RIP Gil Scott-Heron...
...oh, and by the way, here is more info on Karen Silkwood.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Friday Stuff
Today would have been the 100th birthday of Hubert H. Humphrey - there was a great remembrance today in the New York Times by Rick Perlstein here (and I always liked this campaign ad for Humphrey/Muskie in 1968...amazing how timely it still is)...
...and hey, check this out...seems like Gov. Lex Luthor wanted to eject "liberal-looking" people from his budget-signing "private" event - sorry, can't dig that scene, so it sounds like "splitsville," daddyo; ya' think he was worried about people like this?...
...and happy birthday to Bruce Cockburn (wonder if he's also one of the people Scott was scared of?)...
...and here's something from this decade - best wishes for a nice long weekend to one and all.
...and hey, check this out...seems like Gov. Lex Luthor wanted to eject "liberal-looking" people from his budget-signing "private" event - sorry, can't dig that scene, so it sounds like "splitsville," daddyo; ya' think he was worried about people like this?...
...and happy birthday to Bruce Cockburn (wonder if he's also one of the people Scott was scared of?)...
...and here's something from this decade - best wishes for a nice long weekend to one and all.
Friday Mashup (5/27/11)
(Before I say another word, I should point out that posting is going to be highly problematic for about the next 7-10 days. I’ll let you know.)
To begin, I give you the following “Thumbs Down” from today’s Bucks County Courier Times (here)…
And remaining with the Courier Times, J.D. Mullane wrote here about Huguette M. Clark, the New York benefactress who passed away this week at 104. Clark sought privacy to the point where inquiries have been made into her financial affairs (not a reflection on Clark, but only to ensure that her estate was managed properly – no criminal charges have been filed, according to Mullane).
And as you might expect, Mullane used this as an excuse to dive into familiar territory (no privacy online or otherwise, people too nosey, rude, pushy, whatever – yawn), claiming that Clark sought to be “Boo” Radley in terms of seclusion from the world (a reference to a character from Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”).
Though it’s a bit of a stretch, I suppose you could draw a parallel between Clark and Radley, though what the character represented in the book was a dark, mysterious force, and the kids (who are the central characters) try to show courage by running up onto his porch and taunting him by various means. When one of the kids comes face to face with actual evil as opposed to the make-believe kind, Radley emerges to save one of them, teaching an important lesson about growing up and making assumptions about people.
Basically, I’m not sure what kind of a “compliment” it is to Clark to compare her to a mysterious, threatening (but ultimately benevolent) hulk.
Next, I give you last week’s Area Votes in Congress (here). And I’m going to save you the trouble of reading and tell you that the writeup comprises three typically stupid votes by Pat Toomey (everyone else from our area senatorial delegation voted in the opposite fashion, and correctly so IMHO).
The first concerned oil-industry tax breaks…”Voting 52-48, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to advance a Democratic-sponsored bill (S 940) to end several tax breaks for the five largest oil and gas companies, with the savings of $21 billion over 10 years applied to deficit reduction.”
Toomey voted No.
The second concerned expedited oil drilling…”Voting 42-57, the Senate defeated a GOP-sponsored bill (S 953) requiring the Department of the Interior to act within 60 days on several dozen applications for deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of these applications have been put on hold in response to last year's BP-Deepwater Horizon spill. The bill also sets deadlines for the administration to auction certain outer continental shelf leases in the gulf and off the Atlantic Coast that have been delayed because of the spill.”
Speaking for everyone else but Toomey, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey opposed the bill, primarily for environmental concerns (also because it won’t do a damn thing now or later to lower the price of gas).
Toomey voted Yes.
The third concerned the filibuster of Obama judicial nominee Goodwin Liu (more on him shortly)…”Voting 52-43, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to end a GOP filibuster against the nomination of Goodwin Liu as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco. This was the first defeat of one of President Obama's judicial nominees.”
Toomey voted No, which helped to kill Liu’s nomination.
Toomey is proving to be every bit of the right-wing ideologue and utter embarrassment I believed he would be throughout his campaign for the U.S. Senate (and to think that the Courier Times favored him over Joe Sestak because they thought Admiral Joe was long-winded, or something…what a joke).
And to wrap up (sort of), I just happened to come across a bunch of items related to the Obama Administration in one form or another, and I just wanted to address them here.
The first is this post telling us about the “Obama Scandal Indicator,” which makes the somewhat interesting observation that the teabagger “scandals” we all know about have diverted attention from some of the more legitimate ones (if not actual scandals, controversies at the very least) concerning Pfc. Bradley Manning, the recent renewal of the Patriot Act, continuation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and whatever our commitment is at the moment in Libya), etc. (and the line graph projecting the probability of scandal in a second Obama term is pretty funny, I have to admit).
The next is this column at The Hill written by Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, who served in the military for 36 years and was, at one time, the head of U.S. CENTCOMM…
Also, this column calls for President Obama to speak out more forcefully against Repug obstruction on his judicial appointments; the article also makes what I believe is a good point about the relative youth of conservative ideologues appointed to district courts versus the relative age of Obama nominees (one of the reason why Goodwin Liu’s nomination was targeted was because of his age).
And on that subject, I give you the following from Texas Sen. John Cornyn in the New York Times today (here)…
In addition, as noted here, Cornyn doesn’t have room to lecture anybody about federal subsidies, considering that his state (under the direction of Gov. Rick “Goodhair” Perry) is running a $23 billion deficit and relies on about $12 billion in federal funds.
(Also, I have a feeling Cornyn cropped that quote, but I’m not really able to investigate that at the moment.)
Update: I meant to include this and this in support of Liu earlier...my bad.
And to conclude, I should note that former Bushie and Repug consultant/fundraiser Ed Gillespie said here that “Catholics were right to applaud” Orange Man Boehner when he recently spoke at the Catholic University of America.
I’ll tell you what…check out this post from Matt Yglesias, in which we learn the following (about economic projections from 2001 by The Heritage Foundation, another Repug-simpatico outfit who no doubt have made common cause with Gillespie and will do so again)…
Besides, if the Bush tax cuts had been so bloody wonderful for job creation, wouldn’t we now have more jobs than we would know what to do with?
Gillespie tells us that he’s a CUA alumnus, thus (in his mind) giving him the right to opine accordingly. However, based on this column, it’s obvious that, in his theological study, he somehow missed the lesson about bearing false witness.
To the personal attacks, including profanity, hurled at Pennsbury school board member Simon Campbell during a recent meeting.As one commenter noted…
Campbell is a strident opponent of teachers' right to strike and has become a recognized spokesman on the issue across the state. Locally, he and his allies on the board have become a thorn in the side of the teachers union as negotiators try to ink a new contract.
The success of candidates Simons supported in the primary election apparently piqued the emotions of some teachers, who attended last week's meeting. Foul language and other insults were tossed at a silent Simon, to the delight of applauding opponents. The board president, a Simon opponent, should have cut it off immediately.
It was a classless and disturbing performance and also a horrible lesson for impressionable students in attendance.
Regarding the insults directed at Simon Campbell at a recent board meeting.And as another commenter noted, the paper’s august editorial board had not one word to say when Campbell published the salaries and compensation amounts of Pennsbury school district teachers and other employees (though other residents have quite rightly expressed their outrage over Campbell’s stunt).
Not a single profanity was used and not a single student was present. The criticism came from residents, not teachers. It should be noted that one former teacher, a resident, did speak harshly.
Campbell who literally has said he can 'take it' might have been caught off guard by the flow of honest emotion. It was all in reaction to his behavior and tasteless propaganda, and not due to some election results.
Sadly his wife was in attendance that evening. I am sure she was stunned.
But Campbell, ever the opportunist, uses that fact to call crying to the paper.
And this paper dutifully carried his water.
Please stop your bias, BCCT. The week prior Mr. Campbell held the meeting hostage with his classless attack on the school board president. Additionally a Falls township supervisor screamed that the school board president was a derelict.
