More Monday Stuff

Considering that the jury in the OMIGOD JOHN EDWARDS IS SUCH A HORRIBLE PERSON AND OF COURSE HE’S GUILTY OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATIONS FOR PAYING OFF HIS MISTRESS AND THEIR CHILD WITH ILLEGAL MONEY has been deliberating for five days and still hasn’t reached a verdict (allowing for the holiday weekend), is it too early for filthy unkempt liberal blogger types such as yours truly to say that prosecuting Edwards on these charges was a REALLY, REALLY STUPID IDEA AND A WASTE OF MONEY??!!

Yes, that could all change tomorrow. And yes, it’s true that Edwards is guilty in the court of public opinion of really scummy behavior. But there are politicians out there guilty of scummy behavior who have paid no price whatsoever when it comes to their jobs (see Vitter, Dave). And for the reasons Rachel Maddow reminds us of here, The Supreme Court of Hangin’ Judge JR is a hell of a lot more guilty of campaign finance abuse than Edwards ever could be (assuming he isn’t innocent)...

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Update 5/30/12: Once more - uh, yep.

Update 5/31/12: Finally over - hallelujah!

...and I don’t know about you, but I’m in the mood for a bit of hippie-dippie social consciousness, so here goes.

Monday Stuff

Happy Memorial Day...



...and yes, even though pictures are allowed now of our fallen heroes returning to Dover, I think this song is still timely as long as we’re at war, which, sadly, we still are.

Sunday Stuff

Bill Maher ended up articulating a lot of what I think about the Obama Administration the other day, even though I’ll support Number 44 of course...



...and here’s a nice summer tune with an important message at the end.

Friday Stuff

(By the way, for what it’s worth, I also posted here – don’t expect that to become a habit, by the way.)

Rachel Maddow gives us a whole bunch of background on Willard Mitt Romney and his “unforced errors,” as she quite rightly puts them (God, I wish our corporate media would pay a fraction of the attention to the campaign as she does here – I didn’t know Maddow once lived in Philly).

Yep, the news organizations with initials for names continue to ignore Romney’s bonehead pronouncements, much like they did of a former Texas governor in 2000...

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...and Sunday marks the 67th birthday of Bruce Cockburn – hope it’s a good one.

Thursday Stuff

Just a reminder that Hosni Mubarak Walker's state is dead last in job creation (here)...



...and here's a tidy little number for the kids (how come a lot of these "relationship" songs end up with someone in a bathtub :-).

Wednesday Stuff

Martin Bashir, sitting in for Lawrence O’Donnell, quite rightly ridicules the Repugs and their “women’s caucus,” or whatever (trying to play women like the Repugs try to play the Teahadists, the elderly, the poor, kids, Catholics, immigrants, and on and on and on).

And by the way, I have issues with the veep myself, mainly his support of that horrific bankruptcy law when he was the Senator from MBNA along with Carper, but I think it’s really a stretch for Melissa Harris-Perry to go back to the Anita Hill hearings to slam him (and speaking of issues affecting women mainly but families generally, I give you this despicable development in our beloved commonwealth)...

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...and I think this video fits the occasion; I hope you agree.

Tuesday Stuff

Nothing to see here, people, just a dead steel contractor – move along (here...beyond belief; what country am I living in again? Any by the way, I also posted here.)...

...and here’s another tune without a video.

Monday Stuff

Ed Schultz and I give you Cory Booker, sellout, along with info on how that Keynan Muslim Marxist pre-zee-zint supposedly doesn’t know anything about bidness (and isn’t this interesting about Booker, by the way...didn't see Rachel Maddow with Booker yet, but I'll check it out)…

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

…and with this bit of idiocy in mind, I give you the following.

Sunday Stuff

It’s happening again, people.

You know, when our corporate media decides to portray a Republican presidential candidate as someone whose faith supposedly dictates his decision making and/or his approach to governance.

The New York Times devoted entirely too many column inches today on how Willard Mitt Romney practices his Mormonism on the campaign trail, how he supposedly did the same when running Bain Capital, how he supposed did the same when he was governor of Massachusetts, etc (sorry, no linkee).

