Ooops pt.2

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"My self respect wouldnt fill this vile"

Colin is just steaming mad that he was 100% wrong about that pesky WMD.

Ooops

Oooops, our bad.

Starbucks hates families

Seems that Starbucks is printing various little quips on their coffee cups as part of thier "The Way I See It" promotion.

Starbucks says: "Sparking conversation In the tradition of coffee houses everywhere, Starbucks has always supported a good, healthy discussion. To get people talking, "The Way I See It" is a collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable figures that now appear on our widely shared cups".

Well, it seems that there are just too many liberal types (Ken Burns! - boooooo) being represented for the tastes of the radical Repuglican crowd:

One of the quoted mouthbreathers had this to say:

The way I see it, Starbucks is now pushing ever more than before toward the left and becoming more outspoken. It is making it clearer every day that it is increasingly for the destruction of family values and virtues. I am glad that I now have other choices in coffee shops in my neighborhood so I don't have to concern myself with supporting Starbucks agenda. Now that Starbucks is declaring itself a moral and political spokesperson, it can get its money from liberals. Signing off, a former Starbucks customer.
- Marty Mallet, North Richland Hills, TX

Shit, I knew that us Liberals hated family values and all things American, but now Starbucks!!! Oy, oy, oy. We're lucky that there isnt more important things in the world to be worried about.

Honestly stolen from MyDD

Oh, and the list of the Un-American traitorish types that Starbucks is shoving down the thoats of upstanding Republican Patriots.

Fuel to burn, roads to drive

When it comes to the Earth and the care of the environment, I find myself agreeing with George Carlin. The Earth is fine. Nothing that we do to it will harm it in the long run. It'll shake off the plauge that is man like a Labrador Retriever shakes off pond water.

Now, mankind? The report says that we are pretty much fucking things up as badly and as quickly as we possilby can:

"The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries - some of them world leaders in their fields - today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure".

Now, I know that the current junta doesnt like the science types that inhabit the reality-based community, but I'd be interested to know what they'll have to say about the report. Of course, they wont be asked by our "liberal media" because they've got more important matters to cover (like Jacko's trial).

Not in Bush's Amerika

If you ever get a chance to go see El Shrubareeno at one of his "made for tv" GOoPer revivals, you best check the bumper of your car for improper stickers before you go.

Freedom of Speech - just watch what you say, indeed.

My biggest thing -- DO YOU REPUBLICANS NOT FUCKING CARE ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS? Or is it all just kickin brown-skinned ass, tax cuts, and moral values? You used to be the party of individual rights... now you're led by a bunch of quasi-theocratical jackboots. Hope you're happy.

Taking the Ride

More than 100k people in a horrific tsunami and it takes him three days to say anything (in public).

Nine members of an American-Indian tribe get murdered, Columbine style, and he is eerily silent.

Whoa, are the unfortunate darker skinned people. Now, if you were a white person that might inflame the passions (in some ways justified) of your base. Sheeeeee-it, you'd be a VIP - even if you were just one person.

Like Terri Schiavo (and I do not make light of her case, it's horrible all the way around, the only thing more horrible is the political manipulation of the events) -- in her case, back when the Bushies (Jeb and Smirko) thought they could make could political hay outta the whole thing - it was quite different.

We got photos of him rushing into the White House, we were told accounts of him signing the bill in the middle of the night - OH THE DRAMA !!

Then the polling came out and it showed that the entire country was pretty much disgusted by the behavior of the GOoPers that got the Federal Govt involved.

"Poof" -- like an 8-ball of cocaine from Dubya's college days -- he's nowhere to be seen. No doubt Karl Rove has told Georgie to stay away from reporters and to look around the White House for his disappearing approval ratings.

BTW, the Indians from Red Lake are pretty fuckin pissed by the total lack of sympathy coming outta 1600 Penn. Thanks to Pandagon for the tip.

And, as was noted in the post below, the GOoPers rode the Radical Christian Right (RCR) for a looooong time. Now, they are caught with their pants down in a way that is gonna be much worse for em than when WJC got caught with his pants down.

The RCR is too close to power now. They are starting to actually demand some action from the GOoPers to back up all those election year promises. So the Repubs can play ball with the American Taliban and distance themselves from traditional Conservatives. Or they can keep the RCR stung along and wait for them to make an election year break from the Republican Party. Either one isn't pretty.

But as Hunter S. Thompson said: "Pay the ticket, take the ride".

It really is like a roller-coaster: The Republican Party has been riding the backs of the RCR for 30 years - and they've finally reached the top of that hill. Now, the train is getting ready to plunge down the otherside.

Goldwater's GOP 1964-1994

It's was a "nice" 30 year ride, but it's over. Thanks Tricky Dick, Gerry, Ronzo, and Papa Boosh. There is no room for your "small government fiscal conservative" style of GOP. You flirted with and used the American Taliban for your own devices - but you did not watch them closely enough and "poof", like magical rabid swine, they came up and bit you in the ass while you weren't watching.

