October, Surprised?

Attacking Syria, now... great.

Brokaw nails hypocrite McCain

Crooks and Liars has this awesome little tid-bit from this morning's talk shows. Clips of McCain supporting exactly, word for word, what Obama's tax plan is, back in 2006 and 2002. In research reminiscent of Russert's fastidiousness, Brokaw then faces McCain on Reagan's tax record... beautiful!
http://crooksandliars.com/silentpatriot/meet-press-brokaw-nails-mccain-taxin

funeral leave this week...

Dr.Desert Flower's grandmother passed away after a long battle with chronic pulmonary disease, emphysema, and various other ailments. She was in alot of pain, and not a happy camper for the last few years - hospice was there so it was not a big surprise to the family, except surprising she hung on a whole year longer than they predicted last January. We'll be in Cincy for the funeral most of the week. My mother-in-law has no broadband, so I won't be connected while being up there.

Palin still ignorant about Scientific Research

Basic research on fruit flies, that's a "wasteful earmark" according to Palin.
Think Progress has a factual story on it:
"Memo To Palin: Fruit Fly Research Has Led To Advances In Understanding Autism"
Pharyngula, which I love, has a MUCH MORE Poignant and angry version:
"Sarah Palin: Ignorant and anti-science"

Best ignorant statement by Palin on her impassioned subject of Special Needs research :
"Where does a lot of that earmark money end up anyway? […] You’ve heard about some of these pet projects they really don’t make a whole lot of sense and sometimes these dollars go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not."

Best reply from Myers:
"This idiot woman, this blind, shortsighted ignoramus, this pretentious clod, mocks basic research and the international research community. You damn well better believe that there is research going on in animal models — what does she expect, that scientists should mutagenize human mothers and chop up baby brains for this work? — and countries like France and Germany and England and Canada and China and India and others are all respected participants in these efforts.

Yes, scientists work on fruit flies. Some of the most powerful tools in genetics and molecular biology are available in fruit flies, and these are animals that are particularly amenable to experimentation. Molecular genetics has revealed that humans share key molecules, the basic developmental toolkit, with all other animals, thanks to our shared evolutionary heritage (something else the wackaloon from Wasilla denies), and that we can use these other organisms to probe the fundamental mechanisms that underlie core processes in the formation of the nervous system — precisely the phenomena Palin claims are so important."

Every time this willfully ignorant and hypocritical woman opens her mouth, she digs herself deeper and deeper. "Ready to be President"? Not even of the Wasilla Rotary Club!

Dr. Desert Flower got a huge kick out of this. =)

Desperate, Weak & Futile

It's not just the RNC that's sunk low, it's McCain too. It's a pity to see someone with previously such potential become the kind of douche bag he himself despised in 2000.
http://ssdtf.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/rnc-barack-obama-and-terrorists/

The short Youtube video is worth a watch as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sF-a1lDpMg
"It ends with McCain looking at the “Terrorists” mailer and a reporter asking him, “Are you proud of that?”

McCain answers, “Absolutely.”"

Someone who bombs an abortion clinic is Not a Terrorist, in a Palin world

Thanks to Matt for this one:

Brian Williams: Is an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist under this definition?

Sarah Palin: (Exasperated sigh.) There’s no question that Bill Ayers by his own admittance was one who thought to destroy our U.S. Capitol and our Pentagon. That is a domestic terrorist. There is no question there. Now others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or facilities that it would be unacceptable to, I don’t know if you’re gonna use the word "terrorist" there.

MSNBC link here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27343688
Youtube link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qty8kuS7Vo
DailyKos link here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/24/2295/2310/113/640591

"Under the pre-Patriot Act definition of the law, William Ayers and many of his compatriots in the Weather Underground certainly qualify as terrorists. Unlike the abortion clinic bombers and assassins, however, subsequent to the townhouse explosion in which three Weathermen blew themselves up in March 1970, the Weathermen gave advance warnings of their attacks.

The anti-choice terrorists didn’t warn Dr. Barnett Slepian and Robert Sanderson (killed in 1998) or Dr. Jack Fainman and another unnamed physician (wounded in 1997) or Dr. Hugh Short (wounded in 1995) or Dr. John Bayard Britton, James H. Barrett, Shannon Lowney and Leanne Nichols (killed in 1994) or Dr. Garson Romalis and five others (wounded in 1994) or Dr. David Gunn (killed in 1993) or Dr. George Tiller (wounded in 1993).

