" in ape-ricot?

Apparently Rick Santorum is not going to go with "Google Me" or "I keep a fetus in a Jar!!!" as a campaign slogan?

No, he's going with "Courage".

To be later replaced by "So, you Googled me?"

Dear Florida,

How has electing a comic-book villain Governor worked out for you so far?

Gov. Rick Scott May Personally Benefit From New Law That Hands Medicaid Program Over To Private Companies

How Did Attaturk Miss This?

What the hell is Richard Cohen talking about?

Apparently, not even he knows.

Timothy Egan

I always enjoy his "Opinionator" posts. Check them out, especially today's Fall of the Wild.

I shudder before the sheer genius

Listen my children and you shall hear, of the reinvented ride of Paul Revere:

PALIN: He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he’s riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed.

I believe that somehow she thinks Revere was the lead character in Red Dawn.

(pic from here)

Tender and caring

What the "luminaries" of the far right believe (I can't say "think" considering the source) via Iowa's shame Steve King:

Labor is a commodity just like corn or beans or oil or gold

Although I don't foresee Glenn Beck hawking things for Labor-Line.

HACK

Perhaps in all forms of the word.





Please click to embiggen.

The Hacker

While Rupert poo-poos events in this country, FoxNews continues to not report just how much hot water he is in in England.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Ali Dizaei, the controversial former senior Scotland Yard officer whose conviction for corruption was quashed earlier this month, has been told by Metropolitan police detectives that he could have been a victim of phone hacking by the News of the World.

Rupert's newspaper was spying on Scotland Yard.

Dear Chris Christie

Snooki and your waste of taxpayer resources aren't the only things giving New Jersey a bad name.

Woman is injured in Hamilton graveyard by falling tombstone during 'extracurricular activities'.

Um, respect for the dead?

xxx....res

P.S. You took a car 100 YARDS from that helicopter to the ballfield?

Ever Been to Grand Junction, Colorado?

Where should The GC and I eat?

Double Game

I know, I know, I keep telling you about Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower. So read it already, and I'll shut up. But I was catching up on New Yorkers and now you have more Wright to read. This time it's his article about Pakistan, The Double Game. Read it and then tell me ...

What is/are the failure(s) here?

(a) Faulty assumptions?

(b) Failure to think one, two, ten or one hundred steps ahead?

(c) Doing anything to begin with?

(d) Inability/Refusal to understand other cultures?

(e) Arrogance?

(f) All of the above?

(g) Some of the above?

(h) None of the above?

Their tender feelings

Not bad...please show backbone:

Rep. Paul D. Ryan, architect of a Medicare overhaul aimed at slashing the cost of the popular entitlement program by reducing the government's open-ended commitment to seniors, accused Obama of "mis-describing" his plan and implored the president to ease up on the "demagoguery."

In reply, Obama said he was no stranger to cartoonish depictions, reeling off a list of conservatives' favorite attack points: "I'm the death-panel-supporting, socialist, may-not-have-been-born-here president," Obama said, according to people familiar with his remarks.

It looks like my long-term investment strategy

Learned originally from the Amish (before they started making electric fireplaces) of converting all my liquid assets into "buttons" will finally begin paying dividends.

(pic via Mudflats)

But of course...

Newly re-elected FIFA President Sepp Blatter is turning to former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to help investigate problems within world soccer's governing body.

Kissinger's first suggestion will be bombing the Cambodian Football Association.

Blatter already is familiar with the kind of democracy Kissinger thinks best.

Blood of patriots and all that

You may have noticed that Mitt Romney, surely a child of privilege if their ever was one -- presently the ripe ol' age of 64 (ripe for the service in Vietnam he avoided -- instead he took his Mormon Mission in...SOUTHERN FRANCE!) still manages to play the "hawkier than thou" card for other peoples kids dying.

Those patriots who are on the battlefields today or have gone to battlefields in the past, some never to return, have left us a stronger country

Um, despite their sacrifice, the tragedies of Vietnam and Iraq and by now Afghanistan have done no such thing, despite Mitt's heroic battles against drinking wine in Bordeaux.

Meanwhile, in the original war that never ends

A group of retired political leaders -- strangely not under the influence of lobbying money (or drugs) -- has recommended the world, especially the United States, reconsider the War on Drugs.

Their report argues that anti-drug policy has failed by fuelling organised crime, costing taxpayers millions of dollars and causing thousands of deaths.

But it gives us awesome crime movies and television shows!

It calls for drug policies based on methods empirically proven to reduce crime and promote economic and social development.

The commission is especially critical of the US, saying it must abandon anti-crime approaches to drug policy and adopt strategies rooted in healthcare and human rights.

Healthcare and human rights, you know where this is going.

"Drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated," said a spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"Making drugs more available - as this report suggests - will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe."

"Spokesman"?, just admit it's an old "macro" on a word processor you've had around since WordPerfect 2.0.

Time to devote what little discretionary remains on more prisons -- please engage the "USA, USA, USA" macro.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

All Smiles

As Trump gives Palin a Condo in the Trump Tower in return for Piper.
(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

FIFA -- Sure they're corrupt...but kind of awesomely so

I know not a lot of you give a shit about international soccer...or as it is known internationally, football, but still it is somewhat refreshing when corruption is openly demonstrated...and for some reason it's kind of awesome to see the US and England get bullied back.

FIFA's senior vice-president, Julio Grondona, has accused England of "always complaining" and said he voted for Qatar for 2022 because "a vote for the US would be like a vote for England"...

In an interview with a German press agency on Tuesday, Grondona called England "pirates" and added: "Yes, I voted for Qatar, because a vote for the US would be like a vote for England, and that is not possible.

"But with the English bid I said: Let us be brief. If you give back the Falkland Islands, which belong to us, you will get my vote. They then became sad and left."

Take that Margaret Thatcher!

Still not the winner of worst thing Grondona ever said...that would be this:

“I do not believe a Jew can ever be a referee at this level. It’s hard work and, you know, Jews don’t like hard work.”

Obviously just trying to avoid a potential

Race-Riot:

...former NFL star Warrick Dunn was pulled over outside Atlanta, Georgia by three police officers. Dunn has been involved in a number of charitable organizations since leaving the NFL, including founding the Warrick Dunn Family Foundation to help single parents find homes for their families. The former Atlanta Falcons running back has also received numerous accolades for his off-the-field service, including the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, the Bart Starr Award, and former President Clinton’s Giant Steps Award. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described Dunn as a “model citizen.”

So it was to Dunn’s surprise when he was stopped by police officers for having “the characteristic of people transporting drugs and guns” last Friday. Dunn, who is a 36 year-old black man

Meanwhile, undoubtedly a large number of middle-aged white guys with tinted windows, texting on their cell-phones and not wearing seatbelts drove slowly on by rubber-necking at the scene...unbothered.

Subtle

I remember the many times I took a family vacation in a large bus adorned with my face, the Constitution, and my signature.

Y'know incognito.

The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Driving Miss Crazy
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

We don't understand soccer

We're not pros at this, we're amateurs (just look at Fox's coverage of the Champions League). Soccer and drinking go together.

...for the next early game, a nationally televised 1:00 Sunday tilt in July, the Timbers Army is beseeching every supporter to stay sober the day before.

Of course, just asks Limbaugh or Drudge, we eschew soccer-riots for made up race riots.

Heltered and Skeltered

All of these Godwin-rules have been completely unnecessary.

...the Drudge Report, which has conveniently rounded up a slew of run-of-the-mill summer crime stories that happen to involve black people and suggestively weaved them into a nationwide race riot.

Meanwhile...

Limbaugh: inaudible Whadda ya got riots and things happening out there with poets and other people. Long hot summer schedule, and I'm not sure that's not part of the grand plan. The more unrest and chaos there is out there the more the government will be called on to fix it.

Never-mind that the crime-rate is the lowest in forty-years, the fictional crime rate is on the rise, especially among a group that fits their stereotyping.

But who else does this sound like?

Oh, yeah:

To Manson, helter-skelter meant a war between whites and blacks that the Beatles [in the White Album] were in favor of... "The Beatles are telling it like it is! The s___ is coming down!"

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]