And remaining with the Courier Times, J.D. Mullane wrote here about Huguette M. Clark, the New York benefactress who passed away this week at 104. Clark sought privacy to the point where inquiries have been made into her financial affairs (not a reflection on Clark, but only to ensure that her estate was managed properly – no criminal charges have been filed, according to Mullane).
And as you might expect, Mullane used this as an excuse to dive into familiar territory (no privacy online or otherwise, people too nosey, rude, pushy, whatever – yawn), claiming that Clark sought to be “Boo” Radley in terms of seclusion from the world (a reference to a character from Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”).
Though it’s a bit of a stretch, I suppose you could draw a parallel between Clark and Radley, though what the character represented in the book was a dark, mysterious force, and the kids (who are the central characters) try to show courage by running up onto his porch and taunting him by various means. When one of the kids comes face to face with actual evil as opposed to the make-believe kind, Radley emerges to save one of them, teaching an important lesson about growing up and making assumptions about people.
Basically, I’m not sure what kind of a “compliment” it is to Clark to compare her to a mysterious, threatening (but ultimately benevolent) hulk.
The first concerned oil-industry tax breaks…”Voting 52-48, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to advance a Democratic-sponsored bill (S 940) to end several tax breaks for the five largest oil and gas companies, with the savings of $21 billion over 10 years applied to deficit reduction.”
Toomey voted No.
The second concerned expedited oil drilling…”Voting 42-57, the Senate defeated a GOP-sponsored bill (S 953) requiring the Department of the Interior to act within 60 days on several dozen applications for deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of these applications have been put on hold in response to last year's BP-Deepwater Horizon spill. The bill also sets deadlines for the administration to auction certain outer continental shelf leases in the gulf and off the Atlantic Coast that have been delayed because of the spill.”
Speaking for everyone else but Toomey, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey opposed the bill, primarily for environmental concerns (also because it won’t do a damn thing now or later to lower the price of gas).
Toomey voted Yes.
The third concerned the filibuster of Obama judicial nominee Goodwin Liu (more on him shortly)…”Voting 52-43, the Senate failed to reach 60 votes needed to end a GOP filibuster against the nomination of Goodwin Liu as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in San Francisco. This was the first defeat of one of President Obama's judicial nominees.”
Toomey voted No, which helped to kill Liu’s nomination.
Toomey is proving to be every bit of the right-wing ideologue and utter embarrassment I believed he would be throughout his campaign for the U.S. Senate (and to think that the Courier Times favored him over Joe Sestak because they thought Admiral Joe was long-winded, or something…what a joke).
The first is this post telling us about the “Obama Scandal Indicator,” which makes the somewhat interesting observation that the teabagger “scandals” we all know about have diverted attention from some of the more legitimate ones (if not actual scandals, controversies at the very least) concerning Pfc. Bradley Manning, the recent renewal of the Patriot Act, continuation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and whatever our commitment is at the moment in Libya), etc. (and the line graph projecting the probability of scandal in a second Obama term is pretty funny, I have to admit).
The next is this column at The Hill written by Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, who served in the military for 36 years and was, at one time, the head of U.S. CENTCOMM…
The New START treaty was vigorously debated in the Senate, and was ratified with broad bipartisan support. This was because the treaty is in our national security interest, is supported by every former secretary of state, seven former Stratcom commanders and many other respected voices from both sides of the aisle.It figures that those Republican knuckleheads in the House would do something like this to try and tie the hands of our Kenyan Marxist pre-zee-dint who was too busy killing bin Laden to show us his Hawaiian birth certificate (not drawing the lines of presidential prerogative at something as hugely important as nuclear deterrence, or anything else for that matter).
The treaty makes modest reductions to the U.S. deployed strategic arsenal, but more importantly it creates stability between the United States and Russia and allows the American military to inspect the Russian arsenal.
Two controversial parts of the NDAA, sections 1055 and 1056, seek to constrain the ability of the President and military leaders to make strategic choices for our nuclear strategy.
Section 1055 would prevent the reductions mandated under the New START treaty from taking place until the administration certifies that nuclear modernization is taking place. It would also withhold funds for the reduction of non-deployed and non-strategic nuclear weapons until two major facilities in the nuclear weapons complex are completed and operating, which will not take place until the middle of the next decade.
Section 1056 makes any nuclear arsenal reductions below the New START treaty ceiling of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads contingent on assurances to Congress that the president will not change America’s nuclear targeting strategy. The formulation of this strategy has been a prerogative of every President since the end of World War II, so this provision amounts to a significant rewriting of the rules.
…
Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) introduced the legislation responsible for these provisions on the grounds that “[w]e need to act now, to codify the promised ‘To-Do-List’ for modernizing our nuclear forces.”
This is not the case. They are unnecessary, and run counter to the interests of American national security.
Also, this column calls for President Obama to speak out more forcefully against Repug obstruction on his judicial appointments; the article also makes what I believe is a good point about the relative youth of conservative ideologues appointed to district courts versus the relative age of Obama nominees (one of the reason why Goodwin Liu’s nomination was targeted was because of his age).
And on that subject, I give you the following from Texas Sen. John Cornyn in the New York Times today (here)…
In your May 23 editorial “Breaking Faith,” you claim that I “falsely” accused Goodwin Liu, President Obama’s judicial nominee, of holding the view that the United States Constitution somehow guarantees a European-style welfare state. Yet in a 2006 Yale Law Journal article, Mr. Liu argued:Actually, Cornyn’s characterization was ridiculous. Besides, as noted here, child care tax credit savings are higher in Republican states. Also, on the subject of “transportation subsidies” David Frum (hardly a liberal) wrote here in favor of subsidies for high-speed rail.
“On my account of the Constitution’s citizenship guarantee, federal responsibility logically extends to areas beyond education. ... Beyond a minimal safety net, the legislative agenda of equal citizenship should extend to systems of support and opportunity that, like education, provide a foundation for political and economic autonomy and participation. The main pillars of the agenda would include basic employment supports such as expanded health insurance, child care, transportation subsidies, job training and a robust earned income tax credit.”
I believe that the professor’s words speak for themselves, and that my characterization was fair.
In addition, as noted here, Cornyn doesn’t have room to lecture anybody about federal subsidies, considering that his state (under the direction of Gov. Rick “Goodhair” Perry) is running a $23 billion deficit and relies on about $12 billion in federal funds.
(Also, I have a feeling Cornyn cropped that quote, but I’m not really able to investigate that at the moment.)
Update: I meant to include this and this in support of Liu earlier...my bad.
And to conclude, I should note that former Bushie and Repug consultant/fundraiser Ed Gillespie said here that “Catholics were right to applaud” Orange Man Boehner when he recently spoke at the Catholic University of America.
I understand why many Catholics measure compassion by how many Americans are on food stamps, and individuals and families in need of legitimate government assistance should get it. But many of us measure compassion by how many Americans can be moved from food stamps and other government programs to self-sufficiency through what Pope John Paul II called “the dignity of work.” Given the record of the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress the past two years, if more federal spending created more jobs, we wouldn’t be stuck at 9 percent unemployment.Oh, cute.
I’ll tell you what…check out this post from Matt Yglesias, in which we learn the following (about economic projections from 2001 by The Heritage Foundation, another Repug-simpatico outfit who no doubt have made common cause with Gillespie and will do so again)…
(Heritage) Promised us that George W. Bush’s tax policies would lead the country into a brave new era of prosperity. In fact, by the end of 2009, payroll employment in the United States was back down to 2001 levels despite population growth.(There is also a link to a graph in the Yglesias post showing employment over the course of the last ten years or so that makes the case better than I can that Obama has turned the economy around from the free-fall that concluded Dubya’s sorry second term.)
Besides, if the Bush tax cuts had been so bloody wonderful for job creation, wouldn’t we now have more jobs than we would know what to do with?