And for a reminder as to why this is dangerous, I give you the following from here…

During those private interviews, (former French President) Jacque Chirac had purportedly confessed to the journalist some personal remarks regarding the faith of George W. Bush that seemed quite daunting. He told the journalist that the latter called him twice beseeching him basically, in the name of their common “spiritual faith”, i.e., “Christianity”, to join the collective effort of the coalition being formed to wage a preemptive war against Iraq. In his first telephonic call he reportedly said to Jacque Chirac: “Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East” and then added that “the biblical prophecies are being fulfilled”. Bewildered, Jacque Chirac did not react immediately. He knew that Bush was somehow religious but could never have thought that the president of the world only superpower was as mysteriously warmhearted to the complex intricacies of the Scriptures as he seemed to be. When a day later George W. Bush pronounced the mysterious words in a conference about the “axis of evil” (the word “evil” was inserted by the evangelical speechwriter Michael Gerson, the original term coined by another staff writer, the Canadian Jew David Frum, was “axis of hatred”), the Elysée decided secretly to consult an expert or biblical scholar about the issue.


In order to avoid any possible leak in France, they decided to outsource or solicit the service of a discreet and prominent outsider instead of a local expert more prone to indiscretion. It was Thomas Römer, professor of Theology at the University of Lausanne, who was called upon to clarify, for the occasion, the biblical mystery at stake. His report was chilling: Gog, prince of Magog, is merely the Apocalypse.

Oh, but Dubya was a cowboy, wasn’t he? But Romney’s a pragmatist who could never engage in such theatrics.

Yeah, right.

And this makes me recall the following recent observations by Bill Maher about Romney and religion (bad word at the end)…

…and I had this tune in mind also today upon reading this story (before Kenny Rogers was “The Gambler” – should hear this tune a lot more on the oldies station).

Saturday Stuff

Hey, remember that ultra-stupid right wing talking point about how African Americans wouldn’t support marriage equality since, well…I mean, everybody knows that African Americans are more culturally conservative than white people, right?

Wrong (here, and Paul Broun remains as big a bonehead as ever…kudos to Rep. John Lewis, and a pox on Andrea Mitchell and her alleged disconnect about “many African Americans” and marriage equality)…

Update 5/23/12: Uh, yep.

…and by the way, aren’t you glad you use Dial? Don’t you wish everybody did? J

Friday Stuff

Ever wonder how Willard Mitt Romney got so stinking rich? Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich explains (and yes, I know it’s no crime in and of itself to be worth a lot of money, blah blah blah).

(Also, I know I said something earlier about shutting down for technical issues, but that will come later than I thought, as it turns out, for anyone keeping score at home.)...

…and I can think of no more appropriate tune as an accompaniment than this one (and by the way, RIP Chuck Brown).

Thursday Stuff

Time to hold Hosni Mubarak Walker responsible, people (more here)…

…and RIP Donna Summer – hardly a disco fan, but I am a fan of great talent.

Wednesday Stuff

I’m probably about five and a half months early for this, but here it is anyway...

...and inspired loosely (very loosely) from the latest post from here, I give you the following (time for a change of pace).

Tuesday Stuff

Once again, I give you the wisdom of Seth MacFarlane via Peter Griffin (well, Brian mainly)…

…and this song reminds me a bit of a nightmare I once had after I saw too many 8mm films in phys ed class one day…and no, I was never in charge of working the projector.

Monday Stuff

I give you more for the sorry file of Willard Mitt Romney, all-but-named Repug presidential nominee, as noted here (and please take note that Number 44 stands up and lets us know who is behind this bit of truth-telling, as opposed to Karl Rove, American Crossroads or whatever, and ALEC and the “U.S.” Chamber of Commerce, among other Citizens United beneficiaries)…

…and RIP Donald “Duck” Dunn.

Sunday Stuff

(By the way, this blog is probably going to shut down for a little while starting about Tuesday due to technical issues. I’m not sure how long it will be out of commission. When I know more, so will you.)

