August 31, 2006
Republicans Are Fucking Dumb
"Not A Blue Dot in Travis!"
The Travis County Republican Party is having a I-want-some-of-the-crack-they're-smoking moment....
From today's Austin-American Statesman:
Old-timers might wonder how the Rs landed at Scholz Garten, the close-by-the-Capitol hangout long cherished by liberals. Sally Aiello, the county party’s executive director, reminded that the party had 2002 and 2004 kickoffs there, adding: “We’re kicking the liberals out of downtown and celebrating November victories early.”
Riiiiiigggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhtttttttttttttttttt.
Sort of like in 2004 when Travis County Democrats swept the elections? Apparently the name of their kickoff is "Not a Blue Dot in Travis!." Grimace wasn't even sure what the fuck that was supposed to mean, since the last time we checked, Travis County was, well, almost completely blue, and it most definitely will be with the elections of 4 Democratic 3rd Court of Appeals candidates, 2 District Judges, and when we take back the 6th leg seat, it'll be sweet.
That being said, Grimace has a gift for you. The Repuglicans will be at Scholz on September 10 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and you can click here or on the image above to download your very own 11" X 17" "I'm a Blue Dot!" poster. Just print it out and show up at Scholz. Grimace will see you there.
I don't know if Travis County Repuglicans are fucking funny or just fucking dumb. Methinks its a little of both. But let's remember, it was their state party chair, Tina Benkiser, that had this gem of a quote during the GOP State Convention:
At Saturday morning's prayer meeting, party leader Tina Benkiser assured them that God was watching over the two-day confab."He is the chairman of this party," she said against a backdrop of flags and a GOP seal with its red, white and blue logo.
Posted by grimace at 08:08 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
PJs that will get your kid assaulted at a sleepover
Is your little tyke looking for a way to take the fight for the Lord into dreamland? Maybe even freak the fuck out of the other boys (or girls) at sleepovers (not to mention the parents of the normal kids)? Check THIS out...
At this point, I have to ask... IS nothing sacred to these people? What happened to dragging the kids to church and letting them be normal kids the rest of the time? I feel for kids who wear this crap. They are sooo going to get beaten up, not for their beliefs but for their creepiness.
Posted by mcblogger at 04:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Governor Perry pushed for the sale of Texas Parks
Oh, that Tricky Ricky... always finding a way to out scum the next guy...
While publicly distancing itself from the dealings, the governor’s office appears to have privately pushed for an auction that would guarantee that only one-fourth of the property remained green space, according to e-mails and documents obtained through the state’s open-records law.The governor’s proposal would also set aside several gas well drilling sites on the 400 acres, according to the documents. The property is at Eagle Mountain Lake, just northwest of Fort Worth, and has become the subject of intense interest by several residential developers.
So what does the Governor's office have to say?
A spokeswoman for Perry has said that the governor wants the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the General Land Office to come up with a plan for the property that best suits the state’s needs. She denied that the governor’s office pushed any plan or made any recommendations for the site.“We’re monitoring the situation,” spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
Just like a stupid Republican... you're MONITORING the situation? I would say you're doing a bit more than that, Kathy. In case you didn't realize, you're boss is the reason FOR the situation.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Gang violence in Round Rock? Whatev...
KXAN is reporting that there was a big gang fight at a Round Rock high school. Of course, then you start reading the article and come to this...
Up to about 10 students may have been involved in this fight, and the school district says four of them were arrested by Round Rock police.
Oh shit. Only 10 kids? You gotta be kidding me. The way the damn thing was headlined you expected to read about a riot. I HATE KXAN.
As a side note, I wonder how long it will take Krusee, Douche Fleece and the ridiculous John Carter to comment on this and try to make an issue out of it? Krusee will say it's why we need toll roads, natch. Fleece will whine about how Mark Strama is a Democrat and God doesn't love him so he's allowing the children to fight (forgetting the fact it's outside his district) and Carter will blame immigrants. Because that's what Carter thinks about all the time in his little rat brain.
Well, that and how to keep the great unwashed (read:citizens of the US, Democrats) from voting.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Toll Roads all over the place
More toll roads? Oh I think not...
Posted by mcblogger at 11:02 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Horse racing operation run by a Bush appointee? On the government's dime?
From the NYT
Mr. Tomlinson, a Republican with close ties to the White House, was ousted last year from another post, at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, after another inquiry found evidence that he had violated rules meant to insulate public television and radio from political influence.His renomination to a new term as chairman of the State Department office that oversees foreign broadcasts, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, is pending before the Senate.
Mr. Tomlinson’s position at the broadcasting board makes him one of the administration’s top officials overseeing public diplomacy and puts him in charge of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe.
So what was he doing? Well, running a horse racing operation and hiring his cronies for jobs they never did. And Bush is standing by the crooked son of a bitch...
A spokeswoman for the White House, Emily Lawrimore, said President Bush continued to support Mr. Tomlinson’s renomination. Ms. Lawrimore declined to comment on the State Department report.
I guess the President forgot that when something stinks it's best to move away from it.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:37 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Olberman Slams Rumsfeld
Olbermann blogged it here for those who'd rather not watch.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bolton Fundraiser...
Looks like Valinda Bolton did well tonight at her fundraiser! Sister Ruth went (alone, since The Mayor was in SA on business and I was all about working my real job... you know, the one that actually pays for things like FOOD and BOOZE and MY MORTGAGE) and said it was very well attended. While she didn't have fundraising totals (or pictures, natch) she said it was a great event.
I'm loving the fact that Valinda ia already building so much steam. Welch should follow Bentzin's lead and drop out. Good job Bolton and Co!
Posted by mcblogger at 12:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 30, 2006
CD 22 and 23 : An interesting day...
Ciro Rodriguez has dropped out of the race in CD23 narrowing down the field to four Democrats, Albert Uresti, Lukin Gilliland, Rick Bolanos, and Augie Beltran. The announcement was made tonight at the AFL-CIO endorsement meeting in SA.
I think just about everyone right now is looking at Gilliland (based on funding) as the front runner with Uresti a close runner up. Should be an interesting race and the hope is to hold Bonilla to no more than 50% in the Special so that everyone can get behind one Democrat to beat the hell out of Bush's tool.
Matt at BOR has more...
Then over in the Sugar Land area (CD22), there are now THREE Republican write-in candidates. HAHAHAHAHAHA The third candidate is apparently some guy from Lago Vista (Austin Metro) named Joe Reasbeck.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Loves me some Scott Hochberg...
Charles Kuffner has an excellent interview up with Scott Hochberg discussing the state budget as well as school finance. This from the man who spearheaded the D effort on school finance in the House and one of the Representatives for whom I have an abundance of respect. Not that I don't like them all, I just think Scott out of all of the Democratic Representatives has the best grasp on the financial situation facing Texas and what needs to be done to fix it.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:42 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Good news for Ankrum, Bad for McCaul in CD10
The Ankrum campaign wanted some hard polling data on CD10, so they spent some money on a poll. I'm sure many would consider this a waste of resources but in this case Ted hit pay dirt. Here are the questions (lest someone think this a push poll) and the percentages. As Ted pointed out in his email, CD10 has been referred to as the 'second reddest district in Texas' by some analysts who clearly don't understand what anyone who's been out of a metro recently knows with absolute certainty... rural voters are ANGRY.
Q1. Are you a registered voter who intends to vote in the election? Only "yes" answers continued with the call
Q2. Michael McCaul is your current Representative in Congress. What are your thoughts on his reelection?
34.7% Would you definitely vote to reelect him
39.1% Would you consider other candidates
26.1% Would you definitely vote to replace him
Q3. The three Candidates for Congress are Michael McCaul, the Republican, Ted Ankrum, the Democrat, and Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian.
50.8% Would you vote for Michael McCaul, the Republican
41.6% Would you vote for Ted Ankrum, the Democrat
7.6% Would you vote for Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian
Q4 In times such as these, should a Representative follow the lead of the President or follow the opinion of voters in their District? In a situation where the two do not agree:
23.2% The Representative should follow the President
76.8% The Representative should follow the voters
Q5. What is your opinion of President Bush' job performance on a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 means you strongly approve and 4 means you strongly disapprove?
25.7% Strongly approve
22.8% Somewhat approve
9.4% Some disapproval
42.0% Strong disapproval
Question 4 is the one that should stand out. More than 75% of the voters think a Congressman should be responsive to the people, not the President. McCaul (R-Clear Channel Communications) has completely ignored his Constitutional duty as a Congressman to check the power of the President and has instead worked diligently to further the President's failed policies acting, in effect, as little more than a rubber stamp for whatever the President wants.
I've been telling some of my incredulous friends here in Austin that Texas, if the Democrats seize the moment, is ready to flip in one cycle. The reason is rural voters who have been, even more miserably than urban voters, really stomped on by Republicans in Washington and Austin. What's needed is for everyone to ditch the pessimism and realize that we are on the cusp of a transformation in Texas politics.
Now is the time for bold commitment, not meekly playing the numbers and only working on 'sure things'.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:49 PM | Comments (22) | TrackBack
Proof positive that Perry and Republicans have failed Texas
We've been talking about it for a while but now there is some definitive data. During Perry's Administration, poverty rates in the state of Texas have INCREASED and real wages have declined. Is this the Republican economic miracle? Make everyone poor?
"As a state, we look pretty good in per-capita income, but we look terrible when you look at poverty numbers," said Eva Deluna Castro, an analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for low- and middle-income Texans. "If we mention these numbers, people think we're trying to start class wars. But if you don't acknowledge the gap is getting bigger, you can't come up with any long-term solutions."
Then there's this from the DMN
Jay Dunn, a manager at Stewpot, said that six years ago, the homeless ministry served about 300 free lunches per day. Now, the downtown Dallas kitchen dishes out about 550 meals during a typical lunch hour."The numbers are moving in the wrong direction," he said.
Central Dallas Ministries is a nonprofit group that tries to fill the gap between what working families bring home and what they need to survive. Executive director Larry James said that gap is widening.
From May to July of last year, about 8,000 families walked through the resource center's doors, he said. Over the same period this year, 13,000 sought help.
"It isn't that people aren't working or that they're not willing to work," he said. "It's that they're not earning enough."
The rising cost of housing, food, gasoline and utilities drains the pocketbooks of people who can afford it least, he said. When wages dive as expenses climb, more families are pushed into poverty.
"The economy is certainly a big factor in all this. ... It pushes everything down," Mr. Dunn said. "If somebody was making $50,000 a year, and now he's making $35,000 a year, what happens to the guy who was making $35,000 a year?"
The other side is that higher incomes are doing quite well due to tax cuts and the reality that they are not impacted greatly by inflation. Of course, what most of that group doesn't understand is that the more the lower income levels sink, the greater the burden on city, county and state services. Further, it means that less money can go to discretionary spending which means that the middle manager at a corporate officer will be joining the ranks of the downwardly mobile sooner, rather than later. That will definitely put a crimp into corporate profits.
If people have learned nothing from US economic cycles since WWII, they should have picked up on the fact that for the economy to grow and for prosperity to be most generally spread, stable and long lasting, the lowest earners must have livable incomes. The Republicans, in their zeal to concentrate wealth up from even the middle class, have forgotten to put fuel into the engine of the economy.
As an aside, you can place place all the blame on lower skilled and uneducated people for dropping median incomes and increasing the poverty percentages. However, that's only a symptom of the disease that currently plagues Texas. There is absolutely no reason why people should be working, even at Wal Mart, for less than $12/hour in Dallas Metro.
Posted by mcblogger at 09:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
What the hell is going on in Hutto?
Retards. You're buying water you won't use instead of using competitive bidding and actually thinking about building a lake. What's the plan here? That development will go so well in the next two years that the surplus water will be used?
Then you have, thrown into the mix, a Republican Williamson County Commissioner who's precinct covers Hutto and who just happens to be an investor in... wait for it... the water company that inked the lucrative contract with Hutto.
So what's going on up there, Hutto city council members? Have you all lost your minds and decided to screw over taxpayers to benefit one County Commissioner?
Posted by mcblogger at 01:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2006
Texas isn't the only place to implement stupid laws
Apparently drinking standing is a bigger problem in England than we realized. Here I was thinking their only problem was an unnatural affinity for sherry, port and Guinness.
ENGLAND’S latest public health crisis is a plague of bellicose, over-balancing drinkers. Such at least is the message from Preston, Lancashire, where the police want pub-goers to sit down. They are worried that the inevitable jostling and shoving at the bar leads to trouble — and that standing drinkers, when they drop, have further to fall. Backed by the local health officials, the authorities are trying to impose a no-standing policy in the city’s pubs by autumn.
Granted, not quite as draconian as Austin's smoker discrimination and moral purity law (still hate you for that, Glen) but come on! Have we not learned the futility of laws to modify behavior in bars? Even the smoking ordinance isn't really working at a number of establishments.
Where are they? Don't you wish YOU knew...
August 28, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Bar None
By JACK TURNER
Thoiry, France
ENGLAND’S latest public health crisis is a plague of bellicose, over-balancing drinkers. Such at least is the message from Preston, Lancashire, where the police want pub-goers to sit down. They are worried that the inevitable jostling and shoving at the bar leads to trouble — and that standing drinkers, when they drop, have further to fall. Backed by the local health officials, the authorities are trying to impose a no-standing policy in the city’s pubs by autumn.
Anyone who’s spent much time in an English pub might sympathize with the impulse, but the method seems questionable. And history shows that, however commendable the reasoning, efforts to control how people drink — or eat, or smoke — tend to backfire.
Bars and pubs are notoriously difficult places in which to regulate behavior. For much of the 20th century, bars in Australia and New Zealand closed at 6 p.m., the idea being that this would encourage men to spend the evenings with their families, rather than frittering away their time (and money) on liquor. The measure dated from the First World War, and was largely the doing of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which held that a sober, moral home front would accelerate the successful prosecution of the war.
In fact, the only thing that accelerated was the drinking, now crammed into 60 liquid minutes. To speed things up some pubs fitted a spigot on a hose to fill drinkers’ glasses as soon as they emptied. Publicans pulled up the carpet and tiled all exposed surfaces so they could hose down the premises afterwards. The result was that men became too drunk to spend time with their families. The money was gone (and the morals?), only faster.
Alcoholic fluids, it might be argued, bring out people’s contrary nature, but carping about other patterns of consumption has seldom fared any better. The history of Lenten dietary regulations dates back much further but is not always any brighter. The medieval Roman Catholic Church stipulated a diet free of meat, dairy and eggs for Lent, Advent, special fasting days and, depending on where you were, Wednesdays and Saturdays as well — in other words, nearly half the year.
The result was a quite extraordinary ingenuity in devising meat-free dishes to ease the tedium. Those who could afford it went all out to brighten the Lenten fare of fish and vegetables with exotic ingredients: foremost among them spices, denounced by the church for their luxurious expense, their incitement to appetite and, not least, their purportedly aphrodisiac properties.
The unintended consequence was that for the well-to-do the “lean” days of fish were often far more luxurious — and asked more of the cook — than the “fat,” indulgent days of meat. The dietary martinets of the Middle Ages were due credit, indirectly, for some of the medieval cook’s spiced masterpieces, ancestors of today’s bouillabaisse and Christmas puddings.
There is nothing, however, particularly religious about this instinct. After the French Revolution, the intensely irreligious Jacobins promoted communal “civic” meals in the streets of Paris, with the aim of promoting fraternity and frugality in equal measure.
These years of civic meals were followed immediately after by the stunning success of a new, uniquely French idea: the restaurant. Within a couple of years the new dining establishments had popped up all over town, and Paris was established as the gastronomic capital of the world, and the elitist Michelin guide was just around the corner. So much for fraternity.
While the revolutionaries and utopians took on the conspicuous excesses of the upper classes, just as often as not the Puritan impulse tends to aim at the disempowered. In Lancashire and elsewhere, propping up the bar is, of course, historically a working-class pastime. Women of all classes present a still more inviting target.
For the first decades of the 20th century, the issue of female smoking was so contentious that even Big Tobacco scrupled at advertising to women — which was precisely why, of course, the flappers made such a point of smoking. The taboo crumpled in the late 20’s when American Tobacco coined the slogan “Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet.” This was one of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time.
Ram a message down people’s throats and they tend to gag. Unremarkably, the point was lost on Hitler, a vegetarian who tried convincing the Germans that the future was meat-free, and whose efforts at dietary reform went the way of his other delusions. From what I’ve seen, present-day Germany is a lonely place for a vegetarian.
The United States is of course no stranger to Puritanism, which has seldom been confined to the pulpit. The behaviorist psychologist B. F. Skinner proposed a solution to the age-old problem of the sweet tooth in his 1948 book “Walden 2.” In his fictional community, children lived happily indifferent to lollipops thanks to the rigorous conditioning they received. Backsliders were made to wear lollipops around their necks for a few hours until all temptation was “psychologically concealed.”
Though Skinner went on to become one of the more famous psychologists of the century, his utopian vision was more widely regarded as a dystopia, inimical to basic human freedoms. Several communities modeled upon Skinner’s vision were established and survive in the United States, though whether they have succeeded in lollipop control has, I confess, eluded my researches.
So what should they do in Lancashire? The answer, I think, is known to anyone who has visited the tourist spots of Paris or Rome. Many a footsore traveler has retreated to a cafe only to find, when the check arrives, that a coffee costs double when seated. In Lancashire maybe they should do the same but they should, so to speak, turn the tables. Charge more to stand, and they’ll be falling over themselves to sit down.
Jack Turner, the author of “Spice: The History of a Temptation,” is writing a book about cooks.
Posted by mcblogger at 08:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Perry calls special election to replace disgraced R who resigned
The Houston Chronicle has more...
The winner of the special election will serve DeLay's district in Congress from the day the election results are certified until a new Congress begins in January.At that point, the winner of the general election will take over as the representative of Congressional District 22.
If the same person wins the special election as the general election, it will give that person a leg-up in seniority over other incoming members of Congress.
If Democratic former U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson wins the seat, it will be up to the U.S. House leadership as to whether he regains his seniority from his previous service.
The last desperate gasp on the part of Perry and the R's to try to hold on to this seat.How pathetic... I'd be willing to bet even the most die hard Republican's in CD22 are going to be pissed as hell at this sad tactic.
"This district has been without a congressmen for far too long,'' said Mike Malaise, Lampson's campaign manager. "This should have happened back in May. It's not just a matter of sitting up in Washington and taking votes. It is a full-service operation.
Amen, Mike. It's a shame Tricky Ricky put's partisanship ahead of the interests of the people in CD22. Of course, it's also not suprising from a Governor who thinks pollution is better than clean air. It should be clear that Tricky Ricky stopped caring about Texans the same day he was first sworn into elected office.
Posted by mcblogger at 03:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Let's beat up on the Texas Trust, shall we?
Many people, especially the entrenched losers in the Democratic Party who refuse to understand that things change, are fond of talking about circular firing squads. Of course, just as they are wrong about campaign issues, messaging, press and everything else, they are wrong about the nature of the firing squad. It's not a circle, it's a line and the guns are all pointed in one direction... unfortunately for them, it's usually at their hearts.
Let's take the Texas Democratic Trust, the group of trial lawyers and their consultant hangers-on who have managed over the years, by listening to bad advice and making horrific strategic blunders(John Sharp's 2002 Urban Only Strategy, for example), to make the Democratic Party the minority in Texas. Their latest decision has a number of tongues wagging across Texas.
The Trust, ably represented by Fred Baron and Matt Angle, presented their plans at this past weekend's SDEC meeting. While they committed to funding TDP and SOME Lege races this year, they made it clear (as one source put it) that they could give less of a damn about the 2006 Statewide Ticket. Of course, many of them have already thrown their support behind OSB so it's no real suprise and at the end of the day, it's their money. Still, to hear so many within the TDP heirarchy talking about this as a good decision is, for me at least, irritating beyond belief.
This year we have a fantastic slate of statewide candidates all of whom stand a good chance of winning their races. However, even today there are those who don't want to see it because pessimism is so much easier. The Trust has been a valuable ally and the consultants tied to them are not uniformly bad. Still, there is a profound lack of wisdom in their decision making, as well as an attitude that the only thing Democrats can do is throw up their hands and wait for demographic changes that will begin to positively effect us in 2010. The only problem with that is that already those changes are being counterbalanced by R outreach to those communities. In short, the demographic change the Trust and their consultants predict will sweep Democrats into office in 2010 and beyond is unlikely have much of an effect.
The alternative? Be competitive in every race, every cycle and never again let a Republican candidate walk into office with unfunded Democratic opponents. However, yet again, this is what the Trust is doing.
It's futile to get mad at the Trust for deciding to use their money the way they see fit. Of course, it's also futile to whine about it and cast about with a 'woe is me' attitude. What we have to keep doing is working hard to elect Democrats and help out every single one, no matter how hopeless the race may look. Keep in mind that since 1994 the Trust has been very wrong on a lot of races and the best revenge is winning. As for those within the Party heirarchy... we've already stopped listening to those of you that haven't been replaced. That's why we started winning again and why we'll continue to do so in 2006.
Posted by mcblogger at 03:30 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
CBS all excited about Survivor:Race War
I don't watch reality TV, mostly because it makes you dumber and as we all know that's the last thing I need. For instance, I set myself on fire last night while boiling pasta. And I wasn't even drinking yet, can you beat that? I thought not. Don't even try to compete with me in the stupid olympics. I win every time...
Apparently, the NYC City Council has decided to take the initiative and enter the stupid olympics as a team, despite the fact that they are sure to lose to my vastly superior retardation.
NEW YORK - As CBS prepares to launch a new season of the hit reality show "Survivor," this time featuring teams divided by race, enraged city officials are saying it promotes divisiveness and are calling for the network to reconsider. ADVERTISEMENT"The idea of having a battle of the races is preposterous," City Councilman John Liu said Thursday. "How could anybody be so desperate for ratings?"
Well, Councilman Liu, it is CBS, the network that brought us King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Nanny. I would say they are pretty damn desperate.
Still, I won't watch and isn't that really the best way to get a network not to do something? Protest all you want but a sure and certain way to get a show 86'd is to just change the channel.
Honestly, I don't know why anyone would think that CBS would mishandle Survivor: Crackers v. Heebs v. Meskins v. Coloreds v. Chinks v. Dagos v. Drunken Micks.
Did I miss anyone? Seriously, let me know in the comments if there is an ethnic slur I left out. I think racism is stupid, but to completely ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist is even dumber. Let CBS run their show. We've got bigger things to worry about.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:05 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Drunk Irishmen invent perpetual motion machine
Apparently, some former oil company people in Ireland have discovered a new kind of physics that allows a simple arrangement of magnets on a wheel to produce more energy than it consumes. In short, ladies and gentleman, they have invented a perpetual motion machine that violates classical physics, as well as common sense. This is, of course, not the first time the Irish have violated common sense. The first and most heinous violation of common sense on the part of the Irish was the creation of Guinness.
There is a test rig with wheels and cogs and four magnets meticulously aligned so as to create the maximum tension between their fields and one other magnet fixed to a point opposite. A motor rotates the wheel bearing the magnets and a computer takes 28,000 measurements a second. The magnets, naturally, act upon one another. And when it is all over, the computer tells us that almost three times the amount of energy has come out of the system as went in. In fact, this piece of equipment is 285% efficient.That's a lot of "free energy" and, supposedly, a slap in the face for one of physics' most basic laws, the principle of conservation of energy: in an isolated system (the planet, say), energy can be neither created nor destroyed; it can only be converted from one form into another.
Don't believe it? Well, neither did they at first.
"We couldn't believe it at first, either," says McCarthy, chief executive of the company.See? But now that they've done all this research and offered a challenge to anyone willing to try and disprove the technology they are actually getting some attention.
Is it just me or does this feel like some kind of email scam to you?
Posted by mcblogger at 09:27 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Dregs : Ford to go private, Coal feels the burn, Events and good stuff from the NYT
Looks like the Ford family is considering taking their eponymous car company private so they can privately run it into the ground The Fords are reportedly mulling the possibility of bringing their company back into the family fold, which would end 50 years on the stock exchange and pave the way for Bill Ford and his inner circle to retool the struggling automaker without further meddling by shareholders.Yeah, couldn't have anything to do with lackluster management, could it Bill? Gee, you've only held public capital for 50 years and the entire time voting control has rested in control of the Ford family which is one of the main reasons why Ford sucks almost as hard as GM. Good luck with that whole private company thing, Bill.
I must admit I flubbed on this last week and I'm glad to say Phillip Martin had my back. TXU is getting bitchslapped along with Governor Pollute-a-lot Tricky Ricky. The story and a bunch of great links are over at BOR where they feature, you know, real news unlike McBlogger which features stories about sex toys. And vitamin water. Muse has a great post up about the party in Sugar Land this Sunday. I am thinking about going but it's a long drive... still looks like a fun event mostly because PDiddie and Muse will be there. I'm told liquor will be making an appearence as well. IN MY BLOODSTREAM. The NYT was all over things today. First off they took on the Bush Admin and their irrational need to secure information that has been in the public domain for DECADES. Next thing you know they'll be trying to keep the identity of the people at Cheney's energy committee meeting in 2001 secret. Wait... Then, they roll out with a piece from a jurist on what's going on with the Afghan courts. Looks like things might actually be going right for a change... if only Bush will get off his ass and make sure we provide the support to them now that we should have been providing all along. You know, instead of invading Iraq.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:31 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
I guess it's better than phone sex
Teledildonics and I would sooo buy stock in a company that provided a complete solution...
Kotaku tells us that the Xbox 360 now has cameras with video chat, and while chatting there is a command to make your chat-partner's controller vibrate. Even though it takes holding down both triggers at once, making one-handed enjoyment complicated, it seems like this is just a few tiny hardware hacks away from being consumer-level teledildonics. It's my theory that not being truly marketed as porn/sextoy/teledildonics will make it adapted by consumers quickly and easily.Posted by mcblogger at 12:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 28, 2006
Real wages are falling to lowest level in almost 60 years
You know things are bad when Bush's Treasury Secretary says
But in a sign that Republicans may be growing concerned about the public’s mood, the new Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., adopted a somewhat different tone from Mr. Bush in his first major speech, delivered early this month.“Many aren’t seeing significant increases in their take-home pay,” Mr. Paulson said. “Their increases in wages are being eaten up by high energy prices and rising health care costs, among others.”
At the same time, he said that the Bush administration was not responsible for the situation, pointing out that inequality had been increasing for many years. “It is neither fair nor useful,” Mr. Paulson said, “to blame any political party.”
Read the whole article in the supersize. The gist is that while productivity of American workers has continued to climb dramatically, the vast majority of those workers have not seen a gain in their wages commensurate with the increase. Worse, when inflation is factored in, wages have actually declined since Bush took office. So much for Republican prosperity...
August 28, 2006
Real Wages Fail to Match a Rise in Productivity
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and DAVID LEONHARDTWith the economy beginning to slow, the current expansion has a chance to become the first sustained period of economic growth since World War II that fails to offer a prolonged increase in real wages for most workers.
That situation is adding to fears among Republicans that the economy will hurt vulnerable incumbents in this year’s midterm elections even though overall growth has been healthy for much of the last five years.
The median hourly wage for American workers has declined 2 percent since 2003, after factoring in inflation. The drop has been especially notable, economists say, because productivity — the amount that an average worker produces in an hour and the basic wellspring of a nation’s living standards — has risen steadily over the same period.
As a result, wages and salaries now make up the lowest share of the nation’s gross domestic product since the government began recording the data in 1947, while corporate profits have climbed to their highest share since the 1960’s. UBS, the investment bank, recently described the current period as “the golden era of profitability.”
Until the last year, stagnating wages were somewhat offset by the rising value of benefits, especially health insurance, which caused overall compensation for most Americans to continue increasing. Since last summer, however, the value of workers’ benefits has also failed to keep pace with inflation, according to government data.
At the very top of the income spectrum, many workers have continued to receive raises that outpace inflation, and the gains have been large enough to keep average income and consumer spending rising.
In a speech on Friday, Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, did not specifically discuss wages, but he warned that the unequal distribution of the economy’s spoils could derail the trade liberalization of recent decades. Because recent economic changes “threaten the livelihoods of some workers and the profits of some firms,” Mr. Bernanke said, policy makers must try “to ensure that the benefits of global economic integration are sufficiently widely shared.”
Political analysts are divided over how much the wage trends will help Democrats this fall in their effort to take control of the House and, in a bigger stretch, the Senate. Some see parallels to watershed political years like 1980, 1992 and 1994, when wage growth fell behind inflation, party alignments shifted and dozens of incumbents were thrown out of office.
“It’s a dangerous time for any party to have control of the federal government — the presidency, the Senate and the House,” said Charles Cook, who publishes a nonpartisan political newsletter. “It all feeds into ‘it’s a time for a change’ sentiment. It’s a highly combustible mixture.”
But others say that war in Iraq and terrorism, not the economy, will dominate the campaign and that Democrats have yet to offer an economic vision that appeals to voters.
“National economic policies are more clearly in focus in presidential campaigns,” said Richard T. Curtin, director of the University of Michigan’s consumer surveys. “When you’re electing your local House members, you don’t debate that on those issues as much.”
Moreover, polls show that Americans are less dissatisfied with the economy than they were in the early 1980’s or early 90’s. Rising house and stock values have lifted the net worth of many families over the last few years, and interest rates remain fairly low.
But polls show that Americans disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the economy by wide margins and that anxiety about the future is growing. Earlier this month, the University of Michigan reported that consumer confidence had fallen sharply in recent months, with people’s expectations for the future now as downbeat as they were in 1992 and 1993, when the job market had not yet recovered from a recession.
“Some people who aren’t partisans say, ‘Yes, the economy’s pretty good, so why are people so agitated and anxious?’ ” said Frank Luntz, a Republican campaign consultant. “The answer is they don’t feel it in their weekly paychecks.”
But Mr. Luntz predicted that the economic mood would not do significant damage to Republicans this fall because voters blamed corporate America, not the government, for their problems.
Economists offer various reasons for the stagnation of wages. Although the economy continues to add jobs, global trade, immigration, layoffs and technology — as well as the insecurity caused by them — appear to have eroded workers’ bargaining power.
Trade unions are much weaker than they once were, while the buying power of the minimum wage is at a 50-year low. And health care is far more expensive than it was a decade ago, causing companies to spend more on benefits at the expense of wages.
Together, these forces have caused a growing share of the economy to go to companies instead of workers’ paychecks. In the first quarter of 2006, wages and salaries represented 45 percent of gross domestic product, down from almost 50 percent in the first quarter of 2001 and a record 53.6 percent in the first quarter of 1970, according to the Commerce Department. Each percentage point now equals about $132 billion.
Total employee compensation — wages plus benefits — has fared a little better. Its share was briefly lower than its current level of 56.1 percent in the mid-1990’s and otherwise has not been so low since 1966.
Over the last year, the value of employee benefits has risen only 3.4 percent, while inflation has exceeded 4 percent, according to the Labor Department.
In Europe and Japan, the profit share of economic output is also at or near record levels, noted Larry Hatheway, chief economist for UBS Investment Bank, who said that this highlighted the pressures of globalization on wages. Many Americans, be they apparel workers or software programmers, are facing more comptition from China and India.
In another recent report on the boom in profits, economists at Goldman Sachs wrote, “The most important contributor to higher profit margins over the past five years has been a decline in labor’s share of national income.” Low interest rates and the moderate cost of capital goods, like computers, have also played a role, though economists note that an economic slowdown could hurt profits in coming months.
For most of the last century, wages and productivity — the key measure of the economy’s efficiency — have risen together, increasing rapidly through the 1950’s and 60’s and far more slowly in the 1970’s and 80’s.
But in recent years, the productivity gains have continued while the pay increases have not kept up. Worker productivity rose 16.6 percent from 2000 to 2005, while total compensation for the median worker rose 7.2 percent, according to Labor Department statistics analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research group. Benefits accounted for most of the increase.
“If I had to sum it up,” said Jared Bernstein, a senior economist at the institute, “it comes down to bargaining power and the lack of ability of many in the work force to claim their fair share of growth.”
Nominal wages have accelerated in the last year, but the spike in oil costs has eaten up the gains. Now the job market appears to be weakening, after a protracted series of interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve.
Unless these trends reverse, the current expansion may lack even an extended period of modest wage growth like one that occurred in the mid-1980’s.
The most recent recession ended in late 2001. Hourly wages continued to rise in 2002 and peaked in early 2003, largely on the lingering strength of the 1990’s boom.
Average family income, adjusted for inflation, has continued to advance at a good clip, a fact Mr. Bush has cited when speaking about the economy. But these gains are a result mainly of increases at the top of the income spectrum that pull up the overall numbers. Even for workers at the 90th percentile of earners — making about $80,000 a year — inflation has outpaced their pay increases over the last three years, according to the Labor Department.
“There are two economies out there,” Mr. Cook, the political analyst, said. “One has been just white hot, going great guns. Those are the people who have benefited from globalization, technology, greater productivity and higher corporate earnings.
“And then there’s the working stiffs,’’ he added, “who just don’t feel like they’re getting ahead despite the fact that they’re working very hard. And there are a lot more people in that group than the other group.”
In 2004, the top 1 percent of earners — a group that includes many chief executives — received 11.2 percent of all wage income, up from 8.7 percent a decade earlier and less than 6 percent three decades ago, according to Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, economists who analyzed the tax data.
With the midterm campaign expected to heat up after Labor Day, Democrats are saying that they will help workers by making health care more affordable and lifting the minimum wage. Democrats have criticized Republicans for passing tax cuts mainly benefiting high-income families at a time when most families are failing to keep up.
Republicans counter that the tax cuts passed during Mr. Bush’s first term helped lifted the economy out of recession. Unless the cuts are extended, a move many Democrats oppose, the economy will suffer, and so will wages, Republicans say.
But in a sign that Republicans may be growing concerned about the public’s mood, the new Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., adopted a somewhat different tone from Mr. Bush in his first major speech, delivered early this month.
“Many aren’t seeing significant increases in their take-home pay,” Mr. Paulson said. “Their increases in wages are being eaten up by high energy prices and rising health care costs, among others.”
At the same time, he said that the Bush administration was not responsible for the situation, pointing out that inequality had been increasing for many years. “It is neither fair nor useful,” Mr. Paulson said, “to blame any political party.”
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
Posted by mcblogger at 06:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Homeland Security couldn't secure a paper bag
What a damn joke. First up was this piece from a guy flying in Canada where it appears people are just as insanely stupid about security as they are here in Estados Unidos. Apparently, the dork (he took his iPod with him to the lav... it's a like a little kid dragging their favorite things all over the place) lost his iPod in the toilet which stopped it up and caused the flight crew to go batshit crazy and head for an emergency landing. Because of an iPod. Seriously, as dumb and loserish as this guy was (you don't know the half of it... click the link) for taking them damn thing with thim to the lav, the next part is balls out insanity.
Then comes word that TSA can't tell the diff between makeup and a bomb. In West Virginia, natch.
"The bomb squad is on site and the woman is being interviewed by the FBI," the TSA's Amy von Walter said. "It looks like there were four items containing liquids ... two of those containers tested positive."But law enforcement sources say the substances that tested positive were cosmetic-based products and not a threat CBS News reports.
So, the next time you go through the check point at your local airport, don't for a minute feel secure. You aren't because at anytime a terrorist iPod might fall into the toilet (and yes, they asked him if he wanted it back).
Posted by mcblogger at 12:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Bob Herbert is in deep shit...
Judge Herbert has dropped himself in the grease with endorsements of Republicans in CD 22. Interesting stuff up on Musings and The View from 22.
Shit. Even their judge's don't know the law. How pathetic.
Posted by mcblogger at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The good old days...
Seriously, can you think of a more wholesome image than the Jackson's?
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August 27, 2006
Liebermania!
How do you keep an act viable, always producing a product that appeals to the changing tastes of a fickle public? The answer, as Madonna has so brilliantly illustrated, is to reinvent oneself. Keep coming up with a fresh look, and even if you're putting out pretty much the same crap as always, well, that's where the marketing department earns its keep.
The latest to go down the reinvention road is the endangered senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman. In an op-ed piece in the Hartford Courant, the three-term senator proclaims himself the posterboy for the New Politix:
{For added entertainment value, read all the quotes in Joe's condescending, whiny voice.}
A new politics of unity, purpose and hope, in which our top priority is not to win the election by tearing down our opponents but to help the people we serve build a better future....While simultaniously proclaiming his opponent Ned Lamont, hero of Kos and the rest of the liberal blogosphere
Represents the old politics of partisanship, polarization and negativism.
My opponent's idea of change is no change. He wants to simply wrap the partisanship and polarization of the last few years in a blue ribbon instead of red one.Still, even for a rockstar like Joe Lieberman, there are limits to reinvention. In the same piece, he can't help bragging
When the Department of Defense tried to close the New London submarine base in 2005, I immediately went to work with Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Sen. Chris Dodd, our Democratic and Republican House members and a nonpartisan team of local leaders to provide a united, effective voice for our constituents in Washington. We called ourselves Team Connecticut, and that is exactly what we were.
Because we worked together as a team, and checked our party differences at the door for the good of our state, we were able to save the sub base and the 31,000 jobs that depend on it, protect our state's economy and preserve a vital part of our national defense.Because you never know when you might need that sub base if the Soviet Union starts acting up on us. And meanwhile, the pork doesn't fall far from the barrel.
Joe, you material girl!
Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 02:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Well, which IS it, John Carter? Answer me, DAMNIT!
Corruption in Washington is nothing new, for the town, the nation or even the century. Take Congressman John Carter, a man so disgusting that his presence actually hurts the already tarnished image of the US Congress. It's a sad day when a member of Congress actually outsleazes disgraced former Congressman Tom DeLay.
This is the same John Carter who thinks brown and black people shouldn't have the right to vote, remember? The same John Carter who votes to drill for oil without regard to environmental impact. The same John Carter who would rather cut health care for the elederly than reverse the tax cuts on the rich.
Yeah, THAT John Carter.
The Statesman ran a piece yesterday on gas prices and how it's not really translating into anger at politicians. Here's the part that caught my eye...
Mary Beth Harrell, who is challenging Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, said voters are sensitive to gas prices but concerned with the bigger picture: Congress isn't taking action on long-term energy solutions.She has questioned Carter's ownership of at least $1 million in oil company stocks. Carter says he inherited it from his father, a long-time Exxon-Mobil Corp. employee, that it poses no conflict of interest and that he plans to sell it.
So what's the story today? That it was just something inherited from daddy? Or that we shouldn't worry about it because it poses no conflict of interest? Or that it's irrelevant because you're going to sell it?
First off, John, it IS a conflict of interest. You voted to cut taxes on oil companies and so personally benefited from that vote. Second, if you're going to sell it anyway, why haven't you sold it yet? Do you enjoy the massive dividends that all your votes have brought to you? WHEN are you going to sell? It's only one million dollars so it's not like you're going impact the market when you sell. And honestly, if you really believe it's not a conflict of interest to vote to enrich yourself, why sell at all?
You're a liar, Congressman Carter.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 26, 2006
Oh, now I remember why I'm voting for Chris Bell...
Just go read this... Stanford posted it and it's spot on! This is the kind of thing we need to see more of out of the Bell campaign. Tough, hard hitting and take no fucking prisoners.
Great job, Team Bell!
Posted by mcblogger at 04:35 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Katherine Harris says the darndest things!
"God is the one who chooses our rulers."
For everything else, there's silicone!Posted by mayor mcsleaze at 03:54 PM | Comments (1)
August 25, 2006
A helping hand to those in need
British 'rock star' (whatever in the hell THAT means in an age where girls actually WANT to have sex with Keith Richards) Pete Doherty managed to really irritate the 'go to rehab and get clean' crowd last week when it was revealed that he snuck some coke (a little pick me up) to a teenager in the same facility.
That kid has got the hook UP. Not only does he score in rehab (hard but not impossible) he has a rock star BRINGING it to him. It reminds of the time I was going to a CAP-D meeting and walked into the wrong room. I was pretty drunk by that point so I didn't think it unusual that I didn't recognize anyone. I sat down in an empty chair that had been placed with others into a circle and broke out my flask.
Let me tell you, I would have helped those poor people out if it hadn't been for Mr. 10-Year-Chip asking me to leave.
I just hope when my time comes and I'm forced into The Betty that there is someone nice to help me get through the rough spots, know what I mean?
Posted by mcblogger at 03:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Pluto demoted, signs deal with MTV Networks
You've no doubt heard unfortunate little Pluto, right? No? Jesus, where the fuck have you been? Here. Go catch up on news.
Demotion from full planet to lowly d-list planet has actually helped Pluto's television career. The dwarf recently signed a deal with MTV Networks' unit VH1 to appear on Celebrity Fit Club as well as several episodes of Tori Spelling's acclaimed (I know, I was suprised as well but it really is funny) So NoTORIous. Pluto will apparently play an agent modeled on Entourage star Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold. Only more schlubby and willing to put up with Tori Spelling.
Posted by mcblogger at 02:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Recession in 2007? Bitch, it's already here!
You're going to see it soon enough in the Q3 economic numbers. The preliminaries should be out in mid-October and then no one will be able to deny it. The recession itself will be officially declared probably in Q2 of next year, sometime in April.
Nouriel Roubini of Roubini Global Economics said
"This is the biggest housing slump in the last four or five decades: every housing indicator is in free fall, including now housing prices," Roubini said. The decline in investment in the housing sector will exceed the drop in investment when the Nasdaq collapsed in 2000 and 2001, he said.
And the impact of the bursting of the bubble will affect every household in America, not just the few people who owned significant shares in technology companies during the dot-com boom, he said. Prices are falling even in the Midwest, which never experienced a bubble, "a scary signal" of how much pain the drop in household wealth could cause.Personally, I think it's a function of high energy prices more than anything. People are ridiculously clueless as to how much they are affected by the price of gas.
Posted by mcblogger at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Speaking of Questionable Naming
Speaking of questionable naming, check out what company is pursuing a $30 million bid for the naming rights of the National Football League Arizona Cardinals Stadium:
First, they shook up the Scottsdale establishment. Now the family behind the Pink Taco restaurant chain is rattling the Arizona Cardinals' cage.Would you believe Pink Taco Stadium? That's what the Morton family, famous for creating the Hard Rock Café and Morton's Steakhouse, is saying they want to name Cardinals Stadium.
They are offering $30 million for 10 years as evidence of their commitment and are promising to pursue an agreement with the Arizona Cardinals.
For anyone who is familiar with NFL football, you are well aware that this would be the perfect name for the Cardinals Stadium. For those of you who are not familiar, here is a look from Wikipedia:
The Cardinals have historically been known as a chronic loser. They were NFL Champions in 1925 and 1947. However, the team has not won a league title since then, and thus currently holds the NFL record for the longest championship drought. The team has also won only two division titles (1974 and 1975) since their 1947 NFL championship. Despite being the oldest existing professional football franchise in the United States, the Cardinals have an all-time postseason record of 2-5 (not counting the 1964 Bert Bell Benefit Bowl)."How awesome is it that one of the worst football teams in existence could theoretically play at Pink Taco Stadium?
Locally, the restaurant, named after a slang term for the vulva, caused a stir in Scottsdale when Mayor Mary Manross objected to the restaurant's opening in Scottsdale's Waterfront project.Dalton said the team doesn't wanted to be associated with the Pink Taco brand, but wouldn't say exactly why.
Me likes.
Posted by grimace at 11:19 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
I'm guessing the food's better than Auschwitz
A restaurant in Mumbai, India opened recently with a name that invoked history in an unusual way. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Hitler's Cross Bar and Grill.
The restaurant's name and its marketing gimmick had infuriated India's Jewish population, which had said it would fight any attempts at "rehabilitating Hitler."Germany and Israel joined the protests with the Israeli consul-general in Mumbai writing to city authorities urging them to take steps to get the restaurant's name changed.
At first, God help me, I actually thought the Germans and Israeli's were overreacting. Then I looked at the picture again and had to acknowledge that is really offensive. Both my grandfather's fought in Europe and neither of them would have thought this was in good taste. One of them was extremely upset when we was told by a cousin (who was too stupid for words) that a car my mother had recently purchased was German. In the 80's.
The restaurant has decided to change the name but has not yet decided to what. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.
photo courtesy Reuters
Posted by mcblogger at 11:00 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Mann Coulter Gets Her Shit Handed to Her
Grimace can't even believe this shit is free to watch online. It's easily worth $100 or 600 chicken nuggets to view it.
Your favorite adam-apple-woman, Mann Coulter, was on Faux News last night, and completely got her shit handed to her like the bitch that she is. It all went down on
Hannity
and Colmes
which makes it all the more unbelievable.Apparently someone who could actually speak and stand up and call her on the bullshit, Kirsten Powers, was a fill-in for
Colmes
and so she let loose. Mann Coulter can only handle it for about 20 seconds. Someone will definitely be fired.Crooks and Liars has the video.
Posted by grimace at 09:14 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Please note the right wing nutter adverts...
... to the right of our posts. PLEASE click on them repeatedly. Over and over again. Then switch computers and do it again. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Why? I WANT SOME OF THEIR MONEY. See, this morning I went ahead and paid the server bill. No, it wasn't much... not even close to a bar tab. HOWEVER, I see no reason why Republicans shouldn't pay to keep our labor of love up and running.
So, take a moment, dear heart, and click that ad. As many times as you can!
Posted by mcblogger at 01:09 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 24, 2006
PerryBlog : Just a little less ridiculous than Malkin
Much like the Bell campaign, Camp Tricky Ricky is going all out to beat up on poor OSB. Of course, they're doing about as bad a job of it as Team Bell did because really, OSB is pret-a-porter comedy. Trying to one up that is just going to make you look bad, especially since
The Only Person More
Lame Than Grandma
Is Rick Perry
To really amp up the cheese, Robert Black and the entire cast of 'tards have rolled out the Perry Alliance Network (which is it??!? An Alliance or a Network!?!?!) Blog that's even more retarded than Bell's. Here are some sample post titles:
1,000,000 Reasons I love Rick!
Rick is sooo AWESOME!
Carole Strayhorn is gayer than Liberace
I'd have sex with Rick but that would be gay so I'll just wish I could turn into a woman, knock Anita out of the way and have sex with Rick
Nothing's sacred:Turning YOUR Church into a Rick Perry Worship Center
One BILLION reasons I hate Carole Strayhorn
Carole Strayhorn flip-flops almost as much as party switcher Rick but Rick's OK because he like totally rocks. And I love him! Strayhorn's not cool
Did I mention today how much I love Rick and hate Strayhorn
Amazing things Rick has done for Texas that Strayhorn, Craddick and Dewhearst had nothing to do with
Rick stopped people from suing doctors for, you know, hurting them but that's totally cool and we love him for it
Rick wants to let TXU pollute the air but it's all good because the breeze will so blow all that to Louisiana... nothing to worry about at all
We HATE Carole Strayhorn even more today
Rick Perry's all about 'creative accounting'! Just take a look at the budget! ... this goes on and on (seriously, the damn thing is approaching ten million sycophantic posts) and almost every one is the written equivalent of a blow job from the author of the post to Tricky Ricky.
So I ask you, loyal readers... who's more lame, Tricky Ricky or the people who suck up to him?
(Thanks to PinkLady for uncovering this miasma and posting about it. Bitch. My eyes are bleeding now. Happy?)Posted by mcblogger at 07:00 PM | Comments (27) | TrackBack
Why I Love America, Part Deux
Earlier today, I was going to write about the gay porn star who donated his craft to Israeli troops, (because EVERYONE knows that "gays are the chosen people" - that's why I always have some around. They are the most fun of all peoples) but I found something better.
Better than gay porn? Say it ain't so!
Indeed! It inclueds hiding your penis pump from your mom and an airport security guard mistook your explaination as a "bomb"! Shit howdy! I envision some red faces....
Now I want to know, is a penis pump recognized the same under Texas law as a vibrator? (For those of you who don't know the LAW - it is illegal to own more than 5 vibrators, or you can go to jail. Or have a don't ask, don't tell policy...)
Evidence ruled sufficient in penis pump case
August 24, 2006
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter
"The female airport security guard held the small, black, squeezable rubber object she'd just plucked out of Mardin Amin's backpack, and eyed it suspiciously.
Standing next to his mother, an embarrassed Amin whispered out of one corner of his mouth that it was a "pump" -- as in a penis pump. The guard misunderstood the Iraqi man and thought she heard the word "bomb," Amin's attorney told a Cook County judge Wednesday.
"He told her it's a pump," attorney Eileen O'Neill-Burke said as a cluster of burly, snickering police officers watched the court proceedings. "He's standing with his mother. Of course he's not going to shout this out."
But after listening to the female guard testify she heard Amin "clearly" say the word bomb during the Aug. 16 incident at O'Hare Airport, Judge Gerald Winiecki decided there was enough evidence for the case to move forward. Amin, 29, is charged with felony disorderly conduct and faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
Hid it from mom
Prosecutors say Amin, who was on his way to Turkey with his mother and two small children last week, twice told security officials that he was carrying a bomb. Only later did he admit he had initially lied about the rubber object's true function because he didn't want his mother to know he was carrying a penis pump, prosecutors say.
After Wednesday's hearing, a mostly jovial Amin said airport security officials never gave him an opportunity to explain the misunderstanding. And he said he would never utter the word "bomb" while going through security.
'Half of America' uses it
"Come on -- what do you think?" said Amin, who lives in Skokie and works for a janitorial service.
Amin may not want his mother to know he has a penis pump, but he said he doesn't consider it an unusual device to own.
"It's normal," he said. "Half of America they use it." Amin is due back in court Sept. 13."
So which half of America is using one and why are they holding out on me?!
Posted by at 04:43 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Circular firing squad? Nope, our weapons are pointed at you, Al
I LIKE RAHM EMMANUEL. He's a showboat and he's an asshole but the fucker get's things done. You have to give him that. There is an article up on Rolling Stone right now (I think I ripped it from ELLN) regarding a comment Emmanuel made regarding bloggers that's taken out of context.
Q: Are bloggers too powerful? A: Do I think they're important? Yes. Do I think the [bloggers] and Al Sharpton alone are the future of the Democratic Party? No! Welcome in, contribute, but it's about winning in November and moving the country forward, not about a firing squad in a circle. -- Q&A with U.S. representative Rahm Emanuel, Aug. 28th issue of New York magazineThe context was the D primary in CT. Given that, is it any wonder Al Sharpton was included? The real problem I have is that oft repeated line about the circular firing squad that Al From (THE Loser of the Universe) has been shopping around for years. What Al gets only too well is that the guns are pointed AT him. The DLC is his final refuge and because of that most of us have decided to ignore the DLC because with him at the helm they are nothing more than useless with a few notable exceptions, including Emmanuel who actually has more in common with the D base than even he realizes.
The author of the RS piece is worried about a schism in the Democratic Party and there really isn't one. The only schism is between those of us who are on Chapter 2 and the DLC which is stuck reading Chapter 1. The entire Democratic Party knows what we want, the DLC is the one out of touch. In fact, I would say they are about as out of touch with the American people as President Bush.
Posted by mcblogger at 12:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
GOP takes on Kos or When the useless attack the self-important
The GOP has decided that attacking our leaders is not so easy these days. So they've decided to go after bloggers. Bitches didn't even have the courtesy to mention the diligent agitators at McBlogger which would make us sad if we weren't already so contemptuous of the GOP.
It's not that we don't like Republican's, we have friends who claim (inexplicably) to be Republican. We even think it's cute as hell when the R's run a candidate in Travis County. But going after Kos? Calling Democrat's 'Defeatocrats'? That crosses a whole new threshold of lame previously untouched by any R with the notable exception of Pflugerville douche Jack Stick who was dumb enough to run against Strama.
I'm posting the entire hit piece in the supersize because I'm not evil enough today to make you actually go to the site. That's McBlogger, always thinking of our loyal readers!
WHO IS MARKOS MOULITSAS ZUNIGA?
A Partisan "Nutroot" Who Turned His Hate-Filled Blog Daily Kos Into A Leadership Post In The Democrat Party
________________________________________
MOULITSAS BACK FROM SUMMER VACATION: FOCUSED ON ELECTING LAMONT DEFEATOCRATS
Daily Kos Blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga Back From "Relaxing" Vacation:
Moulitsas Just Got Back From Summer Vacation: "I got back from El Salvador really early this morning, so I'm still catching up on the last week's news." (The Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com, Accessed 8/22/06)
*
Moulitsas: "I'm still playing catchup after my very relaxing, very nice vacation." (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com, Accessed 8/22/06)But Moulitsas Wasted No Time In Attacking Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT):
Moulitsas Called Sen. Lieberman "Selfish" And "A Sore Loser." "I was annoyed to see not just that Lieberman is still a sore loser, but also that he is now coordinating efforts with one of the most endangered Republican congresscritters in Connecticut by using the same pollster. ... None of this is surprising given those of us who have seen the selfish Lieberman working for himself the last three years." (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com, Accessed 8/22/06)
Now A Rested Moulitsas Is Focused On Electing Lamont Defeatocrats All Across The Country:
Daily Kos "Netroots August Fundraising Push Update #1": "Our goal is to amass 100 new contributions for each House candidate and 250 for each Senate candidate." (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com, Accessed 8/22/06)
MOULITSAS' DAY JOB: OUT-OF-THE-MAINSTREAM BLOG DAILY KOS
Moulitsas Called "Liberal," "Angry," And "Vile":
"[M]arkos Moulitsas [Is] The Creator Of The Daily Kos, The Popular Liberal Political Weblog (www.dailykos.com)." (Anne E. Kornblut, "The Peculiar Power Of The Chattering Class," The New York Times, 4/2/06)
* Slate Called Moulitsas "Leading Liberal Blogger." (Torie Bosch, "WMD? Really?" Slate, 6/22/06)
* Moulitsas Was Called The "Most Vile Of The Angry Left Bloggers." (Donald Luskin, "America's Looniest Liberal Pundit," National Review, 9/26/05)
Moulitsas Provides Fellow Bloggers With A Regular Dose Of Hate And Division:
Moulitsas Denounced Four American Contractors Who Were Mutilated By Terrorists In Fallujah, Iraq. Moulitsas: "I feel nothing over the death of mercenaries ... Screw them." (Matthew Klam, Op-Ed, "Fear And Laptops On The Campaign Trai--," The New York Times, 9/26/04)
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Moulitsas Said He Did Not Regret His Remarks. ABC's Jake Tapper: "Do you have any regrets writing that?" Markos Moulitsas: "Absolutely not. The blogs are a raw, emotional medium. And they are what they are. And they're not measured conversation. They're not edited. They're raw." (ABC's "Nightline," 7/24/06)Moulitsas' Posts On President Bush Include Profanity And Call Him A "Moron." "[T]he CIA wouldn't give Bush the rationale for war he seeked [sic]. So they made shit up, and now they're trying to pin it on the intelligence community. Bush lied, people died. Or, in the alternative, Bush is an incompetent moron, and people died." (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com, Accessed 8/15/06)
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Moulitsas Has Called President Bush And Vice President Cheney "Evil." "Phew! I have been sweating rumors that Bush will replace Cheney with someone more exciting, charismatic, engaging, friendly, and, well, less evil. ... I want to believe. And seriously, Bush needs Cheney so he, himself, can look less evil." (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com/, Accessed 8/15/06)Moulitsas Blasted The American Public For Their Lack Of Concern For American Troops Dying In Iraq. "36 US killed this month already. 161 wounded. Too bad the media doesn't care anymore. Too bad the Republicans don't care anymore. Too bad the neocons don't care anymore. Too bad the American public doesn't seem to care anymore." (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com/, Accessed 8/15/06)
Moulitsas Radical Position On War On Terror:
Moulitsas On Fighting Terrorism: "The French Are Right." "I know it's not the most popular thing to say, but the French are right. You don't win wars against terrorism on the battlefield." (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com/, Accessed 8/15/06)
Moulitsas Called The People Who Work In The Pentagon "Idiots." "Will those idiots in the White House, Pentagon and State still claim that things are improving in Iraq?" (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com/, Accessed 8/15/06)
Moulitsas Mocked The Significance Of Freedom. "Bush remains defiant, vowing to hold fast against the terroristic [sic] hordes ... 'Freedom has its enemies.' As political rhetoric, that simple phrase is brilliant. As reality, it's a complete joke." (Daily Kos Website, www.dailykos.com/, Accessed 8/15/06)
Moulitsas Also Provides Liberal Bloggers A Venue To Promote Their Own Extreme Messages And Ideologies:
"In October Of 2003 ... Moulitsas Transferred His Site Over To A Technology Called Scoop, Which Allowed Registered Readers To Maintain Diaries - Their Own Unique Weblogs." (Benjamin Wallace-Wells, "Kos Call: For America's Number One Liberal Blogger, Politics Is Like Sports:
