28 February 2009

Attention All K-Mart Shoppers Readers

Playing with comments... getting rid of Hell-0-Scam... you may not be able to comment at times... sorry.

ETA: Apparently Haloscan doesn't like to give up an account, as I can't get the blogger comments to come back on. So, for now, we'll all have to deal with ... /sigh/ ... Haloscan.

27 February 2009

See Bob Make "A B C..." *

Dear Rest of the InterWebs Tubes,

There's plenty of valid complaint to be had. Please stop distorting/overreacting to things that, in the end, simply lower the level of discourse.

That's what the MSM is for, you know.

Growing weary of the Fauxrage,
Bob

(*aka, I Write Letters)

Have You Heard What Really Happened?

Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal of Louisiana, is a Lying Liar of the first degree. During his ... painfully bad ... presentation of the Republican 'response' to the President's speech to a joint session of Congress (Which, by the way, I didn't see any smoke in the chamber at all. I don't think they had any joints -- What? Oh. Never mind.)...

Where was I? Oh, right. Jindal's Lies. For those who had something better to do than listen to a Serious Politician talk as though he was reading "See Spot Run" to five-year olds, Jindal claimed to have entered the office of Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee and overheard a conversation about how, after the Gummint-built levees broke and flooded New Orleans, people with non-Gummint boats trying to get into the city to rescue other people stranded on rooftops were being turned away by Evil Gummint Officials (which, by the way, must have been Bush's Brownie-led FEMA officers, but ole "Bobby" don't want to point that bit out). When Our Hero asked the Good Reeve of the Shire what the matter was and heard about it, he was all, "Goo-oo-ool-ee, Sheriff Taylor Lee, we got to let them good non-Gummint people in there to save them poor stranded people from the Failures of Gummint!"

To which the Sheriff replied, "Damn right! Else they might try to find food and shelter in the rich part of town, and we cain't have that!" And so the Sheriff hollered into the phone, "Loot here, now. "Bobby" Jindal says if you don't let them boats in that he's gonna let people know about it.. in about three and a half years!"

Yeah, well, didn't happen.

But here's the truth.

In the early morning hours of August 29, 2005, The Lord spoke unto "Bobby" Jindal, saying, "Lo! Ye who hath cast out the demon! Verily hath I brought forth The Storm to smite the Heathen of New Orleans! Alas, I have also been busy preparing a young man named Sanjaya for an upcoming American Idol and so did allow The Storm to stray from my intended path.

"Yea Lo, Verily! I speak unto thee! Let not thy attention wander to Carrie Underwood's breasts!", The Lord commanded, and "Bobby" was like unto smote, crying, "Forgive me, O Lord! How might this humble servant help Thee?"

And the Lord did ope his mouth and speak again, "Verily, even I am finding it difficult to get Sanjaya to sing well, and so I do call upon thee, who, I believe I mentioned, hath cast out the demon, to insure that The Storm striketh only those poor and infirm, who, despite the words of My Son, are obviously lesser in My Sight, be the ones who suffer from The Storm. That their homes might be declared unfit for habitation so that The Wealthy, who are beloved of Me, might take control of their lands and build expensive condos and casinos wherein Bankers and Hedge Fund Managers might live and play, these being Most Worthy in My Sight.

"This must ye do above all others!" The Lord spakest, "Allow not the good-hearted to rescue the poor, for it hath been ordained that they must suffer disproportionately!"

And, yea, though "Bobby" fell into a fitful sleep, he didst remember the Commandment of The Lord, and, upon waking, he who had cast out the demon did as The Lord bid him do.

26 February 2009

This is Where I Lived For Ten Years


Asheville from Adrian Paul Spiteri on Vimeo.

(h/t to the awesome (and Asheville-based) Scrutiny Hooligans)

Truth In Advertising



(h/t to Bob Cesca)

A Bit O' Humour For A Thursday



(h/t to my sister via email)

Blatant Falsehoods: They're Not Just For Republicans Anymore!

While it's true that Republicans are masters at the Blatant Lie -- some of their greatest hits include "Maglev to Vegas" and "The Salt Marsh Mouse Chronicles" -- but they're getting lots of help from that Bastion of the Librul Media, the New York Times (emphasis added):

President Obama will propose further tax increases on the affluent to help pay for his promise to make health care more accessible and affordable, calling for stricter limits on the benefits of itemized deductions taken by the wealthiest households, administration officials said Wednesday.

