I hope to be back posting tomorrow here at Blogger (if it cooperates and they get rid of that stupid word verification for posts - I feel for commenters out there, but I have to do it, particularly given Blogger's ridiculous ultra-policing of spam these days) and probably Wordpress also; some last-minute stuff came up today.
...
OK...soo, it apparently is OK for "Governor Hottie" to take up space in Alaska for about half a term, a reason for her (or so she thinks) to crow about how Senators Obama and Biden don't have "executive level experience" (and by extension, that applies to John W. McBush also), but it isn't necessary that she possess the skill set to run a Fortune 500 company? So, "Senate is bad, Fortune 500 is bad, but governor of a state with a population the size of Memphis, TN for two years is good?" Are you as confused about this as I am (here)?
And by the way, please keep this in mind about Carly Fiorina...
Update 9/17/08: Tee hee hee (h/t Atrios).
...and OMG, forget about AIG and Lehman for a minute: THIS is the really bad economic news ("Juck Fenna?")...
Economists Warn Anti-Bush Merchandise Market Close To Collapse
..."Worst Persons" again (yes, Gordon, Obama's birth certificate from Hawaii is real FOR THE THOUSANDTH FREAKING TIME!!, Eddie Burke (sp?) is truly a scumwaffle, and if "Governor Gidget" has S.A.D., we'd damn well better know about it - glad K.O. ditched the black frames from last night)...
...and here's G Love ("Peace, Love And Happiness"; no cover tonight, and I wonder what skyline that is?)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Monday Stuff
"The Pap Attack" gives us some "straight talk we can believe in" on the economy, my friends (I'm waiting to hear more of that "angry roar" myself; I don't see it in the polling numbers yet, but hopefully I will)...
...God, I thought this was hilarious; a Fox Noise trifecta on K.O.'s "Worst Persons," with Hannity, Orally and Rupert Murdoch hisself (aaarrrrggghhh!)...
...doing a "180" here; if His Fraudulency were any kind of a man, he'd meet with Mr. Scripsick and Mr. Henthorn (but we know he's nothing more than a lying opportunist, of course)...
...and yeah, I'd like to hit Bob DeMoss and Mark Whitlock with something a little heavier and more destructive than a spatula, if you want to know the truth (though, again, I officially don't advocate the violence that conservatives would happily inflict upon liberals).
...Backdoor Slam ("Outside Woman Blues"; God, these guys knock me out)...
...and as a tribute to Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, here's "Run Like Hell" (also live) from 1980.
...God, I thought this was hilarious; a Fox Noise trifecta on K.O.'s "Worst Persons," with Hannity, Orally and Rupert Murdoch hisself (aaarrrrggghhh!)...
...doing a "180" here; if His Fraudulency were any kind of a man, he'd meet with Mr. Scripsick and Mr. Henthorn (but we know he's nothing more than a lying opportunist, of course)...
...and yeah, I'd like to hit Bob DeMoss and Mark Whitlock with something a little heavier and more destructive than a spatula, if you want to know the truth (though, again, I officially don't advocate the violence that conservatives would happily inflict upon liberals).
...Backdoor Slam ("Outside Woman Blues"; God, these guys knock me out)...
...and as a tribute to Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, here's "Run Like Hell" (also live) from 1980.
That's Using Your Head...Not!
This story in today’s New York Times tells us about a court ruling in India, in which a woman was sentenced to life in prison under the following circumstances…The woman, Aditi Sharma, was accused of killing her former fiancé, Udit Bharati. They were living in Pune when Ms. Sharma met another man and eloped with him to Delhi. Later Ms. Sharma returned to Pune and, according to prosecutors, asked Mr. (Udit) Bharati to meet her at a McDonald’s. She was accused of poisoning him with arsenic-laced food.And by the way, Ms. Sharma insists that she’s innocent.
Ms. Sharma, 24, agreed to take a Brain Electrical Oscillations Signature (BEOS) test in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra. (Suspects may be tested only with their consent, but forensic investigators say many agree because they assume it will spare them an aggressive police interrogation.)
After placing 32 electrodes on Ms. Sharma’s head, investigators said, they read aloud their version of events, speaking in the first person (“I bought arsenic”; “I met Udit at McDonald’s”), along with neutral statements like “The sky is blue,” which help the software distinguish memories from normal cognition.
For an hour, Ms. Sharma said nothing. But the relevant nooks of her brain where memories are thought to be stored buzzed when the crime was recounted, according to (Sunny) Joseph, the state investigator. The judge endorsed Mr. Joseph’s assertion that the scans were proof of “experiential knowledge” of having committed the murder, rather than just having heard about it.
And in case you were wondering about whether or not Bushco is “on board” with this (I'm sure you already know the answer, though)…
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States has plowed money into brain-based lie detection in the hope of producing more fruitful counterterrorism investigations.This tells us about brain-based lie detector test conducted by No Lie MRI (clever) in Philadelphia in July or August 2006; no further word on that. Also, this tells us of further funded research into this experimental science in '07, and this tells us that…
…
“I find this both interesting and disturbing,” Henry T. Greely, a bioethicist at Stanford Law School, said of the Indian verdict. “We keep looking for a magic, technological solution to lie detection. Maybe we’ll have it someday, but we need to demand the highest standards of proof before we ruin people’s lives based on its application.”
…
If brain scans are widely adopted, (Mr. Greely and his colleague Judy Illes) said, “the legal issues alone are enormous, implicating at least the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”
Police may soon be able to monitor suspicious brain activity (not only by people watched by hidden surveillance cameras, but) from a distance as well. New neurotechnology soon may be able to detect a person who is particularly nervous, in possession of guilty knowledge or, in the more distant future, to detect a person thinking, "Only one hour until the bomb explodes." Today, the science of detecting and decoding brain activity is in its infancy. But various government agencies are funding the development of technology to detect brain activity remotely and are hoping to eventually decode what someone is thinking. Scientists, however, wildly disagree about the accuracy of brain imaging technology, what brain activity may mean and especially whether brain activity can be detected from afar.And if all of this isn’t scary enough, it looks like this guy would be making his “expertise” available on this stuff given what he said here to the late Tim Russert (snark).
Yet as the experts argue about the scientific limitations of remote brain detection, this chilling science fiction may already be a reality. In 2002, the Electronic Privacy Information Center reported that NASA was developing brain monitoring devices for airports and was seeking to use noninvasive sensors in passenger gates to collect the electronic signals emitted by passengers' brains. Scientists scoffed at the reports, arguing that to do what NASA was proposing required that an electroencephalogram (EEG) be physically attached to the scalp.
But that same year, scientists at the University of Sussex in England adapted the same technology they had been using to detect heart rates at distances of up to 1 meter, or a little more than three feet, to remotely detect changes in the brain. And while scientific limitations to remote EEG detection still exist, clearly the question is when, not if, these issues will be resolved.
(By the way, Blogger seems to be cooperating for now, but they’d better get rid of this goddamn word verification for my posts or else I’ll post at Wordpress exclusively from now on; this is definitely not a “spam blog” – please take a look at this on “Governor Hottie,” if you would.)
Update 9/16/08: And speaking of Coburn, he's a total assclown for opposing this.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Sunday Stuff
(And once more, as a reminder, I'll be spending most of my time here.)
Every American should watch this; as far as I'm concerned, as bad as Governor Gidget's lies are (along with McBush also, of course), consider the very real possibility that, were the Repugs to win the White House again in November (God help us), Palin would be president in a very short period of time...
...Kaiser Chiefs ("I Heard It Through The Grapevine").
Every American should watch this; as far as I'm concerned, as bad as Governor Gidget's lies are (along with McBush also, of course), consider the very real possibility that, were the Repugs to win the White House again in November (God help us), Palin would be president in a very short period of time...
...Kaiser Chiefs ("I Heard It Through The Grapevine").
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
More Changes Coming
Hopefully this will all be settled soon and I can get back to actual posting as opposed to playing with web-based interfaces all day and hacking around with HTML code - I'll keep you posted, as they say.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Another "Every Four Years" Horror Story
Just read the following comment in an Americablog post about this (echo chamber time again)...
Update: And I know that comment was meant towards the Repugs and not the troops.
I've been listening to Air America this morning. Specifically to Thom Hartmann's substitute host. He's been pursuing leads in regard to attempts by the McCain camp and the GOP to set the groundwork for targeted, massive electoral fraud. Calls have been pouring in from Democratic and Independent voters, in key Purple states, such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Florida, reporting that they have received return postage paid absentee ballots form the McCain campaign or its surrogates. Some of the callers have been spouses of active military, who have either moved recently or have had a spouse deployed overseas. Smells like an attempt to get these filled out ballots sent back to addresses that will ensure that they are disqualified, and in the case of recently moved voters or military voters, an attempt to CAGE these voters and get them disqualifed before Election Day.Coming on the heels of this, I should definitely say so (and more stuff is here, by the way).
If any one who reads this has experienced such activitiy form the McCain/GOP operation, speak up. Report it here, report it to your local Democratic club or Central Commitee, report it to the local and regional media, report it everywhere. Karl Rove is trying to steal a third election. We need to shed a harsh light on this before Election Day to minimize its impact.
Update: And I know that comment was meant towards the Repugs and not the troops.
Thursday AM Videos
Again, while I get my new “house” ready, here are two more videos.
First, kudos to Matt Damon for this - the predictable outcry from those on the right who are so grievously offended will begin in a moment; really, why aren't more people calling her candidacy the bald-faced, politically motivated sham that it truly is?...
...and here is more on yet another scurrilous McBush campaign ad, probably the worst yet (a bit late with this, I know; good comeback by the Obama team).
First, kudos to Matt Damon for this - the predictable outcry from those on the right who are so grievously offended will begin in a moment; really, why aren't more people calling her candidacy the bald-faced, politically motivated sham that it truly is?...
...and here is more on yet another scurrilous McBush campaign ad, probably the worst yet (a bit late with this, I know; good comeback by the Obama team).
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Lose Your House, Lose Your Vote
The latest GOP dirty tricks in Michigan - they're utterly unrepentant scum for this (hat tip to Michael Morrill at Keystone Progress).
Why Our Discourse Is Stupid
Note: I’ll still post here from time to time while I get my new “house” ready.
(Atrios usually weighs in with this stuff but I’m going to take a shot; I’m groveling in homage as I type this – snark.)
The conservative mediocracy generates narratives in concert with Republican talking points to emphasize fictions such as John W. McBush’s “maverickyness” and foreign policy expertise, the opposition of “Governor Hottie” to the “Bridge To Nowhere” in Alaska here, the supposed controversy about Barack Obama’s patriotism, etc. (on these points, Drudge, Flush Limbore, Savage et al are frequently indistinguishable from CNN, the Washington Post, the AP, etc.).
Individuals such as your humble narrator work tirelessly to disprove this nonsense (though I don’t put myself in the same league as Greenwald, I should emphasize), with barely an acknowledgment from the so-called “respectable” media sources; if anything, these sources deride our efforts, dismissing us as “the left,” the generic “liberals,” the “nutroots,” or whatever category is acceptable this week (as noted, CNN, WaPo, AP, etc.).
On the incredibly rare occasion when either the lies are identified within the mediocracy or even the appearance of a point of view that runs contrary to those lies makes itself known or is identified, those responsible are swiftly punished (criticized as being too opinionated, when in fact the narratives they are supposed to reinforce are nothing but opinion, albeit a contrary one) so that the approved lie or point of view is allowed to propagate (of course, the other side can lie and/or obfuscate into infinity).
The fictions continue because the media outlets I noted above have a much more sophisticated and powerful means of communication that I ever will, so what they foist on us enters the stream of media consciousness more quickly or more thoroughly than the truth that refutes it, again, from people such as your humble narrator.
As this cycle repeats itself, individuals such as yours truly become frustrated with the fact that the media “consumers” in this country are, over time, more educated concerning the fictions than the truth. Some of us express frustration over that, and then the mediocracy is quick to pounce, claiming we are “effete liberals” who think we’re “better” than other people because we claim to know more than they do (and sometimes, we really do know more than they do - in this case, the person fed up with the whole racket is Jacob Weisberg of Slate.com). For this reason, the many times that Christine Flowers, for example, gets proven wrong are forgotten while the one time she happens to stumble upon an instance where we express our frustration is trumpeted in an effort to prove that those questioning the mediocracy are just a bunch of crazy liberals, or something.
The game itself is a cheat; I didn’t make up the rules, and neither did you.
And by the way, everybody loses.
Update 1: As Atrios sez (h/t for this), "and there you are."
Update 2: Thanks, Anon (sorry I can't reply with a comment of my own; Blogger continues to give me the symbolic middle digit for reasons I don't know).
Update 9/11/08: Once more, what Atrios sez...
(Atrios usually weighs in with this stuff but I’m going to take a shot; I’m groveling in homage as I type this – snark.)
The game itself is a cheat; I didn’t make up the rules, and neither did you.
And by the way, everybody loses.
Update 1: As Atrios sez (h/t for this), "and there you are."
Update 2: Thanks, Anon (sorry I can't reply with a comment of my own; Blogger continues to give me the symbolic middle digit for reasons I don't know).
Update 9/11/08: Once more, what Atrios sez...
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
Something The Dems Forgot
I just came across this “New Rules” segment on “Real Time” a week ago (not the most recent show), and I wanted to take note of his final rule in particular; again, I disowned the “messenger” because of the lies, though the “message” is no less important (and for that reason, I disagree with Maher – keeping Edwards out was the right thing to do).
Monday Note
Yours truly is in sick bay at the moment, and also Blogger apparently doesn't feel like trying to resolve my tech support issue (sorry, but this site isn't worth a lot if I can't view it), so I don't believe there will be any posting today.
In the meantime, upon reading the news that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews were dumped as election coverage anchors from MSNBC because they were too "opinionated" (read: too liberal, though, as we know, IOKIYAR; Tweety can defend himself, though), I'm sure some kind of a reprimand will also be in store for David Wright of ABC for trying to manufacture a quote from Barack Obama that he was wrong to oppose the surge (here, and I hasten to emphasize that Obama never said that), as well as a punishment for Tom Brokaw for his "reporting" that Oprah Winfrey hosted Obama while he was a presidential candidate (here).
Update: Greenwald, as usual, makes the point more thoroughly here.
In the meantime, upon reading the news that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews were dumped as election coverage anchors from MSNBC because they were too "opinionated" (read: too liberal, though, as we know, IOKIYAR; Tweety can defend himself, though), I'm sure some kind of a reprimand will also be in store for David Wright of ABC for trying to manufacture a quote from Barack Obama that he was wrong to oppose the surge (here, and I hasten to emphasize that Obama never said that), as well as a punishment for Tom Brokaw for his "reporting" that Oprah Winfrey hosted Obama while he was a presidential candidate (here).
Update: Greenwald, as usual, makes the point more thoroughly here.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Sunday Stuff
It took a few minutes of back-and-forth happy talk before they got down to business, but I thought this was a good interview on "Real Time" with Bill Maher and Jeffrey Toobin a couple of days ago...
...and yeah, Rachel, that's what I call it also (and I hope Clarence Page is wrong, but I don't think he is)...
...and speaking of the Illinois senator, here's the story on what happened with that background mixup during John W. McBush's speech last Thursday (snark)...
...P.O.D. ("Youth Of The Nation")
...and yeah, Rachel, that's what I call it also (and I hope Clarence Page is wrong, but I don't think he is)...
...and speaking of the Illinois senator, here's the story on what happened with that background mixup during John W. McBush's speech last Thursday (snark)...
...P.O.D. ("Youth Of The Nation")
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Saturday Stuff
Come to think of it, I'm kind of in the mood for a beer myself (at least one, given the stuff in the last post - h/t The Daily Kos)...
...Nada Surf ("Whose Authority").
...Nada Surf ("Whose Authority").
A Love Note To Blogger Tech Support
Time for more boring "blogger meta" stuff...
I posted last week about the fact that I could not view the site from my daytime location because I received an error message telling me that Internet Explorer 6 couldn't load it, so the operation was aborted. I thought the issue lied with my daytime provider, but the issue has now replicated itself on my home PC, so I now know that the fault lies with Blogger. This has been going on since at least Wednesday, and to say that I'm PO'ed about Blogger's inaction on this (despite three posts to the Blogger help(less) group) is a huge understatement.
What this means to you, dear reader, is that, in addition to possibly encountering this issue yourself since it seems to be replicating, I will not be able to reply to comments since I can only do so in view mode, and again, when I try to access the view, I get the IE error and it crashes. And I know this is occurring with other IBC blogs.
I read a post on a discussion forum that this may be some Blogger/Google trick to get more people to try Chrome instead of IE; believe me when I tell you that I am not a fan of anything created by Bill Gates, but it ended up costing me over $300 to replace my hard drive and install some new programs the last time I had to back out of IE7 (which is a hideous program) back to IE6, and I'm not going to risk that hell again with a new browser. And in principle, this would be a reprehensible thing for Blogger/Google to do; I was willing to put up with the occasional disappearing/duplicating post from time to time, to say nothing of disappearing/duplicating text and other content, but if this is what they're up to, this would absolutely tear it with them.
So I don't know exactly what will be happening next. I may try to continue posting, or I may just put everything on hold while I ready a new "home" elsewhere and cut the cord with Blogger for good. It's really up to them.
If and when I get this mess settled, I'll let you know ASAP. In the meantime, thanks for hanging in there.
I posted last week about the fact that I could not view the site from my daytime location because I received an error message telling me that Internet Explorer 6 couldn't load it, so the operation was aborted. I thought the issue lied with my daytime provider, but the issue has now replicated itself on my home PC, so I now know that the fault lies with Blogger. This has been going on since at least Wednesday, and to say that I'm PO'ed about Blogger's inaction on this (despite three posts to the Blogger help(less) group) is a huge understatement.
What this means to you, dear reader, is that, in addition to possibly encountering this issue yourself since it seems to be replicating, I will not be able to reply to comments since I can only do so in view mode, and again, when I try to access the view, I get the IE error and it crashes. And I know this is occurring with other IBC blogs.
I read a post on a discussion forum that this may be some Blogger/Google trick to get more people to try Chrome instead of IE; believe me when I tell you that I am not a fan of anything created by Bill Gates, but it ended up costing me over $300 to replace my hard drive and install some new programs the last time I had to back out of IE7 (which is a hideous program) back to IE6, and I'm not going to risk that hell again with a new browser. And in principle, this would be a reprehensible thing for Blogger/Google to do; I was willing to put up with the occasional disappearing/duplicating post from time to time, to say nothing of disappearing/duplicating text and other content, but if this is what they're up to, this would absolutely tear it with them.
So I don't know exactly what will be happening next. I may try to continue posting, or I may just put everything on hold while I ready a new "home" elsewhere and cut the cord with Blogger for good. It's really up to them.
If and when I get this mess settled, I'll let you know ASAP. In the meantime, thanks for hanging in there.
Returning To PA-08 Once More
I know I haven't had much to say about the 8th District PA Congressional race between incumbent Dem Patrick Murphy and Repug challenger Tom Manion for a little while, and that is because Manion hasn't really done anything to generate news coverage as far as I can determine, though a debate has been scheduled for October 17th (and I had to search to find that out, and in the process, I came across this link; it turns out that Manion has been meeting riders at the Cornwells Heights, PA train station to determine their concerns, or something: 1) Isn't it a little late to still be trying to determine what the concerns of the voters are? and 2) Meeting the voters at train stations sounds just a little familiar, though I know no party has a monopoly on that tactic).
Well anyway, just to remind us of how important it is to support Patrick, here's his speech at the Democratic National Convention (and to reward good behavior, click here).
Well anyway, just to remind us of how important it is to support Patrick, here's his speech at the Democratic National Convention (and to reward good behavior, click here).
Friday, September 05, 2008
Friday Stuff
Give 'em hell, Joe, whether they know that's what it is or not (h/t The Daily Kos - the volume gets louder about halfway through; dag, he was right down the street from me, more or less)...
...now first, here is the 9/11 "tribute" video shown at the Repug National Amnesia Festival ("tribute" to whom, I wonder? Utterly contemptible - "a president who knows how," or whatever? Too afraid to come right out and plug McBush?)...
...and, as usual, K.O. hits the perfect tone in his response...
...and I realize that it gets a bit pointless and stupid at times to keep noting that Fox Noise is the media operation for the Rethuglican Party masquerading as a news organization, but we do what we must...
...and as a tribute to Bill Melendez, here is the final six minutes or so of "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"...
...and to take us into the weekend with style, here's Chris Isaak ("Diddley Daddy," on "Soundstage"; I have no clue about his politics, but I just like his music).
...now first, here is the 9/11 "tribute" video shown at the Repug National Amnesia Festival ("tribute" to whom, I wonder? Utterly contemptible - "a president who knows how," or whatever? Too afraid to come right out and plug McBush?)...
...and, as usual, K.O. hits the perfect tone in his response...
...and I realize that it gets a bit pointless and stupid at times to keep noting that Fox Noise is the media operation for the Rethuglican Party masquerading as a news organization, but we do what we must...
...and as a tribute to Bill Melendez, here is the final six minutes or so of "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"...
...and to take us into the weekend with style, here's Chris Isaak ("Diddley Daddy," on "Soundstage"; I have no clue about his politics, but I just like his music).
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