The bigoted hate mongers have come out from the shadows and now stand proudly at the Oval Office door -- they've taken over our country -- and in the process destroyed your party. Ha-fuckin-ha. That's good for me (in the long run) and mighty sad for you.

Read this great little article by a (moderate) Conservative blogger for more info.

No fly No works No shit

I know all too well the pain-in-the-ass of the No Fly List. Get to the airport, try to use the automated check-in... "BZZZZZZZZZ" not so fast, my fried. Please advance to special security secton Delta for your background check and anal probing.

I've been selected as a winner in the No Fly Watchlist sweepstakes three of the last four times that I've flown. I like to tell myself that I'm on the list because I pose a threat "to the man", you know cause I give money to Democrats and because I call the President "Smirky McChimp"... but, alas, I know I'm on the List because the List is a total clusterfuck and it's run by complete ijits.

I think the monkeys that came up with this disaster of an idea have their hearts in the right place - God, I hope they do - but do you realize that NONE of the commercial baggage that rides on your plane is checked, no, not checked at all. Like so much else, it'd be funny if it werent so flippin sad.

The stink of sheeeeeeee--it.

You know things are getting bad when even the fundy evangelicals that carried you to victory are of the opinion that you are an intrusive opportunistic jackass.

More than two-thirds of self-proclaimed evangelicals disapprove of the intervention by Congress and Smirky McChimp in the Terry Schiavo case. Maybe the evangelicals are tired of being screwed, blued, and tattooed by a radical Right Wing that only comes calling when they need their votes (and their money).

Chimpzilla's approval rating down to 43%. Lame duck with almost four whole years left to go?

The Ghost of Tora Bora

"We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001 (he was never) within our grasp" -- General Tommy Franks, 10/19/04

You might remeber that being repeated numerous times by Sir Chimp-a-lot and Darth Cheney during the Presidential campaigns... oh, dont blame us, Mr. Kerry, no one knew were bin Laden really was.

B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T.

They had a pretty fucking good idea. They had a pretty fucking good idea that he WAS in Tora Bora. And our leaders chose to let corrupt Afghan proxies do our fighting for us (lest the casualties harm Bush's chances of getting his Iraq War) -- POOF -- bin Laden is gone.

Franks lied.
Cheney lied (again).
Bush lied (again).

But you wont see it on the "liberal" television media.

An abiding aversion to science

One of the more under covered aspects of the Bush years has been His Chimpiness' disdain for all things scientific or logical - whether it be the bizzaro mathematics of his Social Security boondoggle, his stupefying inability to recognize global warming, or his most recent instance of kowtowing to the American Taliban in the case of Terri Schiavo - this President and his clueless band of idealouges are running our ship of state into the rocks of ignorance and superstition.

That aint a good thing.

From our friends across the pond...

"The American century was built on scientific progress. From the automobile to the atom bomb to the man on the moon, science and technology underpinned American military, commercial and cultural might.

Crucial to that was the presidency. From FDR and the Los Alamos laboratory to Kennedy and Nasa to Clinton and decoding the genome, the White House was vital to promoting ground-breaking research and luring the world's scientific elite.

But Bush's faith-based, petro-chemical administration has reversed that tradition: excepting matters military, this presidency exhibits an abiding aversion to scientific inquiry that is in danger of affecting the entire country".

(MORE)

Masters Of War

This song is over 40 years old. And as far as I know, it did not raise that big of a ruckus when it was released.

Imagine if a song like this were released today! The outrage and rightous indignation espoused by the Right would be stupifying. There would be record burnings and fevered ravings the likes of which not even the Dixie Chicks can comprehend.

Masters of War is as relevant today as it was in 1963. We are again at war with an ideology. We are again using bullets and bombs in an attempt to change hearts and minds. We again find that the only real "winners" in a war are the corporations that profit from it being waged and the politicians that exploit the emotions that come with it.

"Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus Christ would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead"

"Masters Of War" -- words by Bob Dylan.
Copyright © 1963.


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One Thousand Five Hundred Twenty One

1,521 Americans have died in George W. Bush's war of choice.

23 have died so far this month.

Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

Let her die, for God's sake

Let her die with dignity and peace.

Move along, fundementalist zealots, there is nothing for you here.

Silly English Kaniggets

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"Monty Python's Spamalot" opened last night on Broadway to very good reviews. In honor of such a monumental event I present you with a taste the greatest script in the history of film making (or something like that).

I'll be seeing Spamalot (which is pretty much a reinterpretation of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail") in a few weeks - I'll report back with my own review when I do.