Gillespie tells us that he’s a CUA alumnus, thus (in his mind) giving him the right to opine accordingly. However, based on this column, it’s obvious that, in his theological study, he somehow missed the lesson about bearing false witness.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
More Thursday Stuff
We were overdue for another righteous outburst from Dem U.S. House Rep Anthony Weiner, but he obliged here, to our good fortune...
...oh, and speaking of "pouting" and walking off the set, as noted here, I give you the following over basically the same issue...
...and maybe I'm crazy, but I think this kid has a better-than-decent shot at the Repug nomination for president (Mark Fiore is a damn genius)...
...and by the way, pleasant dreams everyone.
...oh, and speaking of "pouting" and walking off the set, as noted here, I give you the following over basically the same issue...
...and maybe I'm crazy, but I think this kid has a better-than-decent shot at the Repug nomination for president (Mark Fiore is a damn genius)...
...and by the way, pleasant dreams everyone.
Thursday Stuff
Probably none of my stinky posts today :-), so here are some videos:
Keep beating this drum, Congressional Democrats. All the way to November 2012. And don't let up (and by the way, remember this too)...
...and kudos to Dem U.S. House Rep Earl Blumenauer for "going there" on climate change and our recent horrific weather.
Keep beating this drum, Congressional Democrats. All the way to November 2012. And don't let up (and by the way, remember this too)...
...and kudos to Dem U.S. House Rep Earl Blumenauer for "going there" on climate change and our recent horrific weather.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wednesday Stuff
Here is the testimony of Elizabeth Warren before asshat Patrick McHenry that I noted earlier; I think Warren’s shocked expression as McHenry calls her a liar speaks volumes, and if there’s any justice, his sorry ass will get voted out of office (though expecting many voters to remember this in November 2012 is a stretch, I’ll admit…guess it’s my job to make sure they do)…
…and get a load of this; McHenry’s fellow House Repug Rob Woodall was all about having people do for themselves recently (here, at about :26 - God, and people actually applauded...I feel ill)…well, I guess he’s all about “them’s that got shall get” now based on the rest of this right after his applause line...kudos to that lady who put him on the spot; Woodall really is an idiot if he thinks his health care is "free"...
…on literally a wholly other note, Miles Davis would have been 85 tomorrow (I believe this was broadcast on The Steve Allen Show in 1964, also featuring John Coltrane…not sure of the other musicians)…
…and even though I stand by what I said last night about Bob Dylan, I was probably a bit dismissive, so here is another excerpt from his legendary body of work (no video).
…and get a load of this; McHenry’s fellow House Repug Rob Woodall was all about having people do for themselves recently (here, at about :26 - God, and people actually applauded...I feel ill)…well, I guess he’s all about “them’s that got shall get” now based on the rest of this right after his applause line...kudos to that lady who put him on the spot; Woodall really is an idiot if he thinks his health care is "free"...
…on literally a wholly other note, Miles Davis would have been 85 tomorrow (I believe this was broadcast on The Steve Allen Show in 1964, also featuring John Coltrane…not sure of the other musicians)…
…and even though I stand by what I said last night about Bob Dylan, I was probably a bit dismissive, so here is another excerpt from his legendary body of work (no video).
Wednesday Mashup (5/25/11)
And by the way…
Just sayin’…As noted here, Haines “provided a false analogy in order to mock a new rule that will reportedly require banks to pass a test before they can repay TARP funds.”
Here, he helped to propagate the lie that GM workers made $70 an hour (using that rigged formula for computing benefits and adding that amount to hourly autoworker compensation…wonder what Haines’ hourly compensation was using that formula?). Here, he verbally attacked fellow CNBC reporter Erin Burnett in a sexist way while they disagreed over the awful call by umpire Jim Joyce that robbed Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Gallaraga of his perfect game (oh, but Haines was just joking – sure he was). And here (in a bit of a similar incident), he went “weirdly postal” on Arianna Huffington for saying that equity holders in the banks receiving TARP funds should have to fend for themselves, more or less (which I agree with, seeing as how they received taxpayer funds to cover their losses).
Warren, a Harvard professor hand-picked by President Obama to set up the new bureau, and whom some Democrats hope will run in 2012 against Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), was angered after McHenry, who chaired the hearing of a House Oversight subcommittee, requested she stay for additional questions. Warren said she had been told she could leave after an hour.In response, I would ask that you name a single politician, appointee or public figure of any type or occupation (or political affiliation) who has had to endure comparable treatment at a congressional hearing.
McHenry maintained no such arrangement was made, which set off a round of bickering between the two in the packed hearing room.
“That was never the pledge,” said McHenry.
In response, Warren accused Republicans of making repeated changes to the schedule late into the previous day.
“Congressman, when you asked to change the time four times in the last 12 hours, including waking people up at home last night to change the time again ... ” she began.
McHenry interrupted, saying, “Let me be direct with you: I never made a single phone call about this.
“I never heard you had to leave at 2:15,” he added.
“Congressman, you might want to have a conversation with your staff,” Warren responded.
McHenry then refused to recess the hearing as members left for votes, maintaining that GOP staff never promised Warren she would be free to leave after an hour, and would merely try to accommodate the request.
“I’m not trying to cause you problems, Miss Warren,” he said.
“Congressman, you are causing problems,” she responded. “We had an agreement. ... I committed to you based on representations of your staff.”
“You had no agreement,” responded McHenry.
“We had an agreement,” she rebutted.
“You’re making this up, Miss Warren,” said McHenry.
At that point, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member of the full committee, interjected.
“Mr. Chairman, you just did something that — I’m trying to be cordial here — but you just accused the lady of lying,” he said.
Warren then offered to respond to the remaining questions in writing, so they could be entered into the public record.
McHenry agreed to allow Warren to do so, and permitted her to depart from the hearing as the panel recessed.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
…
With this in mind, allow me to point out how utterly scared shirtless the Repugs are of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Warren would head up, and McHenry’s thoroughly despicable treatment is part of an effort to harass her to the point where Warren will just say the hell with it and walk away from everything (which I sincerely hope she does not do, and I know I have a lot of company on that).
And that is even more of a reason to sign this petition from Senator Al Franken calling for President Obama to name Professor Warren as a recess appointment, putting an end to these childish theatrics.
All of this is typical for McHenry, though, who, as noted here, flip-flopped in a truly putrid fashion on the CAFTA vote along with Mikey the Beloved. Also, McHenry once called a member of the Iraq coalition forces a “two-bit security guard” here; this person had the temerity, apparently, to tell McHenry he couldn’t work out at a gym in the Iraq “green zone” (probably trying to keep from getting McHenry’s sorry ass shot off…McHenry apologized, as well he should); also, the Pentagon told McHenry he couldn’t re-air a video he'd shot in Baghdad after accusations surfaced that McHenry breached operational security in detailing enemy rocket attacks (here).
So I suppose having the “bravery” to attack a woman and an esteemed professional in her field testifying before his committee is about par for the sorry course.
Update 7/18/11: Why am I not surprised (here)?
Really, wingnuts, do you want to go there? And by the way, Obama has already said he'll tour Joplin, Missouri on Sunday when he gets back from overseas.Update: What Think Progress sez here - come on, Ed, you know better than that!
Update 5/26/11: Better...
Next, Burt Prelutsky whines as follows here…
Why, as a business owner, would I vote for a guy or a party that wants to raise my taxes, in part to pay the salaries of federal employees, the only segment of the American workforce that’s continued growing — 11,000 new jobs in the first quarter of 2011 — in the years since Obama was elected?As noted here, Obama signed the largest middle class tax cut in history into law through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And as noted here, this country just added the most private sector jobs “in years” (though we have far to go on that score, I’ll admit), while public sector jobs are on the decline (here).
And with that in mind, Mark Halperin wanked as follows here…
While it is impossible to predict with certainty, it is clear that like much swirling about in politics today, the outcome of the 2012 election (for both president and control of Congress) will be determined in large part by whether there is a grand bargain on deficit reduction (including Medicare changes), and, if there is such a bargain, what the terms of it are.As noted here in a Gallup Poll from a couple of weeks ago…
General economic concerns (35%) and unemployment (22%) are the specific issues currently at the forefront of Americans' minds. The percentage mentioning the economy in general is up significantly from 26% in April, while unemployment is up just slightly from 19%.And the debt polled at 12 percent.
Only brainless pundits like Halperin and the rest of the Beltway blowhards care about the deficit, and only for reasons of political bloviation. The only thing the rest of this country cares about is jobs.
Those last two sentences should be so concise and to the point that even Halperin can understand them.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday Stuff
Here is something to cry about for real, Orange Man (and congratulations to U.S. House Representative-Elect, Democrat Kathy Hochul from NY-26)...
…and I’ll be honest; I was going to go “all in” and work on some enormous post about Bob Dylan in honor of his 70th birthday, but I thought what he said recently about folk music, calling it “music for fat people,” as well as totally ignoring human rights issues in China when he recently performed there, were both pretty crappy (as noted in this fine column by Maureen Dowd; I couldn’t think of anything to say about it last month when it appeared, but better late than never I guess).
There were a lot of performers who gave up a lot in the way of commercial success and even risked harm to themselves by standing up and performing songs about what they believed in (Pete Seeger, for example). However, I suppose Dylan really doesn’t believe in much of anything when you get down to it (I’ve mentioned the book “John Lennon: The Life” by Philip Norman a few times in the past, and the former Beatle more or less dismissed Dylan’s supposed religious conversion in the late ‘70s in a fairly snide manner, for the record).
So, for now, happy birthday, Bob. Congratulations on achieving iconic status as one of the most famous artists of easily the last 50 years.
But as far as I’m concerned, you’re still a real jerk.
…and I’ll be honest; I was going to go “all in” and work on some enormous post about Bob Dylan in honor of his 70th birthday, but I thought what he said recently about folk music, calling it “music for fat people,” as well as totally ignoring human rights issues in China when he recently performed there, were both pretty crappy (as noted in this fine column by Maureen Dowd; I couldn’t think of anything to say about it last month when it appeared, but better late than never I guess).
There were a lot of performers who gave up a lot in the way of commercial success and even risked harm to themselves by standing up and performing songs about what they believed in (Pete Seeger, for example). However, I suppose Dylan really doesn’t believe in much of anything when you get down to it (I’ve mentioned the book “John Lennon: The Life” by Philip Norman a few times in the past, and the former Beatle more or less dismissed Dylan’s supposed religious conversion in the late ‘70s in a fairly snide manner, for the record).
So, for now, happy birthday, Bob. Congratulations on achieving iconic status as one of the most famous artists of easily the last 50 years.
But as far as I’m concerned, you’re still a real jerk.
Tuesday Mashup (5/24/11)
As noted here…
…Bruni tailed (George W.) Bush obsessively on the campaign trail (in 2000), filing more than 200 dispatches. But he never once referenced in print the Globe allegations (of a one-year gap in Dubya’s National Guard service). (Just try to imagine the Times' reaction if, during the 2000 campaign, the same Boston Globe had reported on Page One that Gore's discharge papers from Vietnam showed he rigged his wartime duty and orchestrated an early exit by simply refusing to report for duty during the final two years of his commitment.)And as noted here, Bruni complained about a “date night” for the Obamas in 2009.
So Frank Bruni will be the next political pundit for the Times.
I assume, then, that Andrew Malcolm was unavailable.
And while I’m on the subject of media idiocy, allow me to point out that Mark Hemingway of The Weakly Standard is alleging some of that dreaded liberal bias from The Washington Post; see, the paper just debuted a blog on think tanks, and the person running the blog is named Allen McDuffee (here)…
From the Post bio…(McDuffee) is a New York-based politics writer. Part reporter, part investigative journalist, part blogger, Allen has written for The Nation, Huffington Post, AlterNet, Raw Story, New York Observer, In These Times and Truthdig, among others.So, then, what does this alleged left-wing commie hippie blogger come up with in one of his first posts? A collection of links to the following: an L.A. Times opinion column by The Doughy Pantload telling Paul Ryan to run for president, three links to columns in the National Review, two to the New York Post, and one to the American Enterprise Institute.
Emphasis added. The Nation? AlterNet? Raw Story? Truth Dig? Those are decidedly left-wing outlets. Can you imagine the post hiring anyone from, say, World Net Daily? Because that's about the right-wing equivalent of some of those publications.
The phony umbrage act is really, really old at this point, wingnuts (and I’ll ignore Hemingway’s typically childish slam at the four worthy news sources he mentioned for now).
To the Editor:(Note: The reason I didn’t include the last paragraph of Camp’s letter is because I’m tired of getting zinged by people who complain that I use all of their content for my own nefarious schemes as far as they’re concerned – and yes, I realize that I could easily be running afoul of someone else’s legal protection, regardless of the fact that I’m not earning one dime for their labors.)
“Going Back on the Deal” (editorial, May 16) concludes that “there are better ways” to help the unemployed than the Jobs Act, and that changes to the unemployment program go back on a December deal between the administration and Congress.
The only thing the Jobs Act “goes back on” is the tired notion that more Washington spending is the only way to help the unemployed.
…
DAVE CAMP
Washington, May 17, 2011
Basically, Camp is all in a huff because the Times dared to criticize his scheme to use unemployment funds to reduce business taxes at a time when the national rate is 9 percent. This is perfectly typical for Camp, who once claimed that a reduction in spending decreased unemployment after World War II here (actually, unemployment increased slightly, and at that time, both major political parties pretty much subscribed to Keynesian economics, meaning that government spending was the best form of stimulus…so, today’s “pain caucus” wing of the pundit class is wrong on U.S. history, among many other things).
Also, as noted here, Camp voted to protect outsourcing, voted about a year ago here against extending unemployment benefits, and claimed incorrectly here that money in the “stim” was earmarked for ACORN, which of course is now defunct.
And as far as I’m concerned, Camp is yet another Republican politician who gives Roman Catholics a bad name.
Millions of North Koreans face horrible deprivation, not only of food but also of heat, light and freedom. Before sending another dime's worth of food to North Korea, why shouldn't the Obama administration sum up the real problem, with budget estimates attached -- and let Radio Free Asia and its cohorts broadcast that illuminating information into North Korea?As noted here…
On July 13, President Barack Obama signed into law a legislation that provides permanent authorization to Radio Free Asia…Also, this tells us about the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, which is trying to put into place “Ten Practical and Specific Measures for Advancing Human Rights in United States Policy toward North Korea.”
This is good news to the Tibetan service of RFA. Prior to this bill, the authorization for funding Radio Free Asia would not have been available after September 30, 2010.
Could the Obama Administration do more on this issue? I’m sure the answer is yes, but I’m also sure you could say that about every one of his predecessors in office (and you’ll probably be able to say that about his successors also).
Besides, the measure I use when it comes to North Korea is whether or not they’ve been firing off any missiles lately or making threats involving nuclear material, and since matters have been quiet on that front and hopefully will remain that way, I’m inclined to give the Obama Administration some credit (which Rosett and her ilk are loathe to do, of course, claiming here that Obama should have pretty much just kept his mouth shut about bin Laden…uh huh; imagine what Obama’s predecessor would have done – he would be enshrined in corporate media lore forever).
Oh, and as noted here, Rosett also demeaned the very serious story of the 2007 World Toilet Summit.
(I’ll have to “leave it there,” people – as I said, this is a serious issue, but still, I’m sure you can come up with a scatological reference for Rosett here at least as well as I can.)