Nor did they give warnings in most of the more than 200 clinic bombings and arsons since 1993, the most recent an unsolved case in Albuquerque, N.M., in December 2007."

Confused, babbling senior citizen

I saw/heard McCain severely, repeatedly, verbally stumbling around in front a crowd of fanatics yesterday on MSNBC last night. Crooks and Liars has an excellent description of it. Looks like senility or creutzfeldt jacob may be setting in sooner for McCain than it did for Reagan.

wonderful calculator widget

thanks to my buddy JoeM for this. Links to JoeM.

Pfisted!

Go Chris Matthews go! Thanks to Matt for pointing this one out.

Topographic Purple America

this was from 2004. I had it on my work laptop, and was surprised I could find it again. In two weeks, we'll see how much (if at all) the tones have changed in the American landscape. Il faut voir...

another clueless Republican spouts hate & fear

Minnesota Congresswoman Bachmann...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27319845/
"During an interview with the Times' editorial board, Bachmann said she walked into a trap and did not bring up the term "anti-American."" ... really? A trap? I'm trying to picture Chris Matthews... in a raccoon hat, speaking with a French accent, dressed in buckskin, setting traps...

"Matthews asked Bachmann if she believed Obama held anti-American views. Her response was: "Absolutely. I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views. That's what the American people are concerned about. That's why they want to know what his answers are."

Bachmann said Tuesday she probably should have watched "Hardball" to see what it was like before she went on it."

No, rather, an unarmed opponent should not try and have a dialogue with a fully armed interviewer. She's clueless, unapologetic, and deserves to lose her election. Never even watched the show befoe she was booked on it? Where are the intelligent, informed, clueful Republicans? They used to exist, in days of yore... didn't they?

I used to not like Matthews, as I thought he was just a loud-mouth blow-hard, but he's quite intelligent, and passion to get an answer & his complete disgust with Republican dodgery - especially when they show split screens of him and the person he's questioning and they completely refuse to answer his questions - has won me over as an interested viewer. I've enjoyed watching "Hardball" when I'm in SC and working out at the hotel each evening. Bachmann should go back to the 1950s, where people like Joe McCarthy used to thrive.

both US presidential candidates support redistribution of wealth

Daniel Schorr's commentary today on NPR made alot of sense. His premise - both McCain and Obama support redistribution of wealth. McCain wants the free market to continue to concentrate wealth in the richest American's hands. The OECD's report, out today, once again shows America's wealth is further concentrating in fewer and fewer hands.

Obama on the other hand, wants to redistribute the wealth, "spreading it around" from the richer few (over $250K) who can pay more to others who can pay less. Maybe someday, when I am a rich greedy S.O.B. making more than $250K / year, I'll feel differently... but right now... I don't like McCain's "free market" (LOL) paradigm that keeps making the rich richer, and the poor... more plentiful, poorer, more desperate, and more dangerous.

Real and Unreal Americans

I've lived and worked and gone to school and paid taxed in towns ranging from 2000 people (1/3 the size of Wasilla) to 4 million people, in 3 different time zones. I'm appalled and vastly offended by the McCain campaign statements (Palin's and Pfotenhauer's) about the Real and Fake, American loving and America hating, Patriotic and Unpatriotic parts of America. The Daily Show dedicated their show to dissecting these statements Monday night, here, and here (quiz). Truly a poignant perspective. Then, later, Jason Jones filed his best report ever from "Wasilla Main Street", here.

Truly despicable. Reminds me of W's "I'm a uniter" load of crap.

Morning grins, from the Onion

Non success in government running things - perspective check

Zaius Nation has this gem today:
"Thought for the day: Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. We are trusting this country's economic recovery to a government that couldn't make money selling sex and booze to drunk truckers."

themiddleclass.org

I stumbled upon this site while Googling "McCain" and "Middle Class". It's a non-partisan site (check out the "about" page). Funny, but when I looked at SC and AZ, nearly all the Republicans got F's on their score cards, except for McCain who got a "inc" grade. Democrats ranged from A's top C's. http://www.themiddleclass.org/ - how did your elected representatives do?

Braving mountain lions for a beautiful image

This photo is beautiful. The text at the link is remarkable as well. Indirectly, a tip-o-the-hat to my buddy Jason, who Digg'ed this, as well as my VP Debate drinking game link, which both came up during a google search of "justjoep". [additionally, "justjoep" googling shows I am not a 14 year old boy in the Netherlands, nor am I a 38 year old musician in Texas, nor a 38 year old single guy looking for a date in Charlotte NC. 'The internets... it's a series of tubes!']

Thanks Phil Gramm! (The Architect of the CDS market)

I had no clue what a CDS was 2 months ago. Now, with my home having lost 40% of it's value (which I bought at the peak of the local Phoenix bubble in Aug 2007) and a worthless mortgage with negative equity, I know what they are and despise their very existence. All those times my mortgage was sold and resold to other lenders... it wasn't just me, it was every freakin mortgage in the US being swapped and traded. 'Not my problem if the home owner doesn't pay it back, I sold the damn thing!' the original lender could claim. I understand better now, how they became such a massive over-indulged fiscal orgy by the deregulation Republicans who amended the bill that started the feeding frenzy. MBS swaps look like venial sins in an environment of CDS Caligula-esque blood lust. Thank's Phil Gramm!

It's asinine. Matt Taibbi states is very well here in refuting the National Review's Byron York:
"The CDS market, this market for credit default swaps that was created in 2000 by Phil Gramm's Commodities Future Modernization Act, this is now a $62 trillion market, up from $900 billion in 2000. That's like five times the size of the holdings in the NYSE. And it's all speculation by Wall Street traders. It's a classic bubble/Ponzi scheme. The effort of people like you to pin this whole thing on minorities, when in fact this whole thing has been caused by greedy traders dealing in unregulated markets, is despicable."

"S.3283, co-sponsored by Gramm, along with Senators Tom Harkin and Tim Johnson" ...and "the 262-page amendment Gramm tacked on to that bill that deregulated the trade of credit default swaps."

Look it up. It's despicable. Yeah, I'm just "a whiner". "Our economy's never been stronger". Grrrrrrrrrr.

Officially Documenting the Authorization of Torture

Die Hard Right Winger may not care about the world opinion, or the "quaint" Geneva Convention, or much else that doesn't support their Jack Bauer-esque agenda in fighting terror ('take one life to save thousands'), but like most regimes who do nasty things to people secretly, W's administration has left a convenient paper trail. Memos, authorizing the use of torture... they'll love those in The Hague. Didn't they learn any of the lessons from the Bosian/Serbian conflict? Cambodia? the Japanese during WWII?

Scott Horton writes this piece in Harpers this week.

Foreshadowing, HLR Presidency

Andrew Sullivan posts this excellent piece today "Beyond Victimology".. I think it's more like Foreshadowing
Short synopsis:
"Here's rock-ribbed conservative, Bradford Berenson, remembering what Obama was like as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review:

I think Barack took 10 times as much grief from those on the left on the Review as from those of us on the right. And the reason was, I think there was an expectation among those editors on the left that he would affirmatively use the modest powers of his position to advance the cause, whatever that was. They thought, you know, finally there's an African American president of the Harvard Law Review; it's our turn, and he should aggressively use this position, and his authority and his bully pulpit to advance the political or philosophical causes that we all believe in. And Barack was reluctant to do that.

It's not that he was out of sympathy with their views, but his first and foremost goal, it always seemed to me, was to put out a first-rate publication. And he was not going to let politics or ideology get in the way of doing that ..."

Plumbing the depths of "Joe the Plumber"

Crooks and Liars has this really detailed piece. Sounds like the McCain camp (again) did not do a good job of vetting. link here
"Joe the Plumber's story sprang a few leaks Thursday. Turns out that the man who was held up by John McCain as the typical, hard-working American taxpayer isn't really a licensed plumber. And court documents show he owes nearly $1,200 in back taxes.
"Joe," whose name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was cited repeatedly in Wednesday night's final presidential debate by McCain for questioning Barack Obama's tax policy."

It's like a train wreck... or an auto accident. Hasn't McCain (and the RNC, and the White House) figured out yet, in this modern age, that statements WILL BE vetted?

A Palin Oval Office

http://www.palinaspresident.us/

=) ....this, I can't explain or introduce. It's just something you have to see for yourself. Mouse over all the items twice at least. Some morph into other things, when clicked multiple times. Tip-o-the-hat to my buddy Matt for this one.

Hey Joe...

where you goin with that gun in your hand?

a timeless classic.

Charging Tax Payers for Family Expenses

312 nights. $17K charged to tax payers, for Not staying in the Alaska Governor's mansion, and instead, staying in her own home. Literally charging the state for living in her own home. I understand charging for living in a hotel... or traveling away from home... but literally $17K for staying in your own home, billed to the state. That sets a new standard for crap - straight talk... Hilarious! (the link is to FauxNews, for those Republican unbelievers).

In addition:
"The IRS likely also will want details about $43,490 the state paid Palin over 20 months for family travel, including commercial airline tickets the state bought for some of her children to join the governor. Bingham said taxpayers must show a specific business purpose for the state reimbursement, some actual work or duty performed for the expense."

Wow. How do I charge my employer for flying my son out to visit me?

Joe loses the "Douche Off"

This made me laugh. Many memorable quotes in this video.

"U.S. Council for World Freedom"

From Fox News, that bastion of liberal reporting, this interesting story about McCain and the "U.S. Council for World Freedom". I'd never heard of them... but it appears they were:
"...created by retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub was the U.S. chapter of the World Anti-Communist League, an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. After setting up the U.S. council, Singlaub served as the international league's chairman. "
So How does McCain tie into this?
"In two interviews with The Associated Press in August and September, Singlaub said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain launched his political career. McCain was elected to the U.S. House in 1982. "
"McCain was a new guy on the block learning the ropes," Singlaub said. "I think I met him in the Washington area when he was just a new congressman. We had McCain on the board to make him feel like he wasn't left out. It looks good to have names on a letterhead who are well-known and appreciated. "

...names on a letter head, of an organization that was ' linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America'.

Sounds like "palling around" to me.

I guess it's okay if an American want's to kill lots of brown people in Central America for all sorts of "Patriot" causes, working with para military organizations to get the job done, but not okay if an American (any American, poor, or rich) ineptly plants nuisance explosives that cause property damage but whose detonations kill no one in the US except his fellow inept bomb makers.

Wow. Talk about mountains and mole hills. This way way way more important than the Free Market's banking system collapsing, or 1 out of 3 homes in my West Phoenix neighborhood are in foreclosure, or a $10 billion / week war in Iraq, or the resurgence of the Taliban in Southern Afghanistan, or the fact that one year from now GM will be Bankrupt at current rates followed by Ford a year after that while Japanese automakers are pumping out battery operated and hybrid technologies faster than anime. Not to mention the AIP, or Keating, or the American Voluntary Medical Team, or Lt. Col. John Dramesi's statements, or the fact that if you have pre-existing conditions the $2500 a year McCain wants to single parent family won't pay for their un-insurable illness once they try and enroll (5K is for a "married couple" - you know, one man, one woman, no exceptions), or that under McCain, my corporate health benefits would be taxed and Dr. Desert Flower and I would see an extra 3 or 4K out of our yearly pay gone to taxes on a healthy year and much more than that on a year when we happened to get sick.

Great. A proper focus is just great!

Witches, Pythons, Queen Ester & Judgement

Amen Sister Sarah! Hallelujah Queen Ester!

Max Blumenthal, the guy who put this video together, has been hanging around Wasilla the last several days, seein what it's like doww on Wasilla main street.

All this talk of python spirits, and witchcraft, and being so hatefully anti-gay and religiously fundamental... reminds me of a different kind of Python =) This video is much more hilarious than the one above with Sarah and Rev Muthi and the other devoutly evangelical faithful in Alaska. And who can forget, "Theodoric of York - Medieval Barber" - perhaps one of the best SNL skits ever!

Republicans are more fearful than Liberals

Dr. Desert Flower has a subscription to SCIENCE, which I like to keep the current issue on the kitchen table. My old eyes have a problem reading the tiny print, but many of the articles are FASCINATING, and I understand somewhere between 10 and 50% of the papers published in it most weeks. There was a recent article published in the September 15th issue (Vol 321, No 5896) "Political Attitudes Vary With Physiological Traits", D.Oxley et al. You've got to have a login and password to get into the full article, but the abstract is here:
"Although political views have been thought to arise largely from individuals' experiences, recent research suggests that they may have a biological basis. We present evidence that variations in political attitudes correlate with physiological traits. In a group of 46 adult participants with strong political beliefs, individuals with measurably lower physical sensitivities to sudden noises and threatening visual images were more likely to support foreign aid, liberal immigration policies, pacifism, and gun control, whereas individuals displaying measurably higher physiological reactions to those same stimuli were more likely to favor defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism, and the Iraq War. Thus, the degree to which individuals are physiologically responsive to threat appears to indicate the degree to which they advocate policies that protect the existing social structure from both external (outgroup) and internal (norm-violator) threats."

A summarized "pop" version can be found here: "The Politics of Fear" and here (full text)

So our Republican friends are not stupid, or racist, or dimwitted, or selfish, or un-neighborly necessarily. They're merely very, very fearful. Statistically proven (P value = 0.05... that's purdy dern good!) Granted, the sample size was only 45 extremists (liberals and conservatives), and it needs to be replicated and verified in the wider population, but I do think it is representative of reactions seen in the last few months, and in the last several days as well.

"Hey Sara Palin..."

my friend JoeM made me laugh SO HARD with this link. I actually have a tear in the corner of my right eye! (don't listen with children in the room) The singing quality is terrible... but the content is dead on! Parfait! Ausgezeichnet!



lyrics below:
Hey Sarah Palin, do you tell them in Wasilla
That 4,000 years ago we roamed the planet with Godzilla
Is it true
I am so make the beast with two backsing scared of you
As number 2

Hey Sarah Palin, I think Alaska's very pretty
But just 100,000 people more than Oklahoma City
Yes it's true
Go look it up, Im telling you
Oh man, were through

Chorus
Oh, if you become VP, oh, its Canada for me (2x)
Its Canada for me

Hey Sarah Palin, did you really once inquire
Whether you could throw library books into a big bonfire
God, my eyes
This really might be our demise
This pack of lies

Hey Sarah Palin, just because you're good at shootin
Doesn't mean you have the ammo to negotiate with Putin
Are you on coke
This make the beast with two backsing countrys up in smoke
Oh what a joke

Chorus
Oh, if you become VP, oh what will it mean for me (2x)

Bridge
Just because I can see the moon
Doesn't make me an astronaut, you loon
Your foreign policy expertise is pooh
Do you really think a woman commits
To a candidate just because she has tits
Please tell me that this ticket is not true
I thought that there could be no worse
Than Cheney, but here you are, I curse
The madman who would cast a vote for you
And McCain too

Hey Sarah Palin, is it media distortion
Or would you tell a girl whos raped that she could not have an abortion
Its a new low
Who knows just how far you would go
Id rather vote for Ross Perot
Hey Sarah Palin I dont know
Where can we go

Chorus

TMBG - Shoehorn With Teeth

If you don't like "Robot Parade" (which I find hard to listen to) advance to the 3 minute mark, to see and hear "Shoe Horn with Teeth". I needed something to cheer me up after witnessing to all the Repugnican hatred and ignorance earlier.

Strongsville OH's Hateful Mob

The "Passionately credulous bigots for McCain" actually appear to be more intelligent and nicer people than these Ohioians. These people sadden me. They didn't have alcohol... they were just drunk on hatred and ignorance. They live and work all around us. Mob Rules. "He's got the bloodlines" Andrew Sullivan's blog stated.



Now the meaning of the quote is coming more clearly into focus...
Y- All is strange and vague.
-D- Are we dead?
-Y- Or is this Ohio?
Yakko and Dot Warner

Hope, from the heart of Dobson country

tip o the hat to my friend Jill for this Timothy Egan piece. It brings a smile to the face of readers who are of sound mind. If you find the piece disturbing, check your value system and consult your calendar as to which century it is.

"Here in Colorado Springs — the Vatican of evangelical political power, home to the Air Force Academy and a community where optimