Saturday, November 28, 2015

Saturday Stuff

Alex Witt talks to Dawn Laguens of Planned Parenthood in the wake of the cowardly, murderous attack in Colorado Springs (I know there’s a lot that still needs to be sorted out concerning the latest homicidal lunatic with a gun in this country, which kind of pushed this from the headlines…so many crazies, so little time…but I would call this pretty damn incriminating)…



Update 11/30/15: And while we're on this subject, I think it's important to keep this in mind (which more or less dovetails with this).

…and sorry, but no seasonal stuff tonight – I had this tune in mind for obvious reasons, also in consideration of this.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Friday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

I admit that I should start paying a little more attention to the budget crisis in our beloved commonwealth, so in an attempt to do that, I’m going to focus on “Helicopter Scott” Wagner (here and here), a Teahadist State Senator who has gone on record as saying that he supports no tax increases whatsoever and, as noted in the clip, thinks that convenience store workers should start out at the “generous” wage of about $9 an hour and be “fast-tracked” to about $10 an hour (oh, and I have no idea of what Wendell Young’s compensation is, and I don’t care because the topic is irrelevant – apparently more important for Wagner to lecture workers than to do something that is even remotely fair…how much did Wagner make in waste disposal before he was elected to Harrisburg, I wonder?).

If you want to blame Governor Wolf for the budget crisis, fine. But as far as I’m concerned, you’re “shooting dirty pool” if you don’t also blame characters like Wagner, as well as the people who vote for him (oh, and how nice of him to “appreciate” the other side)…



...and silly Lawrence O'Donnell, trying to do the right thing and get our corporate media to do their jobs (good luck trying to get right-wing BS out of what passes for our political discourse - commendable attempt by Lawrence, though, here)...



…and the Bucks County Courier Times actually published a “Vent” this morning (for the uninitiated, these are rants than are slightly longer than a Twitter post) from a nitwit who used the phrase “Black Friday Lives Matter” – I offer this in response (more here and here)…



…and just as a reminder (particularly with the Al Jazeera America clip in mind), I thought I’d present this video from about five years ago as a reminder of how we have arrived at a state as sorry as this



…and in the spirit of what most people will be doing this day, I offer a hosanna to crass commercialism…



...because, as we know, that time of year is upon us again - oy!

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving 2015

I got a kick out of this (courtesy of Pixdaus and Daily Kos)...

...and here's another holiday fave, with an intro by Seth MacFarlane as Stewie Griffin (and again, the captions make this hilarious as far as I'm concerned)...



...and here's more holiday fun...



...and I kind of liked this also (hat tip for this to Daily Kos)...



...and here's a Thanksgiving message for those wonderful folks at the TSA.




Update 1: And here is another late addition.



Update 2: Might as well add this too.



Update 3: Imagine all the people that can be fed for $35 grand (here, getting serious for a minute).

Update 4: And since I add to this list every year, I might as well include this too (hasta la vista, baby!).

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Wednesday Stuff

This story is infuriating, maddening and totally predictable (and I’m sure it makes this life form even more pleased with himself than he already is)…



…and I think this is a terrific idea from Media Matters, though I must confess that I’ll be with people tomorrow who, just about entirely, DO NOT share my political inclination, so I’ll try to hold my fire (if challenged, though, then I’ll use some of this material)…



…and I predict that “The Donald” will say something xenophobic, demagogic and/or just plain wrong…oh, at any moment now (here)…



…and here is something I’m definitely thankful for, and that’s great new music from Jeff Lynne.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Tuesday Stuff

Once again, if you’re looking for hard-hitting, insightful commentary on a news story being reported on all over the place, turn to a comedian (here...he sneaks in a real dig at about 4:10, which is true, unfortunately)…



...and Chris Hayes & Jim Rich of the New York Daily News call out Wayne LaPierre on the latter's opposition to a bill to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists (background is here – I thought the last minute and a half of this was particularly important, and scary too)…



...and as long as you-know-who is getting mentioned again (NSFW of course)...



…and it looks like the “one percent” is crying poor mouth again; spare me this “one hand tied behind our back” garbage…the generics are cutting into your profit margins, not U.S. taxes, you weasel…



…and once more, it’s time for another installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 11/26/10, with something we all should keep in mind as shoppers overall and particularly for later this week…



…and I know Jackson Browne wrote this in the ‘80s in response to an entirely different group of refugees, but somehow I think there are at least some parallels to those trying to enter our country now too.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Monday Stuff

(I also posted here.)

Lawrence O’Donnell was cut off here a bit at the end, but I thought he made a good point about some of the word games of the cable news networks in the wake of the Paris attacks…



…and I’m not sure what Harry Smith is doing on MSNBC, but I thought this was a good interview with George Takei about the current anti-Syrian hysteria and how this harks back to the Japanese-American internment camps of World War II – the latter story is told in the play “Allegiance” currently on Broadway…



…and MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Dallas, TX Mayor Mike Rawlings on the question of settling Syrian refugees in this country; Rawlings believes whites are more of a threat, and I agree with him (see?)…



…and I guess all the stuff about Syria, as well as O'Donnell's report (as well as this) has put me in the mood to hear this tune.