The tax proposal, coming after recent years in which wealth has become more concentrated at the top of the income scale, introduces a politically volatile edge to the Congressional debate over Mr. Obama’s domestic priorities.


A "politically volatile edge", eh? Politically volatile must mean that it would affect a significant portion of the voting public, right?

Not so much.

As Matt Yglesias points out, the top two tax brackets -- the people who will be affected by this proposed change -- comprise... are you ready for it... 0.7 percent of households. Here's Matt's handy pie chart, in case you need a visual representation:



So here's my question: Does that tiny little sliver of a bit of a piece of that big ole pie look to be politically significant?

25 February 2009

24 February 2009

23 February 2009

Well I'll Be

Chet Scoville writes:

Know how lots of bloggers, including me, kept saying that Harry Reid ought to make the Republicans filibuster? Well, turns out I was wrong, because I was misinformed about how filibusters actually work these days. Mea maxima culpa. Turns out it's not Harry Reid's lack of spine that's the problem. No, the problem is that the U.S. Senate is the Dumbest Legislative Body on Earth.


Read the rest for the awful truth.

It's a wonder anything gets done at all, I tell you what.

22 February 2009

No Time For Blogging!

As I am making a point to not watch the Oscars. Actually, I'm not really making a point of not watching, because that would imply that I care one way or another. Seriously, do people really watch that still? So, ... ummm... that's it, I suppose.

Later, y'all!

21 February 2009

Deep Thoughts, Not By Jack Handy

Political Conjugation:

Republican -- First person singular

Democrat -- First person plural

Bet You Never Thought You'd See a Hip-Hop Video At My Place...



HA! Fooled you! This is a SCIENCE video. More info here.

20 February 2009

I May Well Lose Some Of You On This One....

But I really like this band, and this cover.

Asleep At The Wheel, Route 66:

19 February 2009

Blame Jen and Gine

The greatest cartoon of all time:

18 February 2009

Can I Have A Turn Next?



(h/t to Bob Cesca)

Surrealism

SPAM subject line:

When your friend in the raised state to live is easier!

I'm not sure how to interpret that. Any suggestions?

17 February 2009

I... It's... I Mean.... But...

WTF?

If your[sic] finding that your encounters with your mate are turning into a “bridge to nowhere,” wear PALIN CONDOMS.

Seriously.

I'm... not sure.

16 February 2009

Non Sequitur Silly

Heh. In my random search for something about which to post tonight, I think I just created a meme:

  1. Grab the nearest book - no matter what it is. Textbook, novel, pop-up book, building code study guide, whatever.
  2. Turn to page 25.
  3. Read the 10th word on that page, or the following if that one is blank.
  4. Type that word into Google Image search.
  5. Post the third image.
  6. Tag 4 people and tell them.
  7. Link back to this post.


And here's my result:




(My word, by the way, was "tune")

Let's see if we can make this spread like a plague wildfire.

I tag pidomon, Lisa, Mauigirl, and FranIAm.

15 February 2009

Sunday Classical

First part of the Mozart Quintet for Clarinet and Strings:

14 February 2009

13 February 2009

Remember This

The US House of Representatives passed the Stimulus Bill, once again, with no Republican votes. John Boehner cried again about how it was "turned into a bill that's about spending, spending, spending."

As President Obama said last week, "Just what do you think a stimulus is?"

Just how far will the Republicans marginalize themselves?

11 February 2009

Pheaux Phyre Phorum: The Edition Edition



Hey Y'all!

So, when last we met, we used Skype for our little confabulation, and it worked well. Too well, apparently. Skype has updated to 4.0, and no longer supports public chat. So, we're back to the old, lovable Hell-0-Scam.

If anybody's interested.

Where I Crawl Into The Cesspool Minds of Republicans

Okay, so the Republicans are, as I've said before, only interested in themselves and their portfolios and the availability of frozen hot chocolates. So I see no sense in talking to them, and trying to get them to adopt a "inasmuch as you have done this to the least of these" attitude (because, apparently, the Jesus they worship didn't actually say that, and, if he did, he was winking at the fatcats of the day so it doesn't really count).

However.

I certainly think that we can talk about them and their motives. Bob Cesca does just that over at HuffPo, and does a fine job enumerating some of the (from the vantage point of the Reality-bsed Community) ridiculous and hypocritical things the Party of Lincoln Rush is saying. I'll pause a moment or two whilst ye take a gander to refresh your memory of the Raving Wingnuttia....

