Friday, March 13, 2009

Is Glenn Beck sorry?

Glenn Beck is a petulant retard. Sorry, that wasn't nice to insult retarded people.

From his site: Do you watch the direction that America is being taken in and feel powerless to stop it?

Do you believe that your voice isn't loud enough to be heard above the noise anymore?

Do you read the headlines everyday and feel an empty pit in your stomach…as if you're completely alone?

If so, then you've fallen for the Wizard of Oz lie. While the voices you hear in the distance may sound intimidating, as if they surround us from all sides—the reality is very different. Once you pull the curtain away you realize that there are only a few people pressing the buttons, and their voices are weak. The truth is that they don't surround us at all.
We surround them.

I felt that way prior to the '08 elections. But not so much anymore since the right-wing-nuts lost to millions of people voting for Democrats and Barack Obama, not Republicans, and certainly not Glenn Beck.

Sorry Glenn. You're irrelevant. And you might also be guilty of sedition.

Obama Scraps 'Enemy Combatant' Definition For Gitmo

Big ups to big O.

In contrast to other scary positions the Obama administration has taken with regards to executive power, Obama drops the "Enemy Combatant" definition for Gitmo detainees. This brings us one step closer to accepted international rule of law.

No doubt the gun toting hillbillies will be upset by this, though. (And anyone upset by this is pretty much on the same level of "low life" as a gun toting hillbilly in my opinion.)

Comedians matter

Jon Stewart had already established his credentials as a bulwark against media stupidity when he publicly called Tucker Carlson a dick on national TV, but he may just be immortalized after last night's "gloves off" interview with - nay, utter takedown of - CNBC's Jim Cramer. But, in fairness to Cramer, as Glenn Greenwald so deftly describes, at least he had the temerity to face criticism in person, unlike just about any other so-called journalist. Glenn makes an excellent case that there is nothing unique about Cramer - or CNBC - though, when compared to the rest of our press corps and Establishment Media. Very much worth a read!

I, and many others, have marveled repeatedly over the fact that it is our comedians who are the only ones we can trust to tell us the truth. Jon Stewart uses mockery and juvenile humor to ease the shame and disgust of the nude Emperor rubbing his genitals all over our faces by pointing out that the Emperor is hung like a hamster. Stephen Colbert dons a persona amalgamated of the worst traits of many a pundit to mock just how ridiculous the level of political discourse is in our society. The late George Carlin used biting wit and vulgar profanity to feign anger at our political leaders and talking heads, thus serving as more or less a relief-valve for the rest of us by making us laugh out loud when we might otherwise cry. And the great Bill Maher employs his vaunted wit with biting sarcasm to speak truth to the cadre of cowardly liars who we entrust to lead us.

As put by a particularly smart fellow from a discussion group I'm following:

Comedians play a crucial role in our free society. I'm sure you recall seeing Cabaret -- where the floor show catered to the prevailing power instead of attacked it. It mocked Nazi's at the beginning, and ended by mocking the Jews, playing to the audience. There can be no cows too sacred, no myth too precious to spared from attack or we, too, risk being trapped in a society where all of our expressions must be (literally) politically correct with force of violent sanction applied to those who moon the cow. Comics like Maher (I'll add Stewart, Colbert, Carlin, et al. -ed.) are the bellwether of a free society. - RGB

With apologies to all comedians - women and men - who deserve mention here but are not included (for lack of time), all of those mentioned share in common intelligence, wit, and the courage to stand for truth against powerful forces who are more than willing to lie to and deceive and potentially put in harms way the very people they should be looking out for, but also depend upon for their very existence.


Here is but one segment of several worth watching (and I only wish Jon Stewart was this tough on Bill O'Reilly):


Animal Farm Friday: Quite the blow job!

I love helicopters and blow jobs. Here's both at once, and Bambi too!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Raisin of Reason: The Silent Minority

The awesome Cenk Uygur champions the cause of the godless, and urges us to be silent no more!

There is a minority group in America that is a bigger percentage of the country than blacks or Hispanics. But they are often ignored or derided in public. Almost no politician would ever admit to being one. And they are given no voice in the public arena.

