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2009-06-13T08:24:00.001-04:00

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We've Moved

2008-07-26T04:23:00.002-04:00

Actually, it's like a vacation where you go somewhere and maybe decide to live there or now.

Starting today, new posts will be here.

Consider it like a beta of a new version. If I'm happy, I'll move this blog over to the new site....

An End Of An Era

2008-07-25T06:37:00.001-04:00

Faux Bidness Journal says it's the end of Raygun Deregulation Revolution (that other post has a big clue). Gotta be a subscriber though....

A Class Act: President McCain

2008-07-25T06:32:00.002-04:00

God, he makes Beloved Leader look good....

War Room:

"I would rather speak at a rally or a political gathering anyplace outside of the country after I am president of the United States," McCain said during the interview, which will air Thursday night. "But that's a judgment that Sen. Obama and the American people will make."

Considering those three supposedly undercovered trips McCain went on, think there might be some hypocrisy at work? You bet. As NBC's Mark Murray pointed out, "On June 20, McCain himself gave a speech in Canada -- to the Economic Club of Canada -- in which he applauded NAFTA's successes. An implicit message behind that speech was that Obama had been critical of the trade accord. Also, McCain's trip to Canada was paid for by the campaign."

Our Leaders' Success In Corrupting America

2008-07-25T05:35:00.000-04:00

One of the worst outbreaks of foodborne illness in the U.S. is teaching the food industry the truth of the adage, "Be careful what you wish for because you might get it."

The industry pressured the Bush administration years ago to limit the paperwork companies would have to keep to help U.S. health investigators quickly trace produce that sickens consumers, according to interviews and government reports reviewed by The Associated Press.

The White House also killed a plan to require the industry to maintain electronic tracking records that could be reviewed easily during a crisis to search for an outbreak's source. Companies complained the proposals were too burdensome and costly, and warned they could disrupt the availability of consumers' favorite foods.

[more]

Another Reason The Yankees Suck

2008-07-25T05:29:00.001-04:00

Sun-bloc is a terrorist threat.

American Justice: Illegally Torture The Ill

2008-07-25T04:46:00.001-04:00

Or read bout it here.

Tom The Dancing Bug Helps Beloved Leader Show You How Simple The Rapid Rise In Gas Prices Is

2008-07-24T07:17:00.002-04:00

Link.

The Presidentialness Of President McCain; He Proves He Will Win

2008-07-24T07:14:00.003-04:00

This is the odious crap the wingnuts love. This is the piece of unfit crap the media whores love.

This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.
This is the ninth presidential campaign I've covered. I can't remember a more scurrilous statement by a major party candidate. It smacks of desperation. It renews questions about whether McCain has the right temperament for the presidency. How sad.

[more]

So Much For The Right Of Free Speech

2008-07-24T07:12:00.002-04:00

Typical rightist crap: beat on the messenger and ignore the message; a favorite way to prevent progress.

Flight 93 Shot Down?

2008-07-24T07:11:00.000-04:00

Woulda made for a better movie.... Link.

Miracle Drunk! Can You Top This?

2008-07-24T06:56:00.000-04:00

.491 blood/alcohol -- and lives!

TSA Agents: Proven Perverts And Sadists

2008-07-24T06:55:00.000-04:00

Really.

Magic!

2008-07-24T06:32:00.000-04:00

How To Get On The 1,000,000-Strong TSA Watchlist

2008-07-24T06:30:00.001-04:00

Criticize it.

Bad News For The GOP And President McCain's Chances For Victory?

2008-07-24T06:15:00.001-04:00

Iraq Vets Show Their Love For President McCain And His Support For The Unending War

2008-07-24T06:10:00.003-04:00

In his defense, the dope was trying to say he sees or supports troops being stationed in Iraq forever like in South Korea -- not eternal combat. But since he's too dumb or lazy or uncaring to clarify an obvious yet misunderstood point, no reason for me to do it for him.

With that out of the way, let's beat him up -- or, rather, let a couple of vets do it.

Animal Violence

2008-07-24T05:46:00.000-04:00

http://view.break.com/293055 - Watch more free videos

Beloved Leader Channeled

2008-07-23T07:16:00.001-04:00

Link.

What Doesn't President McCain Not Know

2008-07-23T07:14:00.002-04:00

Not only does his plan for Iraq not hold water, as it were, but his rationale doesn't even rise to the level of bogus.

My God, he may well be even dumber than Beloved Leader. I know that intelligence scares the Christofascist base but still, this is scary....

Need A Detailed Reminder What Garbage Lieberman Is?

2008-07-23T06:05:00.001-04:00

If so, click here.

They're Sick, Sick, Sick

2008-07-23T06:04:00.000-04:00

War Room:

...Lisa Schiffren, writing at the Corner, one of the National Review's blogs. While complaining about the alleged media bias in favor of Barack Obama, she mentioned Obama's plan to accept the Democratic presidential nomination in a stadium that seats 75,000, then wrote, "To me, this is evocative of something Leni Riefenstahl might have documented." Leni Riefenstahl, of course, directed "Triumph of the Will," the Nazi propaganda film that documented a party rally at which Adolf Hitler spoke.