From Monty Python & The Holy Grail:

ARTHUR: If you will not show us the Grail, we shall take your
castle by force!
GUARD: You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your
bottoms, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you,
so-called Arthur-king, you and all your silly English kaniggets.
Thppppt!
GALAHAD: What a strange person.
ARTHUR: Now look here, my good man!
GUARD: I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed
animal food trough water! I fart in your general direction! You
mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
GALAHAD: Is there someone else up there we could talk to?
GUARD: No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time-a!

Visit Spamalot's official site.

DeLay - King Of Swine

The Old Bug Squasher (OBS), a.k.a Tom DeLay, is just such a scumbag... my god, the GOoPers in D.C. are starting - just now - to maybe perhaps think that his unimaginable prowess at being a assjack cheating dirtball just might - JUST MIGHT - end up making them look bad.

And no fuckin doubt.

Think Progress has a great list of OBS' Greatest Hits, which include...

"Take This Money & Vote" DELAY BRIBES CONGRESSMAN TO VOTE FOR MEDICARE

"I Hate Kids Like I Hate Ants At A Picnic" DELAY PAYS FOR GOLF TOURNAMENTS WITH CASH MEANT FOR KIDS

Ah, hell, just go to Think Progress and read all 12 for yourself.

Again, the hypocrisy knows no bounds, if this guy - THE HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER - was a Democrat pulling this crap during the terms of WJC... my god, the shaking and rattling of Rush Limbaugh's gravy stained chins could be felt from Miami to Seattle.

Eh, it's ok - we're gonna get OBS. Just you wait. You can't be that dirty and not get busted. Can you ???

Bush get's bitch slapped & no one cares

El Shruberino was dealt quite the embarassing blow today as the "Senate voted to strip all proposed Medicaid cuts from the $2.6 trillion budget for next year, killing the heart of the plan's deficit reduction and dealing an embarrassing setback to President Bush and Republican leaders".

I mean this is a pretty big deal. But where are the cable news networks - all panty-bunched over the baseball hearings. I know that seeing an emaciated Mark McGuire (steroids, him? noooooooooo) is pretty compelling, but guess what - STEROIDS DONT REALLY FUCKING MATTER. Neither does Michael Jackson and his petter-ass trial. Nor do I need to see Scott fucking Peterson's face ever again.

Like yesterday, the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge is at long last going to the rapists and the cable nets don't hardly mention it. They should have carried the vote live. THAT is important stuff. Steroids, Jackson, and Peterson is minutae.

No wonder our leaders pull so much shit over on us - NO ONE CARES TO PAY ATTENTION.

Anyway, as far as Bush and the vote today to strip away the Medicaid cuts. I have one thing to say:

BWA-HA-HA-HA... that's a nice MANDATE you have there. Chump.

Under New Management

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And let us never forget the three Democratic Oil Whores that sold out the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge and their party:

Mary Landrieu-LA
Daniel Inouye-HI
Danial Akaka-HI

And let us not forget the Republicans that showed real courage and crossed party lines to do the right thing for America and the right thing for the Earth:

Lincoln Chafee-RI
Norm Coleman-MN
Susan Collins-ME
Mike DeWine-OH
John McCain-AZ
Gordon Smith-OR
Olympia Snowe-ME

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Goodbye ANWAR

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The swine had to hide the language in the budget bill to get it to pass, but pass it will - a call to have it removed from the budget bill was defeated 51 to 49. ANWAR has been beat down and rolled over - the rape begins.

I really hope the 6 months of oil we can gouge out of that land is worth it. ANWAR is a monument, or should be - but these rapists do not care. If there was oil under Arlington cemetery they'd choose to rip it up, too.

Dick Lugar - you are an asshole.

6 months of oil - SIX MONTHS. Is your greed that insatiable? Why couldn't you have left it alone?

UPDATE: The following three cocksuckers are Democrats: Inouye, Akaka and Landrieu - all voted against the amendment. And it lost 51-49. We have our whores, too.

This is your planet

How the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro looked for the last 11,000 years.
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How it looks today.

Any questions?

And to think that fucking cockroaches like Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) have called global warming:"the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people."

Nevermind that 99.9% of the scientific community has said global warming is real and that we are to blame for it (those few scientific types who say otherwise are either trying to sell books [Michael Crichton] or work for Exxon).

Ugh, anyway, this is worth reading

On a "Never Need To Know" basis

Just as Dolly told the other animals to be quiet and trust the pigs, the swine in the White House pretty much don't want us to know anything about what they do.

16 MILLION documents stamped "secret" and stashed away from the lighted lamp of public knowledge since 2001. Yeah, I know, 9/11 changed everything. No shit. It lets the shadowy fucks at 1600 Penn get away with pretty much anything.

Much props to Ken Saunders - I don't like to just cut-and-paste another bloggers work, but in this case, it's just so... so...so... unbelievable...

Putting the "mock" in Democracy"

Odds are, that, if asked, most Americans would define democracy as a government of, by, and for the people. Likewise, most Americans would consider America's "grand experiment" to be the shining example of democratic government, to be exported and worshiped worldwide. These are, after all, the fairy tales told to us in school.

However, in order for a government to properly be of and by the people, the people, namely "we", must have some idea of what our government is doing. Otherwise, while perhaps called a democracy, it becomes a government over the people and in which we have little, if any, say. Sadly, not only do we not have a clue about our government's actions, our government is systematically deeming more and more information about its activities improper for public consumption.

Since 2001, the number of government documents stamped "secret" by the Bush administration has steadily increased nearly 75 percent, from 9 million to 16 million. This increase in clandestine governance stems directly from Executive Order 12958 wherein President Bush broadened the classification of secret and confidential government information and ordered government agencies to restrict disclosures under the Freedom of Information Act. (more)

Wolfie the magnanimous banker ?

UPDATE: 3/16/05 - CNN.com reports that ShrubCo will indeed announce Wolfie as head of the World Bank.

We are now, officially, 100% through the looking glass.





Wolfowitz as the head of the World Bank?

The World Bank, made up of 184 member countries, is "a development Bank which provides loans, policy advice, technical assistance and knowledge sharing services to low and middle income countries to reduce poverty".

Basically it's duty is to find the best way that the rich countries can help the poor countries and make sure that every citizen of the planet has the basic necessities of life.

I don't know about you, but when I think of the one person that best combines the attributes of benevolence, knowledge of world finance, and international renown - the one person I can't stop thinking about is Wolfie of Arabia.

What the fuck?

Bill O'Reilly - SHITEATING SWINE

Egads! Is this falafel rubbin shitheel an asshole or what?

Well, of course he is - and it's be pointless for me to spend too much time on refuting each and every one of his fevered ruminations, but I would like to parse one particular moronization:

Federal judges blocked the transfer of 13 suspected terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay after a left-wing group, The Center for Constitutional Rights, sued on their behalf, saying they might be tortured if they were sent home or to another Muslim country. Wait a minute. I thought they were being tortured at Guantanamo Bay! --That's what the Progressive press keeps telling us. Now they want to keep these guys at Gitmo? What's the deal?

"Wait a minute, I thought they were being tortured at Guantanamo Bay... what's the deal.. blah blah blah"

They were (are) being tortured at Guantanamo, Bill, they were (are) - you perverted hush-money loving anus of a swine fuck.

You see, Bill, you jackass, many (I pray most) Americans don't believe that we should have ANY part in torturing people. That includes US soldiers and spooks torturing them in Git-Mo, that includes us so smugly sending them off to other countries to be tortured (as in the case of Canadian citizen Maher Arar.

Read my lips, Bill - you shiteater, TORTURE IS BAD.

Torture is unproductive.
Torture is un-American.
Torture endangers our soldiers and Marines.

And true PATRIOTS despise it's practice - and it goes without saying no kind of Christian would approve of it's practices under ANY circumstances.

OH YEAH, if you loathe Bill the way I do - check out this wonderful sight:

Sweet Jesus I Hate Bill O'Reilly

"Activist Judges" - HA HA

In the words of the great Nelson Muntz:

HA HA

It seems that the judge who recently (and correctly) ruled "that while withholding marriage licenses from gays and lesbians has been the status quo, it constitutes discrimination the state can no longer justify".

Of course the next thing you can expect is the GOoPers to be shouting and snorting about radical "Activist Judges" and how the leftist machinations of such a rabblerouser shouldn't be taken seriously.

HA HA

The judge who made the decision is a Catholic Republican appointed by Republican Pete Wilson in '96.

HA fucking HA

I Am A Patriot

I first heard this song being sung by Jackson Browne and Little Steven off of a Bruce Springsteen "Vote For Change" Tour compilation. I really dug it. After some research I was pleasantly suprised that Little Steven wrote it... though Jackson Browne and Pearl Jam have got some great milage out of it -- which is very cool, too.

Little Steven Van Zandt...

What can I say? The man's as cool as Steve McQueen...

He's a brother of The Boss...


He's an activist ("aint gonna play Sun City" was his idea)...
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And he's friends with Tony Soprano.


Anyway, it's a great song.

And in these days, when I look forward and all I can see is another four long years under the thumb of the Smirky McChimp, it's songs like this one that steels my resolve and helps me carry on. To me, that's when rock music is at it's greatest - when it lifts you up.
I am a Patriot.