They are the non-religious. A new comprehensive study by The Program on Public Values at Trinity College shows that this group is now a whopping 15% of the country. Mormons by comparison are a puny 1.4% of the population, and people can't shut up about the Mormons. The Senate Majority Leader is a Mormon, one of the top Republican presidential candidates was Mormon and even HBO has a whole show devoted to them.

My guess is that there are actually more than 15%, and that most are too afraid of coming out of the closet for fear of retribution in their jobs, or being ostracized by their communities. But it surprises me that people are more comfortable living lives predicated on mythologies, fairy tales, and superstitions.



A shred of decency from Madoff?

In no way does this guy deserve any respect whatsoever, but it's only fair to give him props for wasting any money his trial would have cost. Pleading guilty to all charges was a decent thing to do.

I hope the Fed goes after anyone and everyone who was complicit in Madoff's scheme (I sincerely doubt one man could have pulled this off alone), including friends and family members.

Shitigroup indeed

Why am I not surprised at Citi going on the offensive against the Employee Free Choice Act? They're happy to take the money of the working man (except when they aren't, but they'll keep it anyway, thank you very much!)

Makes me feel that much better canceling my credit card with them last week. The Citi call center worker asked why I was canceling the account. I laughed, and asked if he was kidding. He said he really wanted to know. I said it was because Citi represents all that is evil in the world. He said nothing. Perhaps he knows he's working for the devil.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Everything's amazing, nobody's happy

Worth four minutes and twelve seconds of your day to watch.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

That "Dan White Hero" psycho

I was on the steps of the California Supreme Court last Thursday in a heated shouting match with that psychopath carrying the Dan White Hero sign. I can tell you that this individual (I'm loathe to call him a person) clearly had some mental issues, apart from being stunningly ignorant. He was shouting the usual epithets of "God hates fags" and couldn't stop confusing me as a "fag spreading AIDS" even though my wife  - introduced as such - was right next to me.

My refrain was to shout at him repeatedly "You are supporting a murderer!" which eventually drew the attention of pro-Prop 8 supporters who actually turned their attacks on him, driving the psycho away. Or at least driving him away from us.

I can only hope he was met with the same fierce berating he got from us wherever he went.

Chas Freeman follow-up

David Rothkopf at Foreign Policy has what is for the most important perspective on the matter of Obama caving and letting Chas Freeman withdraw his name from consideration for Chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

The United States will get along fine without Freeman and without each and every one of the casualties of this latest hiring cycle. But we will ultimately suffer irreparable damage if we do not reverse this pernicious trend. Further, those who celebrate keeping out Freeman or any others whose views do not align with theirs or who feared his associations would do well to remember that the same kind of criteria can be applied by other groups. The result is not a government of people without conflicts of interest or troubling ties, rather it is a government full of people whose conflicts and ties are with groups powerful enough to protect them. This among other reasons is why I, as a Jew with a memory, was so opposed to the attacks on Freeman. But for the record, the most compelling reason I found for believing Chas Freeman would have been a superb Chairman of the National Intelligence Council was one that seldom came up in all the articles I read. I actually know him.

(emphasis mine)

I'm also pretty sickened by the fact that our government seems to be puppets manipulated by a handful of powerful religious zealots.

Chas Freeman Out: Intel Chair Withdraws


WTF Obama?!?



I'm starting to wonder why Obama isn't showing that "flinty Chicago toughness" he brags about.



First he let himself get dragged around by the Republiscums over the Stimulus Bill, now he's letting the AIPAC-controlled Congress (meaning nearly every damn one of them, D or R) shove him around over his appointment of Chas Freeman - to a position that doesn't even require confirmation!



There very possibly goes our last best hope to put a check on the ultra-right wingnuts in Israel, and their agents that apparently do control our government here.



This is a major disappointment.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Monday, March 9, 2009

Raisin of Reason: Percentage of Americans with no religion on the rise

A glimmer of hope that insanity is waning.

The percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has dropped dramatically over the past two decades, and those who do are increasingly identifying themselves without traditional denomination labels, according to a major study of U.S. religion being released today.