Putting aside the fact that Grover Norquist shouldn’t show his face in respectable company anywhere on the planet (and it was strangely entertaining watching Margaret Hoover trying not to laugh too hard lest her conservative puppet masters decide to send her back to the factory), I have to say that this was a pretty good “New Rules” segment from Bill Maher…

…and given last week’s revelations about a certain Willard Mitt Romney, I think this song is appropriate.

Saturday Stuff

Sam Seder brings us a moment of “Fluffyhead” Gregory fellating the supposed popularity of Governor Bully; I mention Dancin’ Dave because he’s going to head a “conference for a major GOP advocacy group,” as noted here (yep, time for another blogger ethics panel).

“Let’s see, ethics and journalistic integrity, ethics and journalistic integrity…now where did I put that SPJ handbook again…”

And imagine the hue and cry if Rachel Maddow did the same thing for the Dems (and no, assuming he was still working, Keith Olbermann attending Netroots Nation – which he won’t this year due to a surgical procedure – isn’t the same thing since the Dems don’t really pay attention to N.N., not enough of them anyway – they’d be better off if they did).

As for Governor Bully running in 2016, I'd love to see that. All of this crap about how he's supposedly so overwhelmingly popular, a fabled Beltway media narrative, would be crushed once and for all (and by the way, kudos to Seder for being pissed off - more like this)...

…and as the immortal Mr. S. once said, “Happy Mother’s Day to all you muthas out there.”

Friday Stuff

(By the way, for what it’s worth, I also posted some stuff here.)

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just steal a couple of videos from Crooks and Liars; first, did you know that Thomas Friedman Is An Enormous Moustache (here)? And that, as far as the esteemed New York Times pundit is concerned, it’s entirely the fault of President Obama that he hasn’t been “transformational” enough to rise about petty partisan politics?

Sure you did…

Update 5/16/12: OK, to be fair, this is a good Friedman column, and yes, it involves the Internet.

…and speaking of petty partisan politics, kudos to Harry Reid for calling out Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao and his pals here (as I’ve said, somebody votes for this idiots, including this Mourdock clown in Indiana; sounds like he came from middle earth or something – acts like it too a bit...I got mad at Sen. Richard Lugar over domestic issues a couple of times, but I never questioned him on foreign policy).

Now, Harry, assuming the Dems hold the Senate, are you going to follow up on what your colleagues Sens. Merkley and Udall are proposing next year? We'll see...

…and it looks like Politifact is “mostly” stupid and “mostly” incompetent once more – wish I had one of their little “truthometers” pointing straight up like a certain middle digit on my hand…

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…and tomorrow marks the 40^th anniversary of the release of “Exile On Main St.,” which was kick-started by this little number (“Sticky Fingers” and probably “Let It Bleed” remain my favorite recordings from these guys, however).

Thursday Stuff

I give you the latest from the “Willard Mitt The Bully” campaign…

Romney Courts Hispanic Vote With Animated Sombrero-Wearing Parrot

…who is course is wrong again, as noted here…

…and I thought the best way to respond to Willard Mitt’s latest idiocy was to present Kyle in Indiana; I have no idea who this young man is, but I admire his courage and his love of country for doing what he did and making this video (yes, I said “love of country”…for more, click here)…

…and all of this just kind of put me in the mood to hear this tune once more.

Wednesday Stuff

Lick your own damn stamps, Dubya, you grifter (here, and why am I not the least bit surprised by this)…

…and as far as I’m concerned, the Log Cabin Republicans have to be the stupidest people on the planet for this, short of the Teahadists of course (and I give you another infamous moment from these clowns below)…

…and speaking of people who have a problem with reality, I give you this concerning Willard Mitt himself…

…and finally, I'm not totally sure what to make of the fact that I found an article about prog rock at NRO, but the writer kind of says, "well, it is socially conscious, a bit, but not really - well, y'know..." (didn't get all the way through it yet, but I thought it was funny to see the writer refer to The Old Gray Lady as an "opinion journal," which it is a bit I guess).

Here’s a bit of socially conscious prog rock, genius - hope you like it (sorry, no video).