"And the river opens for the righteous (5 times)
Someday

I was walking with my brother
And he wondered what's on my mind
I said what I believe in my soul
Ain't what I see with my eyes
And we can't turn our backs this time

I am a patriot
And I love my county
Because my country is all I know
I want to be with my family
The people who understand me
I've got nowhere else to go

And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
Someday

And I was talking with my sister
She looked so fine
I said, "Baby, what's on your mind?"
She said, "I want to run like the lion
Released from the cages
Released from the rages
Burning in my heart tonight"

And I ain't no communist
And I ain't no capitalist
And I ain't no socialist
And I ain't no imperialist
And I ain't no democrat
And I ain't no republican
I only know one party
And it is freedom

I am, I am, I am
I am a patriot
And I love my country
Because my county is all I know

And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
And the river opens for the righteous
Someday

And the river opens for the righteous"

"I Am A Patriot", Steven Van Zandt, 1984.

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Shinseki was right - exhibit 22b

"Mr. Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary, opened a two-front war of words on Capitol Hill, calling the recent estimate by Gen. Eric K. Shinseki of the Army that several hundred thousand troops would be needed in postwar Iraq, "wildly off the mark." NYT, 2/28/03

Hmmmm. Well, we let the fuckin Iraqis loot the museums, we let them create an atmosphere of complete anarchy which we face still today, we let some 380+ tons of explosives disappear from Al Qaqaa.

Now, dear fucking Uncle Moses, it seems that we let SOMEBODY dismantle some weapons labs/factories for weeks following the fall of Baghdad. And this wasn't a few dudes breaking windows and stealing what they could carry. Oh, no, they needed fucking trucks and cranes to steal what they did.

The legality, morality, and necessity of this war can be debated another time - but it is now so very clear that Rummy, Wolfie, Cheney, all of 'em, wanted to do this war on the cheap. We did NOT and DO NOT have enough troops on the ground. Shinseki was right.

Run Condi Run

The Moonie Times has a nice little article on Condi and her views on abortion (she's "mildly pro-choice") and whether she'd run for Prez in '08 (she "can't imagine it").

I say PLEASE RUN, CONDI, PLEASE RUN. They see it as a defense against HRC running (for the record, if she's the nominee, I vote Green) - I see it as the joke of jokes.

If the Repubs run a pro-choice African American woman, she'll get less Republican votes in the "Heartland" than Michael Moore.

I don't think she'll run, I'd put the odds at 500-1. Furthermore, Rudy can't win the love of the American Taliban, McCain is too much of a loose cannon. Look for Dr. Feelgood, Bill Frist, to be the GOoPer choice. Of course I thought either Howard Dean or Wes Clark had the Dem nominee locked up... oh, what an ignorant babe I was.

GOP: Give to the rich - fuck the poor

El Dubya, in a (rare) stroke of genuine smarts, wants to cut farm subsidies that dole out billions of dollars, mainly to mega farms (note: most of the money does NOT go to the Farm Aid needin' family farms). All El Busho wants to do is cut the maximum amount these farms can recieve from 360k to 250k. As these farm subsidies are a HUGE waste of OUR tax dollars - it's a good idea.

"NOT SO FAST" cry the GOoPer cunts in Congress - as opposed to the cuts in farm subsidies, the GOoPers have a better idea:

"Republican committee chairmen are looking to carve savings from nutrition and land conservation programs that are also run by the Agriculture Department... nutrition programs like food stamps, school lunches and special aid to low-income pregnant women and children".

My GOD I hope the "morals" bullshit that got Bush and these Republicans into power ends up being worth it for the saps in the "Heartland" when their children go to bed hungry.

Too much is too much

Forbes released their newest list of the richest of the rich and while I knew they were filthy rich (not to mention plain filthy) the exorbinant and obscene wealth of the Walton (Wal-Mart) family has my head spinning.

The five Walton kiddies share a combined wealth of 90.7 billion dollars. That's 90.7 THOUSAND MILLION dollars.

That is more than the G.D.P. (Gross Domestic Product) of 170 countries. Only 38 countries on Earth have a GDP that is more than the Walton families booty. And these arent all piss ant countires like the West Timorikistanvania Island (not a real country) but pretty respectable countries like New Zealand, Hungary, and Chile (real countries... feel I have to explain, since us 'Mericans arent too big on geography).

The World Bank has a list.

And, noooooo, I don't loathe them because they are rich (Bill Gates himself is worth 46.5 Billion), I loathe them because they've amassed their riches on the backs of the American worker and by devouring the souls of countless American communities.

Fuck em

Kos nails it (again)

While I think that Daily Kos is perhaps getting a bit too big for it's britches... that is I think there is pressure to live up to the hype and sometimes the site tries too hard. But shit, I'm sure Markos feels like he has the tiger by the tail much of the time... all us other bloggers dream of being a tenth his size without realizing the pain in the ass such popularity brings with it. Anyway, Daily Kos is still the gold standard and the piece below shows why. Here is a great editorial from Kos, reprinted in it's entirity without permission:

"Once upon a time, it was easy for the American Right to smear its opponents on the left -- they could simply equate them with the nation's communist enemies. It didn't matter that the American "left" (Democrats) had more in common with the Right than international communism, the smear was useful.