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday Stuff
Paging President Hopey Changey - maybe you should look into this (assuming he's not ultimately in on it too, I realize)...
...and this is a kickass little tune - sorry, no video.
...and this is a kickass little tune - sorry, no video.
More Lies From Mikey The Beloved’s Energy Escapade
It seems our Repug PA-08 U.S. House Rep took time from meeting with business leaders in an attempt to spur job creation (of course, God forbid Mikey would stop at a job fair and talk to people living through the hell of unemployment to learn their perspective) long enough to concoct more dreck willingly published by his PR service, otherwise known as the Bucks County Courier Times (here)…The need for energy independence is both an economic and national security issue and America must break its addiction to foreign oil and prioritize domestic energy development, now. We have had our wake-up call.As noted here, Fitzpatrick voted against funding clean energy development five years ago.
Continuing…
We know that no single energy source will power our nation and our economy in the decades to come. We also know oil has kept America's economic engine running through our most prosperous eras and it will continue to play a vital role in our energy strategy, although, alone, oil is not enough.And speaking of oil not being enough (or whatever), Fitzpatrick also voted against including alternative fuels in our strategic energy reserve here.
Continuing…
Subsidies for big oil were bad policy then, and they are bad policy now.Uh, Mikey, I hate to break the news to you, but as noted here, you voted to continue those very subsidies along with every other House Republican a few weeks ago.
Continuing…
While President Bush's energy policy picked winners in the energy game, President Obama is attempting to pick the losers.This tells us that energy experts claim that it is “not credible” to blame Obama for the rise in oil prices, particularly since production has increased under his watch. Also, the cancellation of the 77 onshore leases in Utah occurred because a federal judge ordered the original sale of the land during the Bush era to be put on hold because of discrepancies in the way the contracts were awarded (Improprieties during Dubya’s sorry reign? Color me shocked!), pending the current review by the Obama Administration (here). And the last I checked, it was Mikey’s playmates in the House who were trying to strip the EPA of the ability to regulate greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, not the Obama Administration (here).
Upon taking office, the president imposed a de facto moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, cancelled 77 onshore leases in Utah, and is pushing expansive new EPA regulations that do little to protect our environment while amounting to a massive job-crushing energy tax.
And when it comes to “crushing jobs,” by the way, Fitzpatrick claimed during a debate last year with former Rep Patrick Murphy that the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) “turned a $1.6 billion trade deficit into a $6 billion surplus” here (this was in response to Murphy’s claim that the deal “cost Bucks County 5,300 jobs”). Well, this claims that CAFTA will likely end up jeopardizing “tens of thousands” of jobs across the country (I think someone needs to take “a basic economic class at the community college,” Congressman, but it’s not Patrick Murphy, as you once claimed).
Also…
In his 2012 budget, the president went further and proposed more than $60 billion in new taxes and fees on American energy production.I honestly can’t find any sourcing of this claim anywhere, though it is noted all over the place at the web sites of Republican politicians and conservative-friendly media. I would only say in response that, as noted here, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips are on track to reap as much as $200 billion in profit from the $4-and-up price of gas this year, so it’s really hard for me to take their blackmail about “$60 billion in taxes and fees will kill jobs” seriously.
Continuing…
…the Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act is aimed at lifting the president's ban on new offshore drilling and establishes a production goal of 3 million barrels of oil per day and 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2027.As noted here, President Obama lifted the offshore drilling moratorium last October. And as noted here, the so-called Energy Tax Prevention Act should have been called the Stopping The EPA From Regulating Greenhouse Gases That Will Make Us Sicker For Now, Ultimately Kill Us And Melt Our Planet Act.
Finally, the Energy Tax Prevention Act stops the EPA from imposing excessive and costly regulatory burdens that would increase the cost of filling your tank and heating your home.
Such a cavalcade of misinformation is appalling even by Mikey’s already low standards. Just add this to the ever-growing pile of evidence to that fact that our U.S. congressional rep is nothing but a puppet for the corporatist malefactors who pull his strings.
Update: By the way, Mikey also criticized Obama for calling for Israel's agreeing to return to its pre-1967 borders of course (here), even though the following should be noted from here.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Saturday Stuff
What a shame - it's about 7:30 EST and it looks like I missed The Rapture :-)...
Anyway, a hat tip to Avedon Carol at Eschaton for this (it's the real thing)...
...and here is another video clip of a town hall event that you won't see from the news programs on networks with initials for names (and this addresses the Buerkle lie about the $500 billion - I cannot imagine how these people sleep at night, and hopefully I never will)...
...and here is another one (paging Alan Grayson - this Webster putz ought to read this...oh, sorry, I forgot; the Repugs have their hands over their ears and eyes closed I guess, yelling "NYAAAH, NYAAAH, CAN'T HEAR YOU")...
...and I realize that my musical selections have been stuck in a bit of a time warp, which isn't too bad I know, but here is something more current.
Anyway, a hat tip to Avedon Carol at Eschaton for this (it's the real thing)...
...and here is another video clip of a town hall event that you won't see from the news programs on networks with initials for names (and this addresses the Buerkle lie about the $500 billion - I cannot imagine how these people sleep at night, and hopefully I never will)...
...and here is another one (paging Alan Grayson - this Webster putz ought to read this...oh, sorry, I forgot; the Repugs have their hands over their ears and eyes closed I guess, yelling "NYAAAH, NYAAAH, CAN'T HEAR YOU")...
...and I realize that my musical selections have been stuck in a bit of a time warp, which isn't too bad I know, but here is something more current.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Friday Stuff
About what I said earlier, I didn't mean to imply that the Dems don't have more work to do on behalf of organized labor (here)...
...and I would say that this bears repeating based on this (and this...and I'm sure Repug Bucks County, PA DA David Heckler will release the results of his investigation into the Ciervo/Fitzpatrick voter fraud letter from last November any day now...any day now)...
...also, "What's Going On?," an album Berry Gordy definitely didn't want Marvin Gaye to release (until it started making money, that is), made its debut forty years ago (ugh) today...
...and finally...well, it looks like all good things must come to an end based on this, so I guess it's time for us to all find our biospheres or whatever and climb in, take one last big swig of that Kool Aid if you will, and call it a day - see you on the other side :-).
...and I would say that this bears repeating based on this (and this...and I'm sure Repug Bucks County, PA DA David Heckler will release the results of his investigation into the Ciervo/Fitzpatrick voter fraud letter from last November any day now...any day now)...
...also, "What's Going On?," an album Berry Gordy definitely didn't want Marvin Gaye to release (until it started making money, that is), made its debut forty years ago (ugh) today...
...and finally...well, it looks like all good things must come to an end based on this, so I guess it's time for us to all find our biospheres or whatever and climb in, take one last big swig of that Kool Aid if you will, and call it a day - see you on the other side :-).
Friday Mashup (5/20/11)
And here is another item for the “disrespect” file, concerning the nomination of Goodwin Liu to the U.S. Federal Appeals Court.
Also, here is yet another item, and a response is here (impudent and naughty to call out my “A” list brethren I know, but I’ll be honest; sometimes I get a little tired of the whining from our side too…besides, I think the speech by Richard Trumka linked to by Atrios is more of a response to this, which I’ll admit is inexcusable).HouseHmmm…I smell another "safe" Yes vote that Mikey The Beloved can tout (along with Dent, LoBiondo and Smith) as part of his supposed environmental bona fides which, in fact, don’t exist, particularly since the bill was doomed to fail anyway, probably because it made too much sense for the bunch in power here.
Gulf of Mexico drilling. Voting 263-163, the House sent the Senate a bill (H.R. 1229) that would restore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to levels comparable to those in effect before last year's BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The bill would require the Interior Department to act within 60 days on about 40 permit applications now undergoing safety and environmental reviews. The administration lifted its post-spill drilling moratorium in October, and has since issued about 10 deepwater permits and nearly 40 permits for drilling in shallow water.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Michael Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Jon Runyan (R., N.J.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).
