Are You Kidding Me?

(from DKos, via C&L)

Note the Republican numbers. Boehner is at 12% favorable? McConnell at 18%? The Congressional Repubs as a whole at 17%? Have you heard about this on TV?

No, of course you haven't. It's the Democrats who are "in trouble". And they are playing along with the false narrative and are caving in to pressure. Disgusting. There is no representation for so many people in the US.

I'm sorry, but there is obviously only one party in the US. The Corporate Party. And it has two wings. Republican and Democratic.

Go Stephen!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
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Truth In Advertising

(h/t to Bob Cesca)

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

This Can't Be Good

Headline in today's NYT:

State’s Unemployment System Buckles Under Surging Demand

Swamped by a post-holiday surge of claims from laid-off workers, New York State’s computerized unemployment insurance system shut down briefly Monday afternoon and then again for several hours on Tuesday, according to the state Department of Labor. The system, which serves as the gateway to unemployment benefits for New York residents, could not handle the volume of calls and online inquiries it was receiving, said Leo Rosales, a spokesman for the department. As many as 10,000 people an hour tried to log into the system to file new unemployment claims or to check on existing claims, Mr. Rosales said.(Emphasis mine)

I guess the good news is that at least a couple of programmers' jobs are secure for however long it takes to boost the system capacity.


In other news,

Hundreds of Coal Ash Dumps Lack Regulation

The coal ash pond that ruptured and sent a billion gallons of toxic sludge across 300 acres of East Tennessee last month was only one of more than 1,300 similar dumps across the United States — most of them unregulated and unmonitored — that contain billions more gallons of fly ash and other byproducts of burning coal. [snip] ...Yet they are not subject to any federal regulation, which experts say could have prevented the spill, and there is little monitoring of their effects on the surrounding environment.

It's okay, though, because we all know that business will self-regulate for the common good.[/snark]

Image of the Day

Click to embiggen and get the full effect:




(h/t to Asheville's own Scrutiny Hooligans)

Lenny Bruce is Not Afraid. Eye of a Hurricane, Listen to Yourself Churn -

Rule 5: Always keep in mind that the goal is to privatize gains to a few, and socialize losses to the many.

h/t to Mustang Bobby, over at his place.
(Also, is it just me? I keep thinking of Lesbian Rules)

By All Means, Let's Give Big Oil More Places To Drill

Cause the poor, beleaguered soulless oness just don't have anyplace to do so now!


(click to embiggen)

Maps are based on 2008 data from the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service and 2004 EWG analysis of BLM land and minerals records.

I Got A Coupon In The Mail

For one FREE GALLON* of gasoline!!!




*Okay, it's actually 1.296 gallons worth - the price actually dropped this week. It's that immediate result of Dumbya voiding the Executive Order banning offshore drilling. Imagine, if we clearcut ANWR and plant wells every 10', the gas companies might pay us to take their product!!!

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

My parents grew up during the Great Depression. They never were part of the images above or below, mainly because they were from poor families to begin with, and had gardens and livestock. But they were aware of what was going on in the country, and I know that they hoped that their children would never have to experience the like. It appears that their hope may not be successful.



From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:

The chaos that erupted outside Milwaukee County's main welfare office Monday over disaster-related food aid had more to do with a weak economy and crushing poverty in parts of this community than the devastating floods that swept through the state earlier this month, local government and food relief officials said. ... "We expect long lines for free food in Third World countries," Hines said. "We don't expect a line of 2,500 people waiting for food vouchers" in Milwaukee.

Let's keep turning food into fuel, okay? Because having corn-based biofuel in your tank is much more important than something silly like, oh, I don't know ... allowing other people to be able to feed their kids.

Oh, and what were those profits for Bush Buddies Big Oil last quarter, again?

George W. Bush: Profile of Putrescence

Oh, what is it this time, you ask?

He speaks up for his BFF John "I Never Met An Issue I Couldn't Flip-flop On" McCain, and says we should open up the continental shelf for oil drilling.