Now, however, our international enemy -- Islamic radicalism -- is actually the polar opposite of what liberals stand for -- their actions on women rights are deplorable, they insist on theocracy, they loooveee torture and the death penalty, they demand to control the culture (TV, movies, music), they rail against rampant sexuality, they seek to spread their ideology via force, and they have a well-defined black-and-white sense of truth.

Remind you of a certain American party?

That's why hysterical assertions by the wingers that liberals hate America and want the terrorists to win are so absurd. As absurd as it would've been to claim that Reagan wanted the Communists to win the Cold War. The Taliban/Al Qaida/Hezbollah/Jihadists of the world are the exact embodiment of evil in the liberal mind. They are everything we are against, and against everything we are for.

In fact, they are exactly what we see in the Republican Party as the GOP continues to consolidate power -- creeping theocracy, moralizing, us versus them, embrace of torture, the need to constantly declare jihad on someone, hysterics over football-game nipples, control over "decency" on the airwaves, lyrics censorship, hostility to women freedoms, curtaling of civil liberties, and so on.

So it's pretty obvious -- we don't love terrorists. We don't want them to win. For them to win would be to realize our greatest fears. The muslim terrorist is truly the anti-liberal. Like matter and anti-matter.

Republicans, on the other hand, hate the terrorists because they're Muslim. But aside from that, they've got far more in common than they'll ever admit to themselves.

And it's high time we started to make that connection more forcefully".

And BINGO was his name - OH!

ah, breath easier... a victory

We can all breath a little easier now (oh my, the fun of the pun) as clean air and the health of the Earth won a small victory yesterday. The President's "Clean Skies" bill failed to make it out of Committee.

Now, remember, this is the bill that doesn't do jack shit about carbon dioxide emissions, greenhouse gases, and nevermind that the vast majority of scientists and climatologists say that global warming is caused by the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - this bill did not even address it in the slightest.

Sen. James Inhofe, fundy wingnut supremo (and the Committees chair!), had this to say:

"This bill has been killed by the environmental extremists who care more about continuing the litigation-friendly status quo and making a political statement about carbon dioxide than they do about reducing air pollution"

Hmmm. Well, he IS a former land developer and the former mayor of Tulsa... I mean, just because the scientific community says that global warming is real, that it's caused by greenhouse gases, I mean - shit - who are you gonna believe:

The scientists and their new fangled book learnin' or the ex mayor of Tulsa?

Witch of November come stealing

I've always liked sea shanties... dont know exactly why. The romance of them, I guess. One of the first songs I ever heard about sailors and shit was Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald". I remember being a kid and hearing the lines "The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times - For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald". Gave me goosebumps, still sorta does.

Anyway, the Edmund Fitzgerald is a pretty interesting story and it's made for a great fuckin song.


"Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald"

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.

Words by Gordon Lightfoot, Moose Music, 1976.

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Boondoggle goes KER-PLUNK

That mandate didnt even last two months.

Personal Accounts Tank in Polls, GOP Says

We've got hypocrites in our house.

It makes me ill to admit to hypocrisy in our own ranks - but you gottan call em as you see em, yeah?

And it hurts even worse when the hypocrites are some of the standard bearers for your cause. The following is a critique (by independent publishing company Chelsea Green) of liberal authors who publish with mega-corp book houses.

Stolen straight from DailyKos:

There is a great deal of talk from progressive leaders these days about how this country needs media reform as part of a multifaceted approach to saving democracy, and winning back the White House and Congress. A woeful lament is sung by our progressive leaders about how the media companies are now concentrated into homogeneous conglomerates which, at best, worry only about bottom-line profits, while at their most sinister, are dedicated to furthering the radical right-wing agenda.
We agree! What we don't understand is why these same progressive writers and activists don't walk the walk, and offer like-minded independent book publishers a seat at the table when strategies for media reform are being bandied about.

For the sake of opening up this discussion, I'd like to ask Amy Goodman why she published her last book, The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media that Love Them, with Disney-owned Hyperion.

Michael Moore: What possessed you to make money for Rupert Murdoch by publishing your book, Stupid White Men, with ReganBooks/HarperCollins, and to then go to AOL/Time Warner's Warner Books with Dude! Where's My Country?, before jumping to a third corporate ship, Viacom's Simon & Schuster, to publish your latest offering, Will They Ever Trust Us Again?

David Corn: When you were underscoring the media's role in spreading W.'s deceptions, in The Lies of George W. Bush, why did you choose not only to go with a corporate-owned publisher, but with Crown - for years now, a member of the German-owned Bertelsmann AG conglomerate, which helped to spread anti-Semitic literature and Nazi propaganda in the years leading up to and during WWII? See here and ironically, here, in The Nation.