Monday Stuff

OK, so Willard Mitt Romney apparently feels that he can’t stand up to a constituent who says Obama should be “tried for treason” (here)…yet, he’s running for probably the most important job in the world in which he’ll have to deal with…oh, I don’t know…dumb stuff like facing off with China, whichever nut is in charge of North Korea, Ahmadinejad and the mullahs in Iran, Putin in Russia, Assad in Syria, the latest in the Afghanistan quagmire, etc., etc., etc. (to say nothing of al Qaeda and the threat of loose nukes).

Romney would face all of those challenges, yet somehow he feels that he can’t stand up to a Teahadist wingnut – pretty damn sad...

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…and I would say that Romney passed the point of merely being “cumbersome” a long time ago.

More Saturday Stuff

Silly Rachel – doesn’t she know that Willard Mitt and Rudy 9iu11ani only care about firefighters for photo ops? Why, they’re part of that dastardly government workforce that the Repugs hate (here)…

 

…and if there was a theme song for austerity, I wonder if this would be it?

 

Saturday Stuff

I meant to put this up on “May Day,” but I was a little late – sorry (here, and I meant to include this related item also…by the way, the last minute-and-half of what Daron Acemoglu said, I thought, was particularly noteworthy about what the “Occupy” movement should do)…

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…and by the way, happy Cinco de Mayo.

Thursday Stuff

The saga of the banksters creeps along, as noted by Lee Camp (here – bad word alert…slipping on that I know)…

…and happy 93^rd birthday to this guy, speaking, and playing, with the eternal “man in black.”

Wednesday Stuff

So the governor of our beloved commonwealth, Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett, thinks that forced ultrasounds are “the way to go,” huh? Way beyond pathetic (here)...

...and for no particular reason, I give you the following whompin’ little number (sorry, no video).

Tuesday Stuff

I posted over here concerning Willard Mitt Romney, and this tells us the following about the all-but-named Repug nominee…

…and I haven’t heard much about Robin Gibb lately – hope he’s doing as well as can be expected.

Sunday Stuff

Steve Jobs, visionary American genius of technology (here)…

In one of his last public appearances before his death, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, addressed Cupertino’s City Council last June, seeking approval to build a new headquarters. 

Most of the Council was effusive in its praise of the proposal. But one councilwoman, Kris Wang, had questions. 

How will residents benefit? she asked. Perhaps Apple could provide free wireless Internet to Cupertino, she suggested, something Google had done in neighboring Mountain View. 

“See, I’m a simpleton; I’ve always had this view that we pay taxes, and the city should do those things,” Mr. Jobs replied, according to a video of the meeting. “That’s why we pay taxes. Now, if we can get out of paying taxes, I’ll be glad to put up Wi-Fi.” 

He suggested that, if the City Council were unhappy, perhaps Apple could move. The company is Cupertino’s largest taxpayer, with more than $8 million in property taxes assessed by local officials last year. 

Ms. Wang dropped her suggestion.

And I give you still more…

Still, some, including De Anza College’s president, (Brian) Murphy, say the philanthropy and job creation do not offset Apple’s and other companies’ decisions to circumvent taxes. Within 20 minutes of the financially ailing school are the global headquarters of Google, Facebook, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco. 

“When it comes time for all these companies — Google and Apple and Facebook and the rest — to pay their fair share, there’s a knee-jerk resistance,” Mr. Murphy said. “They’re philosophically antitax, and it’s decimating the state.”

“But I’m not complaining,” he added. “We can’t afford to upset these guys. We need every dollar we can get.”

God Bless America, land of corporate extortion (and as a musical response, this never seems to get old – which is a bit sad, actually).

P.S. - For what it's worth, I don't like this layout either - I told you the "new and improved" Blogger stinks.

More Saturday Stuff

Remember the saga of John Edwards and the $400 haircut? Well, it turns out that Edwards is a piker compared to Scott Brown; as noted here, the latter up $1401 in charges last year to make sure he stays “well coiffed.”

Wonder when somebody is going to make a video like this about “Wall Street Scott” (to say nothing of a column heaped with ridicule by Kathleen Parker – what exactly was that Pulitzer for again?)…

…and yes, I have to admit this at last (sniff), so I might as well have fun with it.

Update 4/29/12: And by the way, happy belated 90th birthday to Jack Klugman.