Voting no: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), John Carney (D., Del.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), and Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.).
Blowout prevention. Voting 176-237, the House defeated a bid to expand H.R. 1229 (above) to include safety recommendations issued in January by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. The amendment would have required the enactment of minimum standards in areas such as preventing blowouts, cementing wells, and installing redundant safety barriers inside wells - steps that would be subject to independent, third-party certifications. Though the commission's recommendations have been addressed to varying degrees by governmental regulators and the oil industry, they have not been added to federal law.
A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, LoBiondo, Schwartz, and Smith.
Voting no: Holden, Gerlach, Meehan, Pitts, and Runyan.
Outer continental shelf oil. Voting 243-179, the House authorized oil and gas exploration in several expanses of the outer continental shelf where drilling is now banned for primarily environmental reasons. In part, the bill (H.R. 1231) would require the Department of the Interior to sell leases for drilling off the Atlantic Coast from Maine to North Carolina, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, off southern California, in the Arctic Ocean, and off Alaska's Bristol Bay. Depending on the state, the outer continental shelf usually begins three to nine nautical miles from shore and reaches outward for at least 200 nautical miles.Sooo…while the Repugs and their minions scream “drill, baby, drill,” nobody is supposed to ask where the product of that effort is supposed to go, are they? We can’t tell Big Oil not to sell that “black crude” offshore if those markets are more favorable than ours, can we?
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
Voting yes: Dent, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, Meehan, and Pitts.
Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, LoBiondo, Runyan, Smith, and Schwartz.
Ban on oil exports. Voting 180-243, the House defeated a Democratic motion to H.R. 1231 (above) to prohibit energy companies from selling abroad the outer continental shelf oil and natural gas they extract under federal leases. The measure also would have required the Department of the Interior, over the next five years, to reduce by half the large number of nonperforming oil and gas leases in the outer continental shelf.
A yes vote backed the motion.
Voting yes: Andrews, Brady, Carney, Fattah, Holden, and Schwartz.
Voting no: Gerlach, Fitzpatrick, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, and Smith.
Not voting: Dent.
Sometimes I think the Republicans must read about votes like this and laugh their asses off. And when it comes to the stupidity of the voters who returned them to power last November, they should.
2011 intelligence budget. Voting 392-15, the House passed a classified U.S. intelligence budget (H.R. 754) estimated at $55 billion or more for fiscal 2011. The bill would fund operations of civilian and military spy agencies such as the CIA, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, and National Reconnaissance Office. When other outlays in the federal budget are counted, total spending for intelligence activities is projected to top $80 billion this year.Toomey had to pull at least one stupid and/or irritating stunt last week to fulfill his quota, and I guess this was it.
A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Andrews, Carney, Dent, Fattah, Fitzpatrick, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Meehan, Pitts, Runyan, Schwartz, and Smith.
Not voting: Brady.
Senate
Judge Edward Chen. Voting 56-42, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Edward M. Chen as a federal judge for the Northern District of California. Chen, 58, has been a federal magistrate judge in San Francisco for 10 years, and before that he was an American Civil Liberties Union staff lawyer. Senate Republicans stalled the nomination for 21 months over concerns that Chen would be an "activist judge," while Democrats noted that Chen received the American Bar Association's highest rating for a judicial nominee.
A yes vote was to confirm Chen.
Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Chris Coons (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).
Voting no: Pat Toomey (R., Pa.).
This week, the House was in recess, and the Senate voted on judicial nominations and took up a bill to rescind billions of dollars in oil-industry tax breaks.
Wasn't the world supposed to end on Monday? No, I'm not talking about May 21. But on Monday, the U.S. government officially hit its debt limit, but where are disasters that the Obama administration has been predicting for months? We were warned that hitting the debt limit would be "deeply irresponsible" or “insanity” or “abrupt contraction would likely push us into a double dip recession.” But Americans woke up today to find nothing really changed from last week.If Lott doesn’t want to believe Number 44…well then, would he believe the words of Number 40 (here)?
The Obama administration’s scare tactics are getting old. Unfortunately, they keep on getting away with this and aren’t held accountable when their scare stories prove false.
In 1983, Reagan warned that the consequences of failing to raise the nation’s borrowing limit “are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate”:Also, Reagan was invoked here in an Op-Ed claiming that the Repugs need to find an “heir” to none other than Calvin Coolidge (our 30th president…paying tribute using multiples of 10, I see).
The full consequences of a default — or even the serious prospect of default — by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and the value of the dollar in exchange markets. The Nation can ill afford to allow such a result. The risks, the costs, the disruptions, and the incalculable damage lead me to but one conclusion: the Senate must pass this legislation before the Congress adjourns.
In a 1987 radio address, Reagan also said, “Congress consistently brings the government to the edge of default before facing its responsibility. This brinksmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits. Interest rates would skyrocket, instability would occur in financial markets, and the Federal deficit would soar.”
In response, the following should be considered about “Silent Cal” from here…
…a more important question to ask is whether the prosperity of the 1920's was experienced by all. In fact it was not. According to the Brookings Institution during the Coolidge era the top 0.1% (not 1% but 0.1%) of the population earned as much as the bottom 42%. While the top 0.1% was able to save at a clip of 34% another 80% of Americans had no extra money to put into savings. The rich were certainly experiencing prosperity but most Americans did not experience the benefits of Coolidge's tax policy.Actually, given the fact that we’re currently living in the gilded age on steroids (as at least one pundit has put it), maybe the comparison to Coolidge is more apt than Washington Times editorialist Garland S. Tucker III realizes (not easy for me to beat up on a Vermonter and otherwise solid citizen like Coolidge, but as another president once said, and I don’t mean Reagan, “facts are stubborn things”).
In addition many historians blame Coolidge's economic policy as one of the primary causes of the Great Depression. When the rich got richer through Coolidge's policies they ended up saving the money rather than putting it back into the market as can be seen above. Most Americans did not have the income to purchase "luxury" items like a car or radio which led to many to buy such items on credit. By the end of the 1920's 60% of cars and 80% of radios were bought on credit. Finally Coolidge generally supported a laissez-faire policy which allowed businesses to grow bigger, stocks to be bought on margin, and consumers to be exploited with shady sales practices. All of these policies helped to later create a perfect storm which brought about the Great Depression.
So why am I bothering to say anything at all about him?
Well, awhile ago, I read this fine book about “Saturday Night Live,” which includes more interesting (and usually funny) remembrances from former and current (I believe) cast members than I could possibly recount here. And while there are a few people who are universally hailed (I cannot recall a single negative comment about Gilda Radner, for example), there are some who are not (Harry Shearer, for example, is a funny and talented guy, but apparently he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way during his two turns as a cast member…the only fault of the book as far as I’m concerned is the relentless hosannas to Lorne Michaels, the show’s original and – as far as I know – current producer).
The second of Shearer’s turns, it should be noted, came in the early 1980s while Ebersol was the show’s producer, having stepped in for Michaels for a time. And though Ebersol improved the show’s ratings by loading up the lineup with talent (Billy Crystal, Martin Short, and Christopher Guest, among others), the show definitely lost much of its satiric edge as far as I’m concerned (Ebersol favored performers such as juggler Michael Davis, who was witty I’ll admit, and Harry Anderson and his cockeyed magic acts…Anderson, of “Night Court” fame, also was and still is funny).
However, political humor pretty much disappeared during the Ebersol era (this is borne out by cast remembrances in the book also), including the presidential election year of 1984. I’ll admit that more satiric bits skewering The Sainted Ronnie R would not have made a difference in the electoral outcome, but those would have been welcome anyway (even more jousts at Walter Mondale, Reagan’s Dem opponent in ’84, would have been fine).