Oh, hai. You're back.

So, why are the Republicans engaging in all these blatant falsehoods? First and foremost, duh, because they're politicians and, let's face it, that's the nature of the beast, no matter the flavor.

Let's look at a bit of Bob's post:



Why, Dear Reader, do you suppose they think they can get away with all this? I believe it's because they read and listened to those of us in the Reality-based Community over the last eight years, crying out about these injustices and lies, and knew we were right. And, further, they know that their followers are too ... unengaged (bless their hearts) to realize that, while the we were decrying lies and largesse and unConstitutional behavior on the part of the Executive Branch of the Federal Gummint, and trying to protect We the People, the Grand Obstructionist Party is doing it to score political points.

Think I'm exaggerating? I'm not. On Hardball with Chris Matthews today, Rep. Peter King said that if, after arguing against the bill tooth and nail (and egregious lie), the stimulus package works and the economy recovers, the Republicans will then say something along the lines of, 'Well, the economy would have recovered as soon or sooner without this wasteful spending.'

The old Heads-I-win, Tails-you-lose game.



You know, eventually, cooler heads will prevail in the Republican Party. I'm afraid that it may be a long time, though, and that the country, and therefore the whole world (we're all one big market now) will suffer greatly in the intervening years.

Quote of the Day

“When (President Franklin) Roosevelt did this, he put our country into a Great Depression,” Austria said. “He tried to borrow and spend, he tried to use the Keynesian approach, and our country ended up in a Great Depression. That’s just history.”


- Representative Steve Austria (R-OH)

By the way, is it just me, or does today's Profile In Republican Fail subject (right) look like yesterday's (left)?







UPDATE: He left the link in comments, but I heartily recommend you go read boatboy-srq's post on this topic.

More From The "Just Don't Get It" Department

Bailed-out firms rename their cash bonuses as ‘retention awards.’


Dear Huge Companies,

It's not the name, you over-entitled, privileged, completely-out-of-touch-with-the-real-world, frozen hot chocolate (wtf is that, anyway?) drinking, money-grubbing assholes. It's the fact that you're giving each other multi-millions of dollars while everyone else suffers.

(I) Sincerely (hope you choke on your frozen hot chocolate),
Bob

Random Thought...

How many "Country First" Republicans have accounts at the bank called RBC?

Wingnut FAIL

Since when is it acceptable for an American to ask the president for something? The president is the servant of the people, not the other way around. This reminds me of a different type of relationship: slave/master or serf/noble.


Jonathon Gardner at Federal Way Conservative. (Yes, you read the rollover on that link correctly, the post is titled "Slave Begs her Master for a House")

Any road,... according to the tortured (and false) logic in the above quote, it is unacceptable to ask a servant to do something.

(h/t to Doctor Zaius)

10 February 2009

To Boldly Stimulate ....

Apparently the Stimulus Package includes interstellar travel. Who knew?

The Party of Lincoln FAIL

Did I heah you right, son? Ah say -- ah say -- did you really stand up in the Missouri legislature and say, “What we are dealing with today is the greatest power grab by the federal government since the war of northern aggression”?

State Rep. Bryan Stevenson, Republican (duh) -- pictured left -- actually said that in session. For those of you who don't know, "The War of Northern Aggression" is what racist redneck Southerners call the American Civil War.

Ah do -- ah say -- ah do believe it's time to inform the GOP that they can no longer call themselves the Party of the Great Emancipator.

And now, some Bugs Bunny (there is an incredibly racist stereotypical bit about 2:45 in, but... warts and all, you know?):

09 February 2009

Quote of the Day

Can you fucking believe these asshole cocksucking motherfuckers? They cut Food Stamps! Fucking! Foodstamps! Those stupid motherfuckers! That's economic stimulus on goddamned steroids for the love of sweet milk chocolate jebus horatio goddamned christ on a motherfucking skateboard! Are they that fucking stupid? That fucking greedy? That fucking clueless? I feel like going back out into the shed and beating my fucking plowshare back into a goddamned sword. I fucking hate a bunch of goddamned fucking farming anyway.


-- The Minstrel Boy

08 February 2009

Quote of the Day

Where does the senator think the $800 billion will go? Down a rabbit hole? Even if the entire sum were to be stolen by federal employees and spent entirely on fast cars, fancy homes, gambling junkets and fancy clothes, it would still be an $800 billion increase in the demand for goods and services -- a pretty good working definition for economic stimulus. The only question is whether spending it on other things would create more long-term value, which it almost certainly would.


- Steven Pearlstein, Washington Post Business Columnist

Would Someone Please 'Splain To Me

Why anyone, much less Think Progress, is wording it like this?

Supporters Of $1.3 Trillion Bush Tax Cuts In 2001 Now Call $900 Billion Recovery Plan Billion ‘Too Much’

Such objections are indeed ironic coming from some of the greatest advocates for President Bush’s $1.35 trillion tax cut package in 2001.


What am I missing here? As I understand it, back in 2001 Congress cut taxes by $1.3 trillion. Now the people who voted to cut the Gummint coffers -- from which spending is done -- are saying that spending $800 billion is a bad idea.

Remember my post the other day, and how I said that no matter how loony-sounding or just plain wrong for the country (and, yes, pretty much everything the Repellicans say these days is antithetical to moving the country to a better place) the Republican positions are, they are completely self-consistent?

Slashing monetary intake ... being against spending. Duh. There's no irony here. We haven't had that since 1983.*

In 2001, they cut taxes and then, over the next few years, doubled spending. If the above title and post had pointed that out, fine. But it chose to go in a different direction, akin to "water is wet".

With the Republicans, it's all about the words. Actions don't enter into it, because they know that a large enough percentage of the electorate will forget the actions -- if, in fact, that percentage even notices the actions in the first place -- and see only the replayed soundbites.

You (and I'm talking to those who continue to write volumes of posts about "the Republicans are...") might as well argue with that oak tree just outside this office window, for all the effect you're gonna have on the outcome of things. You're wasting your time (in writing) and mine (reading).

Put that energy to use in some more useful manner. Go shovel snow off your front walk, or turn some soil to prepare your Victory Survival Garden or play with your kids or something.


(*this one is worth 1173 irredeemable points)

07 February 2009

Yeah, I've Posted This Before

But it's purty.

I went over to my parents' today for my Mom's SURPRISE Birthday Party (it's her Piano Birthday -- 846 irredeemable points to the first in comments to figure that out), and took the Béla Fleck & The Flecktones: Live at the Quick CD with me.

Listened to this track over and over at high volume whilst tooling along on the Interstate.

The Call and Response in the middle between bass and soprano sax is a true thing of beauty. Plus, you gotta love a band that sports a bassoon.

Turn it up and enjoy....

06 February 2009

Just What Do You Think A Stimulus Is?

More of President Obama's speech last night (a part of which I quoted below):

05 February 2009

Quote of the Day

"When you start hearing arguments on the cable chatter, just understand a couple of things. Number one, when they say, well, why are we spending $800 billion -- we've got this huge deficit? First of all, I found this deficit when I showed up."


President Barack Obama, telling it like it is.

Random Python, Monty

04 February 2009

Pheaux Phyre Phorum: The I'm Just Not Feeling It Edition



Meh.

That's pretty much how I feel about what's going on with the world right now. The Grand Obstructionist Party is apparently being successful at rebranding the Stimulus Package as a Pork Barrel Spending Bill (with lots of help from Democrats who just can't stop themselves adding things). People are all "When will the MSM start reporting the truth!?!?!1??eleventy?????" when anyone with half a brain can see that it will never happen as long as news agencies are part of capitalism, because it's not about getting the truth out, it's about the bottom line of the ledger.

President Obama is either playing a very, very good game of chess with the Republicans, or else he's no better than any other man to live in the White House in the last 30 years.

All I want to do is curl up with a good book, or a special someone, and veg.

Talk amongst yerselves, if ye wish.

03 February 2009

Close Encounters...

So, you may or may not know that Google released Google Earth 5 yesterday. There are several new features, including Google Mars.

I was checking it out last night, and this popped up on my screen:

(click to embiggen)

Contact!!!

Which, of course, makes me think of this:





Klaatu Barada Nicto, Bitchez!!

02 February 2009

And Another Thing

Hmmmm.

I had a big ole, thinky type post all in my head, that I was gonna write up for all of you to read.

It's gone.

I can't even remember what it was gonna be about.

/blames the 80s/

01 February 2009

In Honor of Super Bowl Sunday...

The best commmercial ever to grace the Super Bowl (IMHO):