Schiffren, a former speechwriter for Dan Quayle (she wrote the speech in which he attacked "Murphy Brown"), has made similar comments before. In a February post, she suggested that Obama's parents may have been communists, given their biracial union.

Are The Iraqis Sick Of Our Occupation?

2008-07-23T06:00:00.002-04:00

So maybe the Iraqi leadership, such as it is, really wants O. At the least, he'd probably enable them to amp up native corruption at the expense of Our Leaders' corruption. And who knows, maybe thet have a scintilla of patriotism and want a little, you know, independence.

War Room says Maliki said what Der Spiegel claims he said -- nothing lost in translation:

It was the shot heard 'round the world: in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said of U.S. troop withdrawal from his country, "U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

Almost immediately, the Iraqi and U.S. governments made half-hearted attempts to walk Maliki's statement back. And supporters of the war have claimed that Maliki's words were mistranslated. But the Columbia Journalism Review has a bit of detail that should quiet such claims, at least to the extent that they haven't been quieted by events since Maliki's statement that have made clear he meant what he said.

CJR's Clint Hendler quotes the magazine's Mathias Müller von Blumencron as saying, "We have a policy at Der Spiegel when we do a question and answer session to provide a transcript to our counterparts in case they want to have a minor thing changed." In this case, Hendler reports, the magazine -- which has a content-sharing agreement with Salon -- verified that Maliki's aides had received the transcript. They reported no complaints.

Insight From Beloved Leader??

2008-07-23T05:15:00.000-04:00

Maybe he's not quite as stupid as he allows himself to be perceived (parse that!). Certainly, he appears more knowledgeable than President McCain....

Again, we report, you decide.

But let's say he's not as stupid as we'all thought. He ain't all that much smarter, I think, and it's far too late, the damage has been done, and there's no apparent awareness of the harm his administration, under his leadership, such as it is, has done.

And where's Dick these days?

Scary Comic! Your Next President

2008-07-22T05:09:00.001-04:00

Link.

The Wingnuts' True Love Of America

2008-07-21T06:55:00.002-04:00

This piece is so demented even the wingnuts who first posted it eventually removed it from their site. On the other hand, I doubt he's the only whacko who believes this sick, sick crap. And I'm sure some in or close to power agree with him.

Catchy Name For These Loonie-Right-Wing-Nutts - The Family Security Foundation, Inc. (Vaporized Link)
Exclusive: Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy
Philip Atkinson

Author: Philip Atkinson
Source: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.
Date: August 3, 2007

While democratic government is better than dictatorships and theocracies, it has its pitfalls. FSM Contributing Editor Philip Atkinson describes some of the difficulties facing President Bush today.

Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy

By Philip Atkinson

President George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States. He was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2005 after being chosen by the majority of citizens in America to be president.

Yet in 2007 he is generally despised, with many citizens of Western civilization expressing contempt for his person and his policies, sentiments which now abound on the Internet. This rage at President Bush is an inevitable result of the system of government demanded by the people, which is Democracy.

The inadequacy of Democracy, rule by the majority, is undeniable – for it demands adopting ideas because they are popular, rather than because they are wise. This means that any man chosen to act as an agent of the people is placed in an invidious position: if he commits folly because it is popular, then he will be held responsible for the inevitable result. If he refuses to commit folly, then he will be detested by most citizens because he is frustrating their demands.

When faced with the possible threat that the Iraqis might be amassing terrible weapons that could be used to slay millions of citizens of Western Civilization, President Bush took the only action prudence demanded and the electorate allowed: he conquered Iraq with an army.

This dangerous and expensive act did destroy the Iraqi regime, but left an American army without any clear purpose in a hostile country and subject to attack. If the Army merely returns to its home, then the threat it ended would simply return.

The wisest course would have been for President Bush to use his nuclear weapons to slaughter Iraqis until they complied with his demands, or until they were all dead. Then there would be little risk or expense and no American army would be left exposed. But if he did this, his cowardly electorate would have instantly ended his term of office, if not his freedom or his life.

The simple truth that modern weapons now mean a nation must practice genocide or commit suicide. Israel provides the perfect example. If the Israelis do not raze Iran, the Iranians will fulfill their boast and wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Yet Israel is not popular, and so is denied permission to defend itself. In the same vein, President Bush cannot do what is necessary for the survival of Americans. He cannot use the nation's powerful weapons. All he can do is try and discover a result that will be popular with Americans.

As there appears to be no sensible result of the invasion of Iraq that will be popular with his countrymen other than retreat, President Bush is reviled; he has become another victim of Democracy.

By elevating popular fancy over truth, Democracy is clearly an enemy of not just truth, but duty and justice, which makes it the worst form of government. President Bush must overcome not just the situation in Iraq, but democratic government.

However, President Bush has a valuable historical example that he could choose to follow.

When the ancient Roman general Julius Caesar was struggling to conquer ancient Gaul, he not only had to defeat the Gauls, but he also had to defeat his political enemies in Rome who would destroy him the moment his tenure as consul (president) ended.

Caesar pacified Gaul by mass slaughter; he then used his successful army to crush all political opposition at home and establish himself as permanent ruler of ancient Rome. This brilliant action not only ended the personal threat to Caesar, but ended the civil chaos that was threatening anarchy in ancient Rome – thus marking the start of the ancient Roman Empire that gave peace and prosperity to the known world.