Instead, we were treated to such schlocky bits from the Ebersol period as renaming “Weekend Update” “SNL Newsbreak,” with a bolt of lightning supposedly hitting the letters of the show title and raining down debris on Brian Doyle-Murray, the “news anchor.” Apparently, stuff like this was funny to Ebersol.
After Ebersol stepped down and Michaels returned (rebuilding the show around Jon Lovitz, Nora Dunn and the now-execrable Dennis Miller, adding Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks and the great Phil Hartman later), the political edge returned also, with Lovitz as ’88 presidential contender Michael Dukakis, Hartman as Reagan and Carvey of course as Poppy Bush, paving the way for people like Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton (Hartman did a good turn or two as Number 42 also).
So congratulations once more to Ebersol for his accomplishments. But when it comes to “Saturday Night Live” (a show I really don’t follow any more for a variety of reasons), the program maintained its edge in spite of him, not because of him.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Thursday Stuff
Thursday Mashup (5/19/11)
We froze Col. Kadafi's assets over here a while back and all he did was change hats.Uh, no – as noted here…
“As of today, at least 30 billion dollars in government of Libya assets under United States jurisdiction have been blocked as a result of the executive order issued by President Obama,” Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said on a conference call with reporters. “This is the largest blocking under any sanctions program ever.”I will admit that this by itself is not going to stop the conflict…but then again, maybe if Malcolm’s former boss’s husband hadn’t decided to reward Quaddafi by restoring full relations with him, we might not be in as big of a mess as we are now.
The $30 billion is a sum total of all of the assets that have been blocked, including assets of the government of Libya, the Central Bank of Libya and the Libyan Investment Authority.
…
Obama issued the executive order on Friday freezing the assets of Gaddafi and his children as well as the government of Libya and its agencies. On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 1970, which froze the assets of Gaddafi and his five children. The UK then adopted complementary sanctions on Sunday and today the EU announced they are in the process of adopting their own sanctions.
Malcolm also came up with a doozy yesterday that I’m just getting to now, in which he told us of the “secret lesson” of Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich’s hilarious presidential run, which is apparently to not declare too early as Gingrich did, and from that point, Malcolm proceeds to attack President Obama for a supposed never-ending presidential campaign, or something (as noted here, though, Malcolm suffers from Obama Derangement Syndrome anyway).
(I know this stuff is tiresome and definitely is lacking in the “man bites dog” quality of something that is actually newsworthy, but Malcolm is an insect who deserves to be swatted every so often.)
The Navy's decision to name a cargo ship now under construction after labor activist Cesar Chavez has drawn sharp criticism from one veteran lawmaker who says that a military war hero should receive the honor instead.I agree that Sergeant Peralta should receive the Medal of Honor, but I don’t understand the decision of his family to decline the Navy Cross.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he understands the Navy's desire to honor Hispanic leaders, but the Navy may want to skip the politically divisive names and opt for an outstanding service member.
"If this decision were about recognizing the Hispanic community's contribution to our nation, many other names come to mind, including Marine Corps Sergeant Rafael Peralta, who was nominated for the Medal of Honor for action in Iraq. Peralta is one of many Hispanic war heroes -- some of whom are worthy of the same recognition," said Hunter, a Reserve lieutenant in the Marines who says he was informed of the decision by Navy officials Tuesday.
…
Peralta was 25 when he died in a battle in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. After he was shot in the head by friendly fire, he pulled a grenade lobbed by an insurgent under his body before it detonated. He was nominated for the Medal of Honor for sacrificing his life to save the lives of several of his fellow comrades.
Peralta has not been awarded the Medal of Honor, but was offered the Navy Cross, the second highest honor in the Navy. His family declined to accept it.
Besides, I’m not aware of a litmus test that must be passed in order for a U.S. ship to be named after a notable American. As noted here, a U.S. Army ship is named after General Joseph E. Johnston.
Joseph E. Johnston served in the Confederacy during the Civil War, the bunch that led an armed insurrection against this country. You know, against the Union (the guys in the blue coats). And that’s OK?
I’ve got an idea – let’s name the cargo ship after Chavez, name the next U.S. ship to be built after Sgt. Peralta and call it a deal, all right? And let Duncan Hunter find another issue for which he can be a demagogue.
Gee, I wonder if a Dem would have gotten a pass from our august corporate media for walking away from a bipartisan commission like this (I could see the screaming headlines now about Durbin, Sherrod Brown, Patty Murray or whoever supposedly not caring about the deficit, along with the typical bloviation from the right-wing echo chamber, had they done this).
Truth be told, I think Coburn actually did us a favor here by deflating this utterly ridiculous exercise (what we need is a jobs commission…wonder if “President Hopey Changey” will ever name one?).
And that now leads us to James Mountain Inhofe (here)…
It's not surprising that Democrats in Washington have no plan to bring down rising gas prices. But make no mistake, they do have a plan - to make them go higher.As noted here, Obama has directed the Justice Department to look into speculation in the energy markets that is driving up the price of gas (yeah, Obama wants the price of gas to go up and hurt his re-election prospects – uh huh).
That's right: the Democrats, along with President Obama, are advocating policies that will make you pay more at the pump. And that's exactly what they want. Consider President Obama's Energy Secretary, who said, "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." That's about $7 to $8 a gallon.
Also, Inhofe’s former Dem U.S. Senate opponent Andrew Rice told us the following here (noting also that Inhofe has received at least $1,076,573 in campaign contributions from Big Oil)…
It's nothing new for Oklahoma's senior senator to try to distract from our energy problems by pointing fingers and shifting blame. Rather than taking responsibility for his own inaction on gas prices and energy independence during his 22 years in Congress, Inhofe chooses to accuse those who disagree with him of "an attempt to misinform and frighten the public" (Inhofe in a July 9, 2002 floor speech) and "fear-mongering" (Inhofe in a January 4, 2005 floor speech). He used two hours of the Senate's time last October to discuss Leonardo DiCaprio, the Weather Channel, and his climate change denial, when he could have used that time to put forward solutions to the growing energy crisis.Of course, since Rice is a Dem and we’re talking about Oklahoma, he lost (idiots).
During the 14 years Inhofe has been in the Senate, gas prices have nearly quadrupled. Yet he seems content to blame others and takes no responsibility for his own failures. It's time Oklahoma's voters held Jim Inhofe accountable, and it's time we sent him a message that pointing fingers is no way to lead.
Oh, and here’s another Inhofe “funny,” remember (the global warming Al Gore igloo)?
Well, as noted here, the recent extreme weather patterns such as those in Texas and Louisiana were predicted by climate scientists years ago as part of the global warming that is so funny according to Inhofe.
Ha, ha, ha…Pennsbury School BoardSo basically, if this had been the general election instead of the primary, based on the voting of “Democrats” who chose to support Steve Kosmorsky, Chris Cridge and Dorothy Vislosky instead of those of their own party, Simon Campbell would now be in charge of the Pennsbury School Board.
All seats for 4-year terms
Region 1: 1 Seat
Republicans
Gene D. Dolnick (I) 507
Steve Kosmorsky 1,526
Democrats
Gene D. Dolnick (I) 1,008
Steve Kosmorsky 693
Region 2: 3 Seats
Democrats
Matthew Arlen 695
Mike Giosa 296
Gallus J. Obert Jr. 551
John Palmer 990
Jacqueline Redner 948
Gary Sanderson (I) 1,075
Dorothy Vislosky 667
Republicans
Matthew Arlen 330
Mike Giosa 166
Gallus J. Obert Jr. 213
John Palmer 179
Jacqueline Redner 186
Gary Sanderson (I) 187
Dorothy Vislosky 311
Region 3: 1 seat
Democrats
Chris Cridge 826
Linda L. Palsky (I) 981
Republicans
Chris Cridge 1,017
Linda L. Palsky (I) 284
Short of guttural profanity, I can’t think of a way to properly communicate my disgust.