From the NYT article:

President Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to end a federal ban on offshore oil drilling and open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, asserting that those steps and others would lower gasoline prices and “strengthen our national security.” [snip] The party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, used a speech in Houston on Tuesday to say he now favors offshore drilling, an announcement that infuriated environmentalists who had long viewed him as an ally. Florida’s Republican governor, Charlie Crist, immediately joined Mr. McCain, saying that he, too, now wants an end to the ban. [snip] ...Mr. Bush’s father signed a presidential executive order in 1990 banning coastal oil exploration, and Mr. Bush’s brother Jeb was an outspoken opponent of offshore drilling when he was governor of Florida. Now, though, President Bush is considering retracting his father’s order. Although the chief White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said Mr. Bush “is not taking any executive action” on Wednesday, two people outside the White House said such a move was under serious consideration, and a senior White House official did not dispute their account.

But here's the best part:

No one knows for certain how much oil is in the moratorium area. The federal Energy Information Administration estimates that roughly 75 billion barrels of oil in the United States may be found in all areas of the country that are now off limits for development, and that 21 percent of this oil — or about 16 billion barrels — is covered by the offshore moratorium.

According to consumption statistics from 2006, the US uses 20,730,000 barrels of oil per day. So ... carry the one... that works out to approximately 711 days of oil consumption. In 2006. And I'm sure that in the eight to ten years it would take for those oil wells to begin producing that we would never increase our consumption of oil over 2006 levels.


George W. Bush. Still a douche. 215 days left until FREEEEEDOM!!!

/Wonders If It's Possible to Hibernate Through the Summer/

I sat down this morning to write a political post ... but then I saw this over at Zaius Nation. More of the same from the Repellican Party. Dr. Z's final paragraph pretty much sums things up:

It's not like the the media isn't paying attention to the stark differences between Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain, however. I did find two different articles that cover this story in detail. One was from Korea and the other one was from Africa.

Go read the whole thing, please.

Shocking News!!!!

Big Bidness interested only in profit!!!

Okay, not so shocking, after all.

Monsanto, the the agro-bidness that brought farmers crops that produce non-viable seeds (so that the farmer has to buy new seed each year, unlike the time honored practice of using seed from this crop to grow the next) is now - well, actually has been for some time - schlepping Genetically Modified (GM) crops that produce lower yield than nature's own.

But you can spray Round-up on them without killing them. And, hey, if rain washes the herbicide into the streams and rivers of Middle America©, oh the fuck well. I'm sure they're working on GM trout and bass and ... wev. Not to mention that even more acreage of corn will have to be planted to make energy negative ethanol to fill the maws of SUVs across the land. It's not like people can eat corn, after all ... oh, wait.

If you are in a place where you can grow your own (I'm talking veggies here), then two words for you:

Buy heirloom.

Politics As Usual?

Let's assume for the moment that Barack Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee for President this year. Okay, not really that much of an assumption, because the math is very much in his favor at this point. Anyway, that means the Republican operatives are busy marking out the word "woman" and all the other misogynistic pejoratives they had in their talking points when they thought that Hillary Clinton would be the nominee, and replacing them with racist and xenophobic ones - because, you know, Obama sounds like Osama ... plus he's black!!1! And their target audience won't really notice the difference. Cause we all know that wimmins, minorities and ferrners is beneath consideration.

The good news is that with things the way they are these days (housing market collapse, deep dissatisfaction with the direction the country is headed, etc., etc., etc.), that Republican target audience is pretty small, and Obama has a chance to become President. Further good news is Obama has invigorated young voters, with his Audacity of Hope and all.

But that scares me.

I suppose it's because I first became aware of politics during the Nixon Administration, but I have a pervading mistrust of politicians. All politicians. And I have a sinking feeling that Obama's words are no more than that - just words to help him get elected - as are the words of Hillary Clinton and, even more so, John McCain.