Al Franken: When publishing Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, why did you make money for Dutton, a cog in the wheel of British-owned media giant Pearson, rather than help to reform American media by making a commitment to and money for an independent American publisher? And, finally, I really hate to point out to populist Jim Hightower that he, too, made money for that same Brit media giant, by going with another of Pearson's holdings, Viking, when he published his latest book, Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush.

I don't have much of a problem with any of em except for Moore. Come on, Mike, walk the walk - you fucker. Takin money from Rupert, Time-Warner, and Disney - that's the devil's own, bro. What the hell?

Bush's Bizzaro Universe

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In the Bizzaro universe everything is assbackwards. Up is down, left is right, the Earth is a square, the best movie is a boring movie, people go to "ugly" parlors to get their hair done. You get it. It's all fucked up.

And now, thanks to GWB and the wisdom of the Americans that gave him another four years in office - we have slipped further into the realm of the Bizzaro.

Case in point - who better to appoint as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations than someone who loathes the U.N.?

Enjoy Every Sandwich

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I miss Warren Zevon.

Don't know why, maybe it still has something to do with Hunter S. Thompson's death, because I stumbled upon this picture of the good doctor Thompson practicing his own brand of gonzo medicine on his friend, Zevon. Whatever the reason, Mr. Bad Example has been on my mind a lot recently.

He's been dead for a year and a half -- and I still miss him with an odd intensity.

"Play It All Night Long" shows Zevon's twisted sense of humor... and how he could use that humor to reveal the most human of truths. Much like his friend Hunter. S. Thompson. And besides, it's as David Letterman said - Warren Zevon is the only writer who would ever think to use the word "brucellosis" in a song.

Grandpa pissed his pants again
He don't give a damn
Brother Billy has both guns drawn
He ain't been right since Vietnam

"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

Daddy's doing Sister Sally
Grandma's dying of cancer now
The cattle all have brucellosis
We'll get through somehow

"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

I'm going down to the Dew Drop Inn
See if I can drink enough
There ain't much to country living
Sweat, piss, jizz and blood

"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long

After he was diagnosed, Warren went on the David Letteman show as that nights only guest. Zevon appeared on the Letterman show a good many times - as both guest and as a semi-frequest temp band leader in place of Paul Schaffer. It was a very touching interview in which Zevon reminded us all to "enjoy every sandwich".


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Warren Zevon R.I.P.

Just to make sure

I know it's been covered just below, but I think it's important for everyone to know the story inside and out -- and to follow the story. Our country is at stake. What makes America the great country it is -- it's all at stake.

We CAN NOT let them stand above the law.

You're a U.S. citizen landing at a major airport from abroad.

You're pulled out of line at customs, arrested, thrown in jail for a month and then spirited off to a military prison.

Nearly three years later, you're still there, never charged with any crime. The government claims it can hold you forever without answering to any judge or court.

The scenario is not fiction. It's happening now...

Read the rest of the article here.

Best fuckin' TV show period.

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Deadwood returns for it's second season starting Sunday, March 6, at 9pm. If you dont know anything about the show - click here. If you've heard about it and havent watched it... watch it. If you'd like to see it but don't have HBO... fucking get HBO.

BTW, that tough sumbitch pictured above is Seth Bullock (played by Timothy Olyphant) who, at the end of last season, reluctantly took over as the Sheriff of Deadwood. Bullock is the baddest lawman on TV since Frank Pembleton worked Homicide in Baltimore.

When you hear people that say there is nothing good on TV - this is exhibit "A" as to why they are full of shit. Do yourself a favor and tune in.

Civil Rights? Not on Rev. Bush's watch

It used to be, back in the day when America revered Civil Rights for all Americans (or at least claimed that they did), if your religious organization did work for the Federal government, that is if they took money from the Federal government, then you could not make your hiring (or firing) decisions based upon the religious views of your applicants or employees.

Pretty good idea. If the Feds give your organization money then you have to adhere to equal opportunity hiring standards.

So much for that.

"Administration officials contended that some faith-based charities were discouraged from seeking federal grants because they feared the ban on discriminatory hiring would cause them to lose their religious identities".

Lose their religious identities? How does upholding an applicants civil rights endanger your religious identity? Perhaps the ban on discriminatory hiring caused them to fear losing their religious bigotry. Could that be it?

Shit. By this point, I think it's time that I introduce the two of you. Church. Meet State. State. Meet Church. I guess I better get used to the sight of you two being together.

Vermont votes: "Bring Em Home"

Vermont has always been a special state. Rablerousers one and all. The citizenry takes their politics and their civic duties very seriously. For instance, each year the citizens come together throughout the rural state and hold a "Town Meeting Day". Every year on the first Tuesday in March, the people of the Green Mountain state get together and participate in direct democracy; voting on all sorts of matters, big and small.

This year they voted on a resolution concerning something that concerns the entire world. The Iraq War. The war has effected Vermonters greatly. Randolph T. Holhut points out:

For a tiny state with about 600,000 people, Vermont has paid a high price in Iraq. More than 1,100 Vermont Army National Guard members - about half of the total force - have been called up to active duty. Of the state's 242 towns, 200 have sent Guard members to war - the largest deployment since World War II.