Oh, and as noted here today in the Courier Times, “Only 11.56 percent of registered voters in Bucks turned out to the polls in Tuesday’s primary election.”
11.56 percent? That’s how many parents in this school district care about the education of their kids?
On second thought, I think guttural profanity actually works at this moment…
Are you fucking kidding me??
I read this column from Kate Fratti about all this the other day (she being a writer I genuinely respect), and I get what she’s saying here, about everybody having it tough and the teacher’s union having to give on salary and bennies. However, we need to keep the following in mind also…
… it's very hard for some of us to relate to some of the anti-union candidates when it comes to matters other than finance. Region 3 Republican Chris Cridge, for instance, confirms that as a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, he videotaped sermons by a priest he perceived as too liberal and sent them on to the archdiocese. I think that's weird.If your answer is No, then you’d damn well better get off your asses and vote for the Democrats in November, people. And the following came from the comments…
"It was a long time ago," he said. But he makes no apology.
Another keeps a "Don't Tread On Me Sign" on his front lawn, and collects guns. I couldn't get him on the phone to talk about it Tuesday after leaving messages on his phone and with his campaign organizer.
Longtime Democrats ask, "Do we want social conservatives such as these running our schools?"
Get ready for the "intelligent design" and "abstinence solution " curriculum push once these folks are in control. That's the real long-term hidden agenda. Bank on it.If you don’t vote for yourselves this fall, people, at least do it for your kids.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Wednesday PM Stuff
I give you a cautionary (and sickening, truth be told) reminder on our economy from Ed Schultz...
...and as long as we're being robbed, I guess it's just a "short walk" off the cliff when there's nothing left to steal...
...a fate brought to us by these cretinous life forms, among others (oh, go write one of your phony "I Love America" hymns, Saint Orrin)...
Update 5/21/11: And by the way, when it comes to subsidies for Big Oil, let's not forget the vote of "No Corporate Tax" Pat Toomey and his fellow Repugs here.
...and do you know what? Sorry if this is harsh, but maybe it's time to let nature run its course here (yeah, I guess this wasn't a very cheery post).
...and as long as we're being robbed, I guess it's just a "short walk" off the cliff when there's nothing left to steal...
...a fate brought to us by these cretinous life forms, among others (oh, go write one of your phony "I Love America" hymns, Saint Orrin)...
Update 5/21/11: And by the way, when it comes to subsidies for Big Oil, let's not forget the vote of "No Corporate Tax" Pat Toomey and his fellow Repugs here.
...and do you know what? Sorry if this is harsh, but maybe it's time to let nature run its course here (yeah, I guess this wasn't a very cheery post).
A Word About Arnold and Maria and John and Liz
Am I the only one who thinks there is something that really stinks about the way our corporate media is covering the breakup of Ahhnold and Maria Shriver?No, this blog is not turning into The Hollywood Minute and ignoring all of the infinitely more important issues, such as what the hell it is that’s going on in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and what kind of a blind eye we’re turning in Bahrain and whether or not sanctions against Syria is really a good idea (that is, are we prepared for any adverse consequences?), and also what on earth is going on with Bradley Manning at this moment and whether or not he will ever be officially charged with anything (as well as the real-life-or-death-consequence story of Troy Davis on death row).
I think what has really compelled me to say something is the picture from CNN above, showing “the governator” in an almost heroic pose, and the accompanying story telling us, more or less, that, oh well, divorce is sad but it happens every day, couples have to work at marriage (duh) and sometimes a spouse will stray though it may not “doom a relationship,” and how exactly should the kids handle it (I thought it was particularly ridiculous, by the way, for Dr. Steve Solomon of The Relationship Institute in La Jolla, CA to tell either the cheating or cheated-upon spouse to not tell the kids…does this genius somehow think they won’t find out?).
I’m not saying this because I have an axe in particular to grind against Schwarzenegger or Maria Shriver, or certainly against their kids, or the former guv’s love child. And I hope somehow this mess gets worked out for the betterment of all concerned.
I’m saying this because I notice a distinct difference between the way this story is being reported and the story of the breakup of this couple because of a husband’s infidelity.OK, so Ahhnold supported the child, which he should have done anyway. That doesn’t make him any less of a lying, deceiving weasel than John Edwards. But I have yet to come across any parody videos of Schwarzenegger sneaking around, playing to his vanity (maybe that stuff is in the works…I just haven’t seen it).
I’ll wait to see if the New York Times, for example, has a multi-page spread on California’s former first couple, giving the coverage that they never received while one of the spouses served in public life.
Also, I would ask just exactly how the hell our media with initials for names apparently found a way to miss this story of Schwarzenegger’s illegitimate progeny for ten years!
Update 1 5/19/11: And as far as I’m concerned, it’s just a “short ride,” if you will, from CNN’s coverage to this.
Update 2 5/19/11: A question for Howie Kurtz based on this - what makes the housekeeper more "private," than, say, Rielle Hunter?
Wednesday AM Stuff
(The first three videos are from a post that disappeared last week when Blogger crashed, for what it's worth.)
This just in: a video press release from the Republican House Congressional Committee in response to this…
…and in a related story, say buh-bye to those 2012 presidential prospects, Willard Mitt – waay too logical for the wingnuts here…
…and as long as we’re talking about health care, let’s not forget this (we should also keep this in mind the next time some political troglodyte, who probably will be a Republican, rejoices over cutting funding to Planned Parenthood)…
...and composer Gustav Mahler died 100 years ago today (the subject of a great Ken Russell film, if you ever come across it).
This just in: a video press release from the Republican House Congressional Committee in response to this…
…and in a related story, say buh-bye to those 2012 presidential prospects, Willard Mitt – waay too logical for the wingnuts here…
…and as long as we’re talking about health care, let’s not forget this (we should also keep this in mind the next time some political troglodyte, who probably will be a Republican, rejoices over cutting funding to Planned Parenthood)…
...and composer Gustav Mahler died 100 years ago today (the subject of a great Ken Russell film, if you ever come across it).
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tuesday Stuff
See all the fun Mikey The Beloved is missing with his chicken "E-Town Halls" and phone calls? And by the way, Rachel Maddow connects the dots brilliantly here...
...however, I don't believe she included this (Ben Quayle is, of course, a typical Repug stooge - I see the apple doesn't fall far from the proverbial tree)...
Update 5/18/11: God, I hope Alan Grayson is girding for a rematch against this clown.
...and silly Rachel, it's just the "conventional wisdom" that Democrats/liberals/progressives or whatever should only be reported on when there's a scandal or John Edwards is combing his hair, or something (and oh noes, look over there GEORGE SOROS DEATH PANELS TICKING DEBT TIME BOMB UNSUSTAINABLE MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY and of course ACORN PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACORN PLANNED PARENTHOOD PHILADELPHIA SCARY NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY "SCANDAL"!!!!)...
...and as long as Darrell Issa felt like resurrecting Iran-Contra earlier, the least I can do is put this up in response (J.B. composed some great what-I-guess-you-would-call "protest" music in the '80s, including this tune).
...however, I don't believe she included this (Ben Quayle is, of course, a typical Repug stooge - I see the apple doesn't fall far from the proverbial tree)...
Update 5/18/11: God, I hope Alan Grayson is girding for a rematch against this clown.
...and silly Rachel, it's just the "conventional wisdom" that Democrats/liberals/progressives or whatever should only be reported on when there's a scandal or John Edwards is combing his hair, or something (and oh noes, look over there GEORGE SOROS DEATH PANELS TICKING DEBT TIME BOMB UNSUSTAINABLE MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY and of course ACORN PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACORN PLANNED PARENTHOOD PHILADELPHIA SCARY NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY "SCANDAL"!!!!)...
...and as long as Darrell Issa felt like resurrecting Iran-Contra earlier, the least I can do is put this up in response (J.B. composed some great what-I-guess-you-would-call "protest" music in the '80s, including this tune).
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