So what I'm afraid will happen is that all these first-time voters who are energized by Barack Obama will be permanently disillusioned by the entire political process when President Obama turns out (if, indeed, he does) to be no different than anyone who has occupied the White House in the last 30 years. Beholden to the wealthy and the corporations.

Of course, why should this generation be any different than previous ones?

What do you folks think?

The Corporacrats* Advance Their Agenda

UPDATE: Link fixed. Sorry, kona, and thanks....

The FCC, despite the wishes of We the People, has approved new media consolidation rules, with the full support of the Bush Maladministration. If you haven't yet, please go here and send a message to your Representative and Senators and tell them that you think this is a bad idea.

(*h/t to TheCunningRunt for the term)

Homeland Security For Sale

In fairness, no one could have predicted that the money-grubbing, sanctimonious, hypocritical, I-got-mine-fuck-you, mantled-in-greed, Bush Maladministration would resort to cronyism!

(from Brave New Foundation)

The UnDemocritization of America, Part 452,838,581

It's time to get active (again). From today's New York Times:

The head of the Federal Communications Commission has circulated an ambitious plan to relax the decades-old media ownership rules, including repealing a rule that forbids a company to own both a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same city.

Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the commission, wants to repeal the rule in the next two months — a plan that, if successful, would be a big victory for some executives of media conglomerates.

Among them are Samuel Zell, the Chicago investor who is seeking to complete a buyout of the Tribune Company, and Rupert Murdoch, who has lobbied against the rule for years so that he can continue controlling both The New York Post and a Fox television station in New York.

Martin's predecessor, Michael Powell (yes, Colin's son), tried this a few years back, only to have the new rules shot down in court. It makes one wonder what perks are being offered to the commish by Zell, Murdoch, et al....

I realize this is all about the dinosaur MSM, and that they are already mostly irrelevant inasmuch as being a watchdog for freedom and impartiality, but the sheeple^tm get almost all of their "news" from these sources.

Which is why Murdoch wants to own it all.

Does anyone else remember anti-trust and anti-monopoly laws?

Contact the FCC commissioners here.

(BTW, this is the 200^th post!)

More Fun with the Camera and Adventures in Shopping

Here's a couple of photos I took on the way home from the grocery store this afternoon.






Here's an interesting story from my trip to the store.

I needed some groceries to continue my existence on this Pale Blue Dot - so I took myself to the local big name store to get a couple of items (first and foremost, coffee and creamer). I'm a big fan of the self-checkout lane (mainly because for some reason a lot of people don't use it so there is rarely a wait). I step up to the scanner and start the process of scanning and bagging my ~$20 worth of purchases.

Suddenly the screen flashes "PLEASE WAIT". So I wait. 20 seconds... 30 seconds... Finally, I look over to the "overseer" of the self-check lanes, who says "It'll be just a moment." It seems that while I was trying to make my purchase, a couple of the "overseer's" friends walked up to her with a purchase, so she put me on hold in order to allow her friends to get a pack of Dentine without having to wait in line.

This doesn't make me happy, but after a few more seconds, my screen returns to normal mode and I continue scanning and bagging. Then, again, "PLEASE WAIT" shows up. I look around and the friends have now decided to buy a phone card. So I wait another 30 - 40 seconds for this oh, so vital purchase to go through and finally am able to scan the last item.

My total pops up as $20.48, and, since I have the coins, I begin putting the $0.48 (btw, why the fuck don't computer keyboards have the "cent" sign?) into the coin slot. I enter $0.46 worth of coin and the screen suddenly switches to "LANE CLOSED". I stare at it for a moment, then look over at the "overseer" - who is joking and laughing with her friends. I try to get her attention, but she's too involved in finding out who made out with whom at the party last night to pay me any mind.

So, I put the $20 bill I'm holding back in my wallet, put the wallet back in my pocket, grab my bags of groceries, and walk out the door.

Should I feel bad? While you decide, I'm going to go make an omelette from some of my free eggs, taters, and colby cheese.

.