If President Bush copied Julius Caesar by ordering his army to empty Iraq of Arabs and repopulate the country with Americans, he would achieve immediate results: popularity with his military; enrichment of America by converting an Arabian Iraq into an American Iraq (therefore turning it from a liability to an asset); and boost American prestiege while terrifying American enemies.

He could then follow Caesar's example and use his newfound popularity with the military to wield military power to become the first permanent president of America, and end the civil chaos caused by the continually squabbling Congress and the out-of-control Supreme Court.

President Bush can fail in his duty to himself, his country, and his God, by becoming “ex-president” Bush or he can become “President-for-Life” Bush: the conqueror of Iraq, who brings sense to the Congress and sanity to the Supreme Court. Then who would be able to stop Bush from emulating Augustus Caesar and becoming ruler of the world? For only an America united under one ruler has the power to save humanity from the threat of a new Dark Age wrought by terrorists armed with nuclear weapons.

# #

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Philip Atkinson is the British born founder of ourcivilisation.com and author of A Study of Our Decline. He is a philosopher specializing in issues concerning the preservation of Western civilization. Mr. Atkinson receives mail at .

Link.

Can We Be Defeated In Iraq

2008-07-21T05:19:00.002-04:00

Dishonest Joe fears so.

But can we?

Build a healthy democracy? That's an imposed goal that regrettably is not possible given the natives' cultures. So while defeat may be regrettable, victory is impossible.

Bases? Control of the nation's oil? It's happening. And to the extent they haven't, they're on track and pretty much inevitable.

Fighting terrorism? Well, the terrorism we care about isn't in Iraq. Getting out and enabling the Iraqis to control their nation is at least as good a solution as policing it for them. Meanwhile, we're also empowering Iran staying there. That can't be good for us.

So why stay? Somewhat contrary to Colin Powell, yes, we screwed up Iraq but we can't fix it to what it was. What could be accomplished pretty much has been so let's start getting out now.

The Triumph Of Modern Capitalism

2008-07-20T12:05:00.001-04:00

What's wrong with this headline?

Dow Jones Up In Opening Trading On News Of Government Bailout.

The pigs have no need of government. Till they want to suck at the money-titty.

Dishonest Joe And His Enabler, The Paper Of Record

2008-07-20T12:03:00.001-04:00

Yeah, I'm sick of the lying, unprincipled weasel too. Link.

Progress In Afghanistan

2008-07-20T11:56:00.002-04:00

8% of our deaths occurred in the last six weeks. Obviously, whatever Our Leaders are doing after nearly seven years must be working. Way to go, Bushie!

President McCain's Favorite Joke

2008-07-20T11:55:00.001-04:00

Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, “Where is that marvelous ape?”

Read about it here.

The Genius, Principal and Honesty Of President McCain

2008-07-20T11:51:00.001-04:00

Via Atrios:

WARREN -- U.S. Sen. John McCain backtracked Friday on a pledge to set national auto emissions standards that would supersede those California and other states want to set.

"I guess at the end of the day, I support the states being able to do that," he said at a town hall meeting at the GM Technical Center.

The statement appears to contradict a statement McCain made to The Detroit News last month, when he said he hoped to set a national standard that would make state standards unnecessary.

One Of President McCain's Scumbags

2008-07-20T11:50:00.000-04:00

TPM (again...):

But look who's advising him on Iraq, who's crafting Iraq policy. That would be Randy Scheunemann, McCain's top foreign policy advisor. And he's the guy who today accused Barack Obama of wanting to lead America to defeat in Iraq for political gain.

Scheunemann was a core participant in the lobbying, plotting and organized campaigns of deception that led America to war in Iraq. He was a close collaborator with Ahmad Chalabi through the 1990s. He helped draft the Iraq Liberation Act, which created the new funding stream for Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress. At the start of the Bush administration he signed on as Don Rumsfeld's 'consultant' on Iraq at the Pentagon. And then when the administration started cranking up the machinery for the propaganda campaign in favor of war he went back on the outside to form and lead the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, to lead the press and lobbying campaign to make sure the war got started on schedule.

Remember, US intelligence later found evidence that Chalabi, in addition to foisting a bunch of bogus intelligence and lying informers on the US and pocketing a lot of US taxpayer dollars, had provided highly classified US intelligence to Iran. Scheunemann worked closely with Chalabi for years in his efforts to get the US into war with Iraq. He was also a go-between between Chalabi and McCain. Now that he's taking such a high-profile role on the Iraq issue in the 2008, Scheunemann's history with Chalabi and the use of bogus intelligence to get the nation into war is unquestionably highly newsworthy.

Just In Case You Doubt MSM Sucks, The AP In Particular, It Does, And Here's Why

2008-07-20T11:49:00.001-04:00

TPM:

Earlier today we noted the possible role of AP Washington Bureau Chief Ron Fournier is turning the AP's campaign coverage into complete crap. Now from the just released Tillman Report, it seems Fournier was also one of the reporters exchanging emails the day of Tillman's death with Karl Rove of all people -- and according to the report at least, offering advice on how to handle the story. "Keep up the fight," Fournier tells Rove.

Our Leaders: Geniuses of High Moral Principal

2008-07-20T11:30:00.002-04:00

Ashcroft at Committee Hearing: My inability to distinguish between what happened and what I've been told may make my testimony unreliable.

2008-07-20T11:30:00.001-04:00

GOP Class

2008-07-20T11:29:00.000-04:00

Real as a gold-plated turd....

Just as I eventually decided not to ask Michael Bloomberg to buy me my own private island in the Caribbean, Mitt Romney has now decided not to ask voters to donate money to help repay him the $45 million he loaned to his own failed campaign.

No Shot Is Ever Too Cheap For The Rightists To Take, No Blow Too Low, All Justified By The Need To Destroy America

2008-07-20T11:24:00.002-04:00

Just imagine a Dem putting a wingnut anything like at risk....

TPM:

This is the lead on a story just out over the Reuters wire ...
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday that his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, is likely to be in Iraq over the weekend.

The Obama campaign has tried to cloak the Illinois senator's trip in some measure of secrecy for security reasons. The White House, State Department and Pentagon do not announce senior officials' visits to Iraq in advance.

"I believe that either today or tomorrow -- and I'm not privy to his schedule -- Sen. Obama will be landing in Iraq with some other senators" who make up a congressional delegation, McCain told a campaign fund-raising luncheon.
The Reuters piece hints at it. But if Obama is going to be in Iraq this weekend, this is a major breach on McCain's part. As a knowledgeable insider notes ...
If it is true that Obama is going to Iraq this weekend, it is a very serious mistake for McCain to have disclosed it publically. Even for run-of-the-mill CODELs the military gives guidance like, "Please strongly discourage Congressional offices from issuing press releases prior to their trips which mention their intent to travel to the AOR and/or the dates of that travel or their scheduled meetings. Such releases are a serious compromise to OPSEC." If Obama is going to Iraq this weekend, I can not begin to imagine how much this is complicating the security planning for the trip.
It's known that Obama is leaving on his foreign trip this weekend and the Journal OpEd page this morning said that Obama could arrive in Iraq "as early as this weekend." And with a slew of reporters in tow, it's not exactly highly classified information. But there is a reason definite information about these sorts of trips aren't released in advance.

Christofascist Morality

2008-07-20T11:23:00.000-04:00

Dementia is more accurate. Link.

A Great Moment In Modern American History: Inprisonment of a 16 Year Old At Gitmo And His Interrogation

2008-07-20T10:01:00.003-04:00

It is different after 9/11: The more Our Leaders destroy America as it existed and what it represented before 9/11, the happier they and their supporters are. (A reminder: The radical right that controls this country always hated what this country represented; nativism and anti-immigration policies are historical examples.)

Actually, I exaggerated in the headline: the questioning's by Canadian agents. We're just the enablers. (Of course, really, if we were doing the questioning, there would have been at least a little torture... persuasive techniques.)

A National Security Professional's Analysis

2008-07-20T09:47:00.002-04:00

Short version: President McCain is rather full of it.

The Cream Of Society Tells This Joke....

2008-07-20T09:34:00.002-04:00

Well, maybe, both cream and society are curdled... we report, you decide.

Lips Sealed Shut For Freedom

2008-07-20T09:30:00.001-04:00

Follow the link and read what this actually illustrates.

Modern Pop

2008-07-20T08:59:00.002-04:00

The following is a song off of what I understand to be the best selling album on iTunes in 2007. In a made me listen sort of way, I got three of the woman's albums and listened to them.

In my opinion (others' may vary), it is so dead and deadening. The following is the liveliest track and, well, there's a reason it's on Sesame Street; it adapts that easily. Feist is undoubtedly talented (I love when she speaks French!) but her music.... Listening to it is the aural equivalent of neurasthenia. And if that's what pop is meant to be... well, it isn't. Good music is life affirming. May be this is, but not to my aged ears.

Still, it's a lovely song in the right context. Like on Sesame Street.

Classic Security Threat

2008-07-20T06:00:00.002-04:00

Man meets woman. One beds the other. Before you know it, state secrets lost! Gotta hope she was worth it....

Not That It Will Affect The Election, But Still: Hardeharhar!

2008-07-20T05:35:00.000-04:00

Senator John McCain ridiculed Senator Obama's timetable for Iraq withdrawal as a tactic aimed only at getting votes.

For the Iraqi Prime minister, it apparently worked.

[more]

Hardy-Har

2008-07-19T09:57:00.002-04:00

Have to steal the video off of YouTube 'cause Team JibJab doesn't believe making their videos embeddable. (That would of course also make the videos a better promotion for JibJab. But I'm still unemployed so what do I know? Unemployed means devoid of all knowledge as opposed to two weeks ago when I was employed. No, I'm not bitter.)

Image Of The Day

2008-07-19T09:32:00.002-04:00

Link.

Doing The Right Thing, The Perverted Corporatist Way

2008-07-19T09:25:00.002-04:00

In the corporatist state, the corporation does the right thing only when compelled and then only in the most self-serving way possible as opposed to effectively or properly.

Taking a stand against child porn wouldn't be overly aggressively blocking access to internet destinations that may or may not have porn (and there's no review over the list to make sure that they're actually objectionable). Taking a stand against child porn would be hunting down those responsible for the child porn and making sure that they're dealt with appropriately. Blocking access to some websites doesn't solve the problem. Those who still produce and make use of child porn will still get it from other sources -- but it will be more underground, making it more difficult for authorities to track down. Also, this sets an awful precedent in that the ISPs can point out that it's ok for them to block "objectionable" content where they get to define what's objectionable without any review.

[more]

Why We Should All Get Religion, A Specific One At That

2008-07-19T05:07:00.000-04:00

Another Diebold-Stolen Election

2008-07-18T15:38:00.000-04:00

Link.

Another One Who Hates Beloved Leader

2008-07-18T15:36:00.002-04:00

A little girl became so badly frightened while being introduced to President Bush on Wednesday during a White House tee-ball game that she darted away in tears.

***

As Bush attempted to offer Emily a baseball, she became spooked by either the president or the chipmunk mascot that was standing several feet away on the other side of the president.

[more]

Sending Karl Rove To Jail Is Inappropriate; Given His Background, The Only Right Thing Is To Lynch Him; Here's Why

2008-07-18T15:28:00.001-04:00

Freedom Of Speech: Not Here, Says GOP

2008-07-18T04:56:00.000-04:00

The Republican National Committee is threatening to sue CafePress for hosting an online venue for vendors to hawk GOP-related regalia like T-shirts, stickers and portrayals of elephants.

Freedom After 9/11: Going, Going....

2008-07-18T04:42:00.002-04:00

Nearly everyone carries a cell phone and it’s hard to find one without that camera feature. It’s convenient when you want to take that impromptu photo, but a Tri-Cities area man ended up behind bars after snapping a shot of a Johnson County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop.

The cell phone photographer says the arrest was intimidation, but the deputy says he feared for his life.

“Here’s a guy who takes me out of the car and arrests me in front of my kids. For what? To take a picture of a police officer?” said Scott Conover.

A Johnson County sheriff’s deputy arrested Scott Conover for unlawful photography.

“He says you took a picture of me. It’s illegal to take a picture of a law enforcement officer,” said Conover.

[more]

Here's the cop's very own version -- scary, but what would one expect??

Bizarre Entertainment!

2008-07-18T04:10:00.000-04:00

If Only....

2008-07-17T05:20:00.002-04:00

Link.

Scoop! The Cover The New Yorker Should Have Run

2008-07-17T05:17:00.002-04:00

Unambiguously funny...

Link.

Our Wide, Wacky World; Vigilant Police

2008-07-17T04:48:00.000-04:00

FRANTIC police smashed a window to rescue a seemingly unconscious baby from a locked vehicle in Queensland last week only to find it was an extremely lifelike doll.

What (I'm Sorry To Say -- Really!) The Younger Generation Prays For

2008-07-17T03:56:00.001-04:00

Link.

Let's Be Fair And Laff At O!

2008-07-16T15:25:00.001-04:00

Borowitz!

Obama Releases List of Approved Jokes About Himself
Bid to Help Late Night Comics
Saying he is "sympathetic to late night comedians' struggle to find jokes to make about me," Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) today issued a list of official campaign-approved Barack Obama jokes.

The five jokes, which Sen. Obama said he is making available to all comedians free of charge, are as follows:

Barack Obama and a kangaroo pull up to a gas station. The gas station attendant takes one look at the kangaroo and says, "You know, we don't get many kangaroos here." Barack Obama replies, "At these prices, I'm not surprised. That's why we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

A traveling salesman knocks on the door of a farmhouse, and much to his surprise, Barack Obama answers the door. The salesman says, "I was expecting the farmer's daughter." Barack Obama replies, "She's not here. The farm was foreclosed on because of subprime loans that are making a mockery of the American Dream."

A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Why the long face?" Barack Obama replies, "His jockey just lost his health insurance, which should be the right of all Americans."

Q: What's black and white and red all over?
Barack Obama: The New Yorker magazine, which should be embarrassed after publishing such a tasteless and offensive cover, which I reject and denounce.

A Christian, a Jew and Barack Obama are in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean. Barack Obama says, "This joke isn't going to work because there's no Muslim in this boat."

!!!

2008-07-16T15:24:00.000-04:00

A Pinhead's Wisdom

2008-07-16T14:27:00.001-04:00

Link.

See What I Made In Minutes! You Can Too!

2008-07-16T12:13:00.001-04:00

Photos taken with 1G iPhone, enhanced/tweaked in iPhoto. So simple, could have been done by a monkey!

Click on the photo to see the album!

Sunset at the "Naughty Puppy Playground"

What I Made

2008-07-16T07:44:00.002-04:00

Four photos taken of a somewhat unusually pretty suburban sunset, taken with my 1G iPhone, copies tweaked in iPhoto. So simple, a monkey can do this!

Laughs For Old Geeks

2008-07-16T05:42:00.000-04:00

The 30 Laws Of Robotics.

Whooaa!!

2008-07-16T05:41:00.000-04:00

Cute?? This Picture Of His Sons Got A Man Busted

2008-07-16T05:38:00.001-04:00

The story behind the pic.

Activity Of The Day (Or Whenever)

2008-07-16T05:27:00.003-04:00

Link.

Me, I don't find it all that torturous. There's some pretty decent tracks there. But look: the wingnuts must finally be acknowledging that "Born in the USA" is not actually a patriotic song (by their standards (pun intended)) after all. Only took nearly a quarter of a century for the geniuses to get past the title.

And thanks to Mother Jones, you can listen to the playlist and torture yourself. Or maybe find tracks you like!

In Case You Need To Know: How New FISA Works (Or, I Suppose, Not)

2008-07-16T05:24:00.002-04:00

And in case a thousand words, in this case, is worth more than a single image....

My Ex-Colleague Warps Time

2008-07-16T05:21:00.001-04:00

See what he did at a store around the corner from my former POB: Shifted inventory in time!

Has The World Gone To Hell? Watch This And Decide For Yourself

2008-07-16T05:06:00.002-04:00

Faux Bidness Nooz: Screw Thy Fellow Man.

Our New Motto?

2008-07-16T04:55:00.001-04:00

Via /.:

Talk is cheap because supply always exceeds demand.

Sweetness And Light And Maybe Too Much Sugar

2008-07-16T04:16:00.000-04:00

How To Lose More Gambling

2008-07-15T08:31:00.002-04:00

Go to a casino, lose money.

Go to this guy's, lose your money and your nation:

In the Las Vegas casinos that made Sheldon Adelson one of the country's richest men, a "whale" is someone willing to bet millions. Republicans are hoping Mr. Adelson will be their whale this election.

Strapped for cash and facing dozens of tough House and Senate races, the party is expected to lean heavily on outside issue-advocacy groups to mount Republican-friendly campaigns that it can't afford to run itself.

In that largely unregulated arena of independent advocacy, the 74-year-old Mr. Adelson -- a casino tycoon whose battles with Nevada's unions, staunch support for Israel and enormous investments in China have stirred controversy -- is expected to provide one of the biggest bankrolls.

[more for Faux Bidness Journal subscribers]

Whooaa!!

2008-07-15T08:12:00.001-04:00

In Case A Reminder Is Needed Both As To What A Piece Of Crap Honest Joe Is And How Fawning And Lame And Flaccid The SCLM Is

2008-07-15T07:55:00.002-04:00

Here.

No Sense Of Humor Or Maybe Bad Taste And Ineptitude Just Aren't Funny

2008-07-15T07:49:00.005-04:00

Salon thinks the pinkos just don't have a sense of humor.

Well if the joke is that the wingnuts are silly to think the image is in any way true -- that's funny.

But the image doesn't communicate that. Rather it clearly supports the idea that O is some sort of secret terrorist, doesn't it?

And why not? There are more than 1,000,000 known terrorists on the national Terrorist Watch List.

The Son And Grandson Of Admirals, A Naval Academy Graduate, A Senator For Years....

2008-07-15T07:34:00.003-04:00

And he's concerned about the security of a nation that hasn't existed for approximately fifteen years. Any lie or stupid remark to push the paranoiac rightist national security line.

Too stupid to be president? You decide. I mean, I understand this triumph of the heart concept but this level of stupidity is a serious threat to the nation and the world.

Beating Up MSM Lackey

2008-07-15T05:48:00.002-04:00

Double pleasure for me: MSM hack gets smacked down by an Apple geek (I am a huge Apple geek -- and will be a bigger one, ironically, as I sell off my stock to survive unemployment).

Nostalgic Quote Of The Day

2008-07-15T05:17:00.001-04:00

That was then... what a wonderful world no one would say something like this now, in the nihilistic post-Reagan era....

It is Mr. Mellon's credo that $200,000,000 can do no wrong. Our offense consists in doubting it. -- Justice Robert H. Jackson

About The Polls

2008-07-14T05:06:00.002-04:00

Sort of like Florida in 2000, there's a large group the pollsters have been ignoring. So whatever poll you look at, there is an inherent pro-O element missing; all polls therefore include a discount, as it were, of O support (which is to say it shows an excess of support for President McCain. (This gets to my theory: even though I am fairly certain McCain will win I acknowledge a big X-factor: O's support among the younger, newer voters, which is a pretty large if undependable block.)

The Most Amazing Thing You'll See Today!

2008-07-13T05:27:00.000-04:00

Do This Now

2008-07-12T04:11:00.000-04:00

What to do and why to do it.

This' Entertainment!

2008-07-11T03:31:00.001-04:00

Laugh While My Life Crumbles....

2008-07-11T03:11:00.000-04:00

Something Else To Do

2008-07-10T04:13:00.000-04:00

Show your love for the FISA renewal/capitulation/erosion of freedom act.

Strike Back At Faux News! Now!

2008-07-10T04:06:00.001-04:00

Watch it then go here and follow instructions!

This' Entertainment!

2008-07-10T03:29:00.001-04:00

How To Mix A Drink

2008-07-10T03:21:00.000-04:00

Update!

2008-07-09T04:04:00.001-04:00

Your blogger was fired from his job 7 July 2008 effective 11 July 2008.

Will keep you updated, will cry next week (too busy this week).

Torture

2008-07-09T03:57:00.001-04:00

Watch it.

Great Artsy Viddie

2008-07-09T03:54:00.000-04:00

Our Leader's Brave New World; The Slow Death Of American Freedom

2008-07-09T03:51:00.001-04:00

This is how a great nation deteriorates, citizens ignorant of stuff like this or letting it go on or even happy with the promise of safety it offers.

With Congress on the verge of outlining new parameters for National Security Agency eavesdropping between suspicious foreigners and Americans, lawmakers are leaving largely untouched a host of government programs that critics say involves far more domestic surveillance than the wiretaps they sought to remedy.

These programs - most of them highly classified - are run by an alphabet soup of federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies. They sift, store and analyze the communications, spending habits and travel patterns of U.S. citizens, searching for suspicious activity.

The surveillance includes data-mining programs that allow the NSA and the FBI to sift through large databanks of e-mails, phone calls and other communications, not for selective information, but in search of suspicious patterns.

Other information, like routine bank transactions, is kept in databases similarly monitored by the Central Intelligence Agency.

"There's virtually no branch of the U.S. government that isn't in some way involved in monitoring or surveillance," said Matthew Aid, an intelligence historian and fellow at the National Security Archives at The George Washington University. "We're operating in a brave new world."

Federal rules limit the ways some of the information can be used and shared among government agencies. Pending changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act contain numerous provisions set up to safeguard the privacy of Americans. But there are few similar protections with other types of surveillance.

Under the FISA proposal, for example, a CIA transcript or NSA summary of an innocent social conversation between a foreign terrorist and his relative in the United States would not be shared with other intelligence analysts. Even if the conversation was later found to have investigative merit, the U.S. relative's name and other identifying information would either be redacted or revealed only under limited circumstances to select agencies.

The Bush administration argues that the privacy and civil liberties protections in place for surveillance not covered by the FISA rules are "unprecedented." In addition to the data-mining, use of financial transaction databases and satellite imagery, the surveillance includes monitoring the travel patterns of airline passengers.

Use of satellites by local law enforcement agencies, for instance, is supposed to go through a stringent approval protocol at the Department of Homeland Security's newly formed National Applications Office.

But critics say the safeguards don't always work. Some blunders in the use of such protections have become public. NewYorker writer Lawrence Wright wrote in January about one such experience. In 2002, while he was researching The Looming Tower, his Pulitzer Prize-winning book on al-Qaida, two members of an FBI terrorism task force arrived at his home. Why, they asked, had his daughter been speaking with someone in the United Kingdom who was in touch with suspected al-Qaida operatives?

It wasn't his daughter, he told them flatly. Wright himself had made the calls. And the person he contacted was a British civil rights lawyer who had asked him not to speak with her clients, some of whom are relatives of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's chief lieutenant.

"My daughter is no terrorist - she went to high school with the Bush twins," Wright said. "I was taken aback. They were apparently monitoring my phones."

Wright said he was particularly surprised because he was aware of protections supposedly in place to conceal his name and other identifying information that would have been gathered during the creation of transcripts of the call.

Wright said he doubted the government would have been able to get a warrant for the information, and he said he didn't know how the FBI obtained his daughter's name, let alone got the impression that she was communicating with the British lawyer.

Critics say such stories recall 1960s and 1970s-era abuses - the CIA's involvement in political activities, and the FBI monitoring of peace groups and civil rights activists - that prompted Congress to pass far-reaching laws bringing foreign-intelligence gathering and any domestic surveillance under strict controls and judicial oversight.

Although the latest FISA proposal includes numerous provisions for a secret court to monitor and authorize surveillance, and for inspectors general to keep tabs on who's being monitored by various agencies, little oversight exists for surveillance programs that fall outside FISA scrutiny.

Congress has requested, and in many cases received, briefings on some of the programs. But its dissatisfaction with the amount of information provided by the administration has frequently resulted in holding back funding for programs.

The House Appropriations Committee took such a step this week, holding back funding for the National Applications Office's effort to use U.S. satellites for domestic purposes until August, when the Government Accountability Office will release a report about how the program will handle civil liberties and privacy concerns.

Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the department had repeatedly met with lawmakers and would comply with any review process. He called efforts to stall the funding "misguided" and a potential threat to public safety and security missions.

Even when Congress has received information, lawmakers say their questions or concerns are often addressed within the agency that is responsible for the surveillance, amounting to a practice of self-policing.

"You don't have to look far into history to know that when the government, any government, is given secret authorities, that those authorities are ultimately abused," said Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "You don't even have to attribute bad motives to anyone. In an intelligence officer's zeal to protect the country, they often will overstep their bounds."

In part to assuage privacy concerns, the Department of Homeland Security has established a privacy czar to ensure that the technologies and programs initiated by the federal agency do not erode privacy laws or violate civil liberties. While many have lauded the creation of such a position, some believe it should be expanded to a Cabinet-level post in the executive branch, a step that some advocates say would send a powerful message in an age when digitized communications have ballooned and made safeguarding private information vastly more complicated.

"We should have what Canada has, which is a minister of privacy, someone looking out for the privacy issues of Americans," said James Bamford, an intelligence expert and author on two books about the history of the NSA. "We have armies of people out there trying to pick into everyone's private life, but we have nobody out there who's an advocate."

Link.

You'd Think With Support So Broad It Includes These Guys, One Can't Lose; Wrong!

2008-07-08T03:50:00.001-04:00

Old school conservatives like O, too. Well, don't get your hopes up; my money (well, if I had it to spare's) still on McCain.

Freedom!

2008-07-08T03:24:00.001-04:00

More and a little proof in support of the woman's position. I mean, facts are facts, whatever that's worth.

WMDs Found?

2008-07-07T04:06:00.001-04:00

No, not really, just some nasty crap.

Maybe that will be the October surprise this cycle: not a terrorist attack, as wished by President McCain, but the discovery of a legitimate WMD.

And You Shall Know Him By Those He Surrounds Himself With; Not St. John -- Saint Bono!

2008-07-06T20:29:00.005-04:00

Link.

Link.

Lennon Speaks

2008-07-06T20:26:00.001-04:00

One Man Thinks We Got Played In The Betancourt Release

2008-07-06T20:12:00.002-04:00

Not the work of fine Colombian military prowess but a sturm und drang show surrounding a, well, release for ransom.

Ingrid Betancourt--This Year's Jessica Lynch?
South American affairs is obviously not China Hand's bailiwick, but I had the funny feeling that the the “rescue” of Betancourt and the other hostages from the hands of FARC by the Colombian government looked, walked, and quacked more like a negotiated release than a genuine piece of special ops derring do.

It looks like I might have been right.

Swiss radio is reporting that it cost $20 million to spring the hostages.

For those of you interested in how unworthy suspicions flower in the mind of an incorrigibly cynical blogger, I will regale patient readers with a rundown of the official story's fishier elements.

First, the Betancourt story got huge—suspiciously huge—play in US papers. In my hometime paper, the LA Times, it was the big A1 right-column, banner headline lead.

Well, Ingrid Betancourt, like Jerry Lewis, might be huge in France—she holds dual Colombian-French citizenship—but, quite frankly, before July 2 I had never heard of her.

Obviously, the US press was primed to push this story.

That's not by itself indicator of something fishy going on.

The US government has a strong interest in boosting the kinda-fascisty guys who run Colombia while running down kinda-commie Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

It also has a strong interest in discrediting and sidelining Chavez as a regional leader who can serve as a go-between and extract hostages and concessions from FARC.

So the story that the Colombians--with indispensable US support--sprung the hostages would have received some play in any case.

However, the orgasmic and uncritical US press coverage of the action, combined with the gratuitous jibes at Chavez (including energetically interpreting some neutral-sounding statements from Betancourt as veiled Chavez criticism), appeared so promptly, ubiquitously, and hyperbolically it appeared to me we were witnessing the previously-planned orchestration of a media event rather than the reaction to a slick rescue.

Another indicator was that getting Betancourt released was a big thing for President Sarkozy of France. The French pay for hostages. Full stop.

So there was a strong incentive to get Betancourt out by any means possible--including a ransom--to steal Chavez's thunder and save Sarkozy's political bacon.

Of course, the rescue story was something that, in the context of special ops rescues, sounded ridiculous, involving some scheme where FARC unwittingly gathered the dispersed hostages and loaded them on a helicopter that fortuitously turned out to belong to the Colombian government.

However, the story sounded completely plausible if somebody had made a deal with FARC and said, hey, we're sending a helicopter for the hostages. Load ‘em up!

When Betancourt got out, she refrained from direct criticism of FARC, calling for a peace process instead of some no-holds barred war on the SOBs who imprisoned her for six years—another indication that a deal was involved.

For inquisitive reporters, I would consider another red flag the fact that nobody got killed. Indeed, not a shot was fired.

One would think that the Colombians would have taken advantage of an extraordinary intelligence and infiltration coup not just to helicopter out some hostages but also helicopter in some commandos and put a nice corpse-filled punctuation point on a signal victory in the war on terror.

So, a big media push would be needed not only to capitalize on a deal that was in the works; it would obscure the suspicion that a deal was involved and also dissuade the press from taking a hard second look at the official story it had already splashed all over its front pages.

The press—apparently having forgotten the manufactured bruhaha over Jessica Lynch's rescue and eager to confirm the suspicion that it is more interested in any narrative that the government is willing to provide legs for than messy, facty, and critical reportage--happily obliged.

Add to that the allegations of a ransom appearing in the European media, and that's something that looks like it's worth pursuing.

Here's how the Guardian reported the Betancourt ransom story.

Ingrid Betancourt arrived in France today after being held captive for six years in the Colombian jungle, amid claims that a ransom was paid to free her.

The Colombian government said that she was freed in an audacious operation after the military tricked Farc into handing the French-Colombian politician over without a shot being fired.

But quoting "reliable sources", Swiss Radio reported that a ransom was paid of around $20m (£10m).

It said that the US, which had three citizens among those freed, was behind the deal and that "the whole operation afterwards was a set-up".

The station reported that the wife of one of the hostages' guards was the go-between, having been arrested by the Colombian army.

If proved true, the allegations would be hugely embarrassing for the Colombian government which was showered with praise for the efficiency of the operation. Many commentators had predicted that it would even spell the end of Farc as a credible force.

However, I wonder how much play, serious investigation, or popular attention the Betancourt story will merit, now that its propaganda value as a one-day headline sensation has been realized.

Link.

And he has some support: the full Guardian story.