Vermont ranks second in the nation in per capita enrollment in the military and leads the nation in combat deaths per capita. Fifteen Vermonters, including four Vermont Guard members, have died in Iraq.

The resolution called for the state leaders to restore a "proper balance" between state and federal control of the Guard and asks Congress to recall US forces from Iraq as quickly as possible.

This past Tuesday the resolution passed in 48 of 57 Vermont communities. Only three communities voted against it. The rest either voted in a tie or chose to delay the vote.

Even though the resolution holds no legal sway, the citizens of Vermont have made their opinions known with a voice clear and proud. I'm not sure if participatory democracy will ever work in Iraq - but I know it's alive and well in the Green State.

58 names. 58 dead.

58 American soldiers and Marines died serving their country during the month of February.
58 Americans who served their country and gave the ultimate sacrifice for George W. Bush's war of choice.

May they rest in peace.

Julio Negron
Richard Gienau
Danny Anderson
Andrew Nowacki
Landon Giles
Min-su Choi
Cassan Henry
Jason Moski
Adam Brewer
Colby M. Farnan
Roman Goralczyk
Michael S. Deem
Alexander Crackel
Jacob Palmateir
Daniel Gresham
Eric Steffeney
Nicolas Oliveier
Trevor Aston
David Day
Jesse M. Lhotka
John Olson
Jason Timmerman
Adam Malson
Kevin Michael Clarke
Seth Trahan
Clinton Gertson
Carlos J. Gil
Frank Hernandez
Justin Carter
Joseph Rahaim
Timothy Osbey
Adam Plumandore
Jason R. Hendrix
Katrina Lani Bell-Johnson
Christopher Pusateri
Michael Arciola
David Salie
Ray Rangel
Chad Lake
Rene Knox Jr.
David Brangman
Dakotah Gooding
Kristopher Shepherd
Robert McNail
William T. Robbins
Richard A. Perez Jr.
Jessica Housby
Jeffery Henthorn
Jeremy Allmon
Zachary Ryan Wobler
Roman Serednytskij
Travis Wichlacz
Daniel Torres
Steven Bayow
Richard Clifton
Michael Cooley
Stephen Sherman
Sean Lee Brock
Sean P. Maher
Robert Hendrickson

UPDATE: 1502 Americans have died in this war of choice. A very long way from "Mission Accomplished".

Koo-koo-kat-choo !!!

This shit comes from a CHURCH (Westboro Baptist Church - Topeka, KA. A CHURCH!

WWJT: What would Jesus Think? GodHatesFags.com.
I think God would be saddened by such malevolent hatred. I try to laugh it off - as to take this idiots seriously is to validate them... but this sort of vile ugliness just isn't funny. The website calls the ACLU "the Anal Copulators & Lesbians Union". It proclaims that Matthew Shepard has been in hell for 2,333 days. And this just in - God hates Sweden!.

We've had a similar "church" come to our town to scream from the street corner about how "God hates the gays" and othersuch verbiage. Of course the fact that these ijits make Ernest T. Bass seem like a Rhodes Scholar should not be lost on anyone... but I imagine it still stings to have that sort of hatred thrown in your face.

I'd like to see the media pick up on this group, although to do that would give them publicity and that's what they want. And to directly confront them does no good because they feed on confrontation... they lack the intelligence to be effected by anything anyone could say to them. I suppose it's best to treat them like a noxious fart in an elevator. Just hold your nose and wait for it to go away.

A Victory for Liberty

In December 15, 1791 the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America were ratified. These statutes, otherwise known as the Bill Of Rights, guaranteed certain liberties to each and every citizen. One of 'em, Amendment 6 says something about "the accused shall... be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation". That is - you just can't take a dude off the street, call em a bad man, and lock em up forever without charging them and taking them to trial.

Of course the Bushies tried to do just that in the case of Jose Padilla.

The matter was taken to court and the Bushies were told, no, you cant hold a person without charging them. The Bushies appealed. The Supreme Court said that another judge should try it (in a different state)... well, it's been tried again - and guess what? The other judge says the same thing - Padilla should be charged or released and that...

"to do otherwise would not only offend the rule of law and violate this country's constitutional tradition, but it would also be a betrayal of this Nation's commitment to the separation of powers that safeguards our democratic values and our individual liberties."

Don't get me wrong. Padilla is probably a very bad man who deserves to be taken out of circulation... but we have to maintain the FUCKING RULE OF LAW. We must adhere to the FUCKING BILL OF RIGHTS. To do otherwise, to have a President act as if he is above the law, to deny an American citizen the rights afforded to him by the Constitution... well, shit, if we allow that to happen then we have already lost the war on terror.