Saturday Stuff

Memo to our idiot politicians in Washington: Stop trying to come up with schemes to “regulate the Internet.” Every time you try, you screw up even worse, largely because you insist on freezing out the content creators and people who would otherwise innovate on it, creating new industries and – dare I point this out? – J-O-B-S (and I don’t mean that Apple dead guy - more here...and here is more on the clown behind CISPA)...

...and with this in mind, here is a Saturday morning cartoon.

Update: Oops, forgot about these two; first, it's time for "The Game of Pro-Life"...

The Game of Pro-Life - watch more funny videos      

…and I forgot to add this “New Rules” segment from last night, including the audio that sounds like it’s trapped in a can (glad you’re spared the ugly spectacle of Andrew Ross Sorkin’s apologia for the one percent that he inflicted on the show minutes before this segment, though Paul Begala did a good job of pushing back...and don't get me started on the Charles Murray segment earlier).

Friday Stuff

Here’s a question – is one of our presidential candidates learnin’?...

…and if you liked “governance” under Number 43, it looks like Romney is getting ready to bring us, on foreign policy anyway (probably domestic policy too), “Bushco – The Sequel”…

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…and with that in mind, here is Part 2 of “Willard Mitt Romney vs. Reality”…

…meanwhile here is what actual leadership looks like (by the way, I definitely think Number 42 overdid it in his support for Kathleen Kane over Patrick Murphy recently, but again, that’s politics – it would have been safer for Murphy to support Hillary Clinton four years ago, but he made the right decision and ended up paying for it not once but twice, really)…

…and here’s more on the “war on women” (figurative war I’ll admit, but the Obama/Romney numbers don’t lie…there’s an issue for real there – more BS, I see, among the usual gaggle of right-wing idiots)…

…and I’ve only got a couple of days left to put up this video, so here goes.

Wednesday Stuff

I also posted here (yes, as a follow up to last night, I’m trying to resuscitate the old WP site).

Want to know why Not Your Father’s Republican Party is going to be nothing but a bunch of angry white fogies primarily from the South one day? I give you this (naaah, the Repugs aren’t waging a war on women – just keep trying to convince yourselves, people)…

...and I guess I just mixed this group up with Fine Young Cannibals because of the lead vocalist, but I’m glad I got that straightened out.

Tuesday Stuff

OK, two things: 1) I officially no longer care about the PA Attorney General’s race, since the voters of our beloved commonwealth continue to reward mediocrity every chance they can get in all manner of elective office, and 2) I don’t know how many other people besides me are aware of this, but Blogger recently completed an “upgrade,” and it is a total disaster. I’m seriously considering resurrecting the Wordpress site and bailing on Blogger once and for all, for anyone who cares to know that.

Now, this tells us about Obama reaching out to college-age voters; Charles M. Blow of the New York Times recently had an interesting column about that...and lest anyone think Willard Mitt and the GOP actually care about younger voters, please keep the following clip in mind (featuring a rare moment of fortitude by Fluffyhead in response to more garbage from Moon Unit Bachmann)...

...and I hope readers of this site don’t find themselves asking this musical question.

Monday Stuff

Don’t forget, tomorrow is primary election day in PA, and the guy in this clip needs our vote…



…and here’s a reminder about the cretins who want to hold sway over all…

 

…and given this item, I thought it would be a good idea to replay this campaign ad from 2000 that was unbelievably prescient about Dubya – you really want to see “The Ownership Society on Steroids” under Willard Mitt after November, people?...

 

Update 4/25/12: Uh, yep.

…all of which put me in the mind to hear this tune again…



 ...and for more related "food for thought," press the button.
Global Economy Blues

Sunday Stuff

Happy 75th birthday to Jack Nicholson – I could be here all night sorting through clips to put up here, from “Chinatown,” “Five Easy Pieces,” “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Batman” even, and many other films, but this will do (from “A Few Good Men,” of course)...



...and here’s a tune to listen to between the raindrops.

 

More Saturday Stuff

Kudos to Martin Bashir for this (the typical right-wing character assassination in response, mainly to Bashir’s body of work in general, is here...and here is another “insert foot in mouth and turn” moment on the economy from Willard Mitt)...

...and Happy Earth Day, everybody (more here).

Saturday Stuff

Like The Eternal George Carlin said, they’re after our Social Security, as noted here, as well as our Medicare (and if you don’t know who “they” are, then you haven’t been paying attention)..
.


...and I don’t know about you, but I’m in the mood for kind of an Indie-retro tune, so this should do the trick.

Thursday Stuff

You are scum for this, Mikey the Beloved. Absolutely unmitigated, unrepentant scum (though the crowd behavior is about what you would expect from his lizard-brained, nematode followers). And I can’t wait to see the verbal gymnastics employed by the Bucks County Courier Times in Mikey’s defense to attack those who point that out.

Want to do something about it? Click here (maybe it will begin to tilt some of the fundraising numbers a bit in Kathy Boockvar’s direction; let’s hope so anyway)…



…and RIP Levon Helm, performing here a little while back with a few friends.

Thursday Mashup (4/19/12)

(Once more, don’t count on these posts on a regular basis anymore…about once in a while is the best I can do, unfortunately).

From the “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose” category, I give you the following from Fix Noise here (with “Bush’s Brain” propagandizing about our chief executive and the veep)…

Mr. Biden offered other wild assertions that didn’t even get a mild pushback on Sunday morning. For example, Mr. Biden said Mitt Romney wanted to “let Detroit go bankrupt,” apparently referring to General Motors and Chrysler and not the city. But GM and Chrysler did go bankrupt: their bankruptcies were decided by the president -- not by a court -- and rather than going forward with an infusion of private capital, the two businesses received $85 billion from the taxpayers, with at least $24 billion of that unlikely to ever be returned.

How is that a “wild assertion” from Willard Mitt Romney given this (though, in true weaselly form, Rove doesn’t say that Biden was lying, because he wasn’t).

And in the matter of taxpayer money that supposedly will never be repaid, I give you this…

Earlier today, General Motors announced that the company paid $4.7 billion to the U.S. government and $1.1 billion to the Canadian government, fulfilling its obligation agreed to when it received its initial bailout funds. In total, GM received $52 billion from the U.S. government, but only $6.7 billion of this amount was considered a loan. The company already paid back $2 billion, so this $4.7 billion is the last payment.

This doesn’t mean that “Government Motors” is no more. Despite the payback, the government still owns a controlling portion of the restructured GM. The United States will eventually relinquish its ownership, but this will take some time. Even when the new GM completes its initial public offering, the U.S. government will still be an owner for some time.

Also, when it comes to presidents and automaker bailouts, I give you this (and in the matter of the auto industry in this country, this asks a great question).

Oh, and here’s another goody from the former Bushco political maven…

The vice president also plunged into health care, asserting, “there’s millions of people out there” already benefiting from provisions in the new law. But far fewer people with preexisting conditions have signed up than anticipated (just 49,000), a much-ballyhooed subsidy for small businesses has gone virtually unused, and thousands of companies have been forced to seek waivers to keep millions of workers covered by existing policies.

Gee, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear Karl had been reading the Bucks County Courier Times, since they did a more thorough job of trashing the Affordable Care Act than anyone else I’d seen when it was recently argued before the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR (with nary a favorable point of view like this one in sight).

And as far as Rove’s “thousands” claim is concerned…well, try about 1,200, as Media Matters notes here (with a common-sense explanation also...more ACA myths and facts are here).

Rove also tells us the following...

The vice president went similarly overboard in suggesting America is drilling more wells, pumping more oil, and importing less oil because of this Administration’s policies. This is really happening in spite of Mr. Obama, not because of him.

WAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Of course, maybe Rove is trying to deflect attention away from this (hat tip to The Political Junkie)…

After declining to levels not seen since the 1940s, U.S. crude production began rising again in 2009. Drilling rigs have rushed into the nation's oil fields, suggesting a surge in domestic crude is on the horizon.

The number of rigs in U.S. oil fields has more than quad¬rupled in the past three years to 1,272, according to the Baker Hughes rig count. Including those in natural gas fields, the United States now has more rigs at work than the entire rest of the world.

"It's staggering," said Marshall Adkins, who directs energy research for the financial services firm Raymond James. "If we continue growing anywhere near that pace and keep squeezing demand out of the system, that puts you in a world where we are not importing oil in 10 years."

Gee, wonder why that didn’t happen in oh, say, 2005, 2006, 0r 2007…you know, when Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History was taking up space in An Oval Office (with Rove by his side)?

Basically, you’d be better off watching cartoons as opposed to reading or watching anything from Fix Noise, as noted here, though, when you get right down to it, it’s pretty hard to tell the difference (and I don't expect that this question will ever be answered).

And get a load of the latest from Moon Unit Bachmann here on the issue of trying to crack down on oil speculators…

"This is just about waving a tar baby in the air and saying that something else is a problem," Bachmann said in an interview Wednesday with The Shark Tank, a conservative news organization that covers Florida politics. "I have never seen a more irresponsible president who is infantile in the way that he continually blames everyone else for his failure to first diagnose the problem and second to address the problem. It's always everyone else's fault."

…

"It's anybody but Obama for Obama. And that's why we have to call him out," she said. "The president is a complete and utter fraud and a hypocrite on this issue, with all due respect."

“Waving a tar baby” – waay too damn funny (though definitely an inappropriate comment, I hasten to add)…

In response, as noted here, the CEO of ExxonMobil admitted that oil should be about $60-$70 a barrel, even though it’s really at about $100 at the moment, allowing for at least some price impact from oil speculation.

And an actual, honest-to-goodness oil trader tells us the following here…

The oil game is overrun with IB desks, hedge funders, long/short punters, algos, HFT's and private trade houses like Vitol, Trafigura and Glencore. And yes, Virginia -- fraud can happen: We've forgotten too quickly about such stellar examples as Enron and Amaranth.

These are not the guys that anyone should look to protect. They absolutely jack up the prices of oil that you and I are forced to pay at the pumps. But they are the beneficiaries of the continued defense of the broken oil markets as they are today. We haven't made much progress.

So, it looks like, once more, the Repug U.S. House Rep from Minnesota and one-time presidential candidate is showing to the whole world that she has the mendacity of a lizard, the self-reflection of the most oblivious narcissist imaginable and the cognitive capacity of a flea.

With all due respect.

Finally, a certain V.D. Hanson ramps up the right-wing noise machine against Obama some more here…

The president also unwisely attacked the Supreme Court as it deliberated the constitutionality of Obamacare. He needlessly referred to the justices as “unelected,” and wrongly claimed that they had little precedent to overturn laws that dealt with commerce. The gaffe about the Court and its history was doubly embarrassing because Obama has often reminded the public that he used to teach constitutional law.

Gosh, isn’t that a funny one from “The Pericles of Petticoat Junction”? Hanson has a problem with Obama’s reference to Supreme Court justices as “unelected,” but he has no problem apparently with Obama’s predecessor saying basically the same thing over and over again, as noted here...and for good measure, I give you this.

There’s other typically ripe stuff here from Hanson, but I’ll leave that for now because life is short and I’ve about spent my BS tolerance for one day.

And by the way, did you know Obama (and, by extension, Chicago Bears head football coach Lovie Smith) were recently accused by Hanson of “retrograde tribalism” (here) according to Hanson? Interesting racist code language, I must say.

Truly, words fail.

Wednesday Stuff

Yes, I know it’s ridiculous to keep harping on the idiocy of Fix Noise, since all they’ll do is recycle pretty much the same crap all over again for the next news cycle, but even though I feel like I’m tilting at about 20 windmills as it were, I also feel like I have to keep trying to speak truth to stupid...

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...and even though he hung on waaay too long, give Dick Clark credit for popularizing pop music on “American Bandstand,” which once originated out of the studios of 46th and Market Streets in Philadelphia.

Tuesday Stuff

(To answer a question from elsewhere – why yes, it did.)

Oh, and in the matter of the PA Democratic Primary for Attorney General…why of course Philadelphia Engulf And Devour Mega-Money Corporate Media endorsed Kathleen Kane over Patrick Murphy. Gee, I wonder if it’s because they’re looking for a sacrificial lamb against the Repug nominee in the general election. Ya’ think?

OK, I'll grant Kane her prosecutorial experience in this state, but as far as I'm concerned, you need a whole lot more than just that going for you, and based on this, I have grave doubts.

And let's face it - the only reason Clinton supported her is because Murphy supported Obama in '08 and Kane supported Hillary...not a crime I realize, but let's just be honest about this, OK?

And with that in mind, I have some questions for Ms. Kane:

- What exactly would she do if one of these godawful fracking operations blew up somewhere, trashed the environment even more and hopelessly fouled all the groundwater? Would she go after the parties involved and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law?

- What exactly is your position on "right to work" legislation, considering that your husband runs an anti-union trucking company? Would you prosecute in the event of unfair anti-union activity?

- Would you oppose Corbett's "fetal ultrasound" bill as strenuously as Patrick has (as noted in the clip below...and yes, I looked on her site, but couldn't find any responses)?

While we ponder her answers (assuming they ever arrive), please click here…



…and speaking of Tom “Space Cadet” Corbett’s atrocity…



…and here’s more fun with another Romney playmate (looks like Mr. “Cat Scratch Fever” is going to get a visit from the Secret Service, the ones not involved in the scandal anyway – what a maroon…and by the way, either option works for me, scumbag)…



…and I know I seem to be getting a bunch of tunes without videos anymore, but they’re just too damn good to ignore.

Monday Stuff

I thought subliminal advertising had gone the way of the Corvair and Brylcreem, but then again, the Repugs are the truly “mad men” (well, mainly that gender, but not totally)...



...and for everyone filing by today, I hope you get a refund (we did).

Sunday Stuff

Anyone with any familiarity with this blog at all should know what I think of John Edwards, a guy I tried to support as strenuously as I could in my way until I realized that I’d been utterly played (not too big to admit that that hasn’t happened once every so often), but still, I think the following needs to be said (from this Rachel Maddow report from Friday)...

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...and congratulations to this well-deserving, albeit posthumous, entrant into the 2012 Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame (more here).

Saturday Stuff

Nice to know that Willard Mitt Romney surrogate and former Repug U.S. House Rep Pete Hoekstra is as big of a dope as he ever was; naaah, the Repugs aren’t waging a war on women…not much they aren’t (here)…



…and Happy Titanic Day – watch out for stray icebergs.

Friday Stuff

I would like to thank the 59 Catholic leaders who have officially expressed their opposition to the latest budget scheme from Paul Ryan, noted here...



...and I realize it's probably a big step for me to assume that Ryan even has a soul, but assuming he does, he should try listening to this song.

Thursday Stuff

Looks like it’s time again for “the professional left” in the form of yours truly to take Number 44 to task over this; sooo…he quite rightly supported overturning DADT, but he apparently has no problem with LGBT discrimination in the workplace (here)? And that goes on top of the JOBS bill BS as noted here (the first sign of trouble is when sleazy weasel Eric Cantor showed up for the signing into law – he shouldn't even be in the same area code...I give you Matt Taibbi on this here).

Oh, and you know the recent strip search ruling by the Supreme Court? It was actually supported by the Obama DOJ (here).

There are some things that can be excused by right-wing looniness, but not this…



...meanwhile, looks like Willard Mitt and his GOP playmates continue to have self-inflicted “woman trouble” (here...more charming and related stuff here and here, and oh yeah, this too)…



…leading to this potentially game-changing development (wink)…


Romney To Travel Back In Time To Kill Liberal Versions Of Himself

…but returning to the Obama stuff, I happened to hear this tune once more recently, and sadly, I think it still fits.

Tuesday Stuff

Yeah, somehow I’m not surprised that he now wants to run away from those stinking, ruinous tax cuts of his (here)...



...and adios, Little Ricky – have to admit that I never thought he’d get this far (a testimony to the lunacy of the Repugs as far as yours truly is concerned)...



Update 4/12/12: ROFLMAO...

...and concerning the all-but-named Repug presidential nominee, I give you this...



...and I thought this was a whompin’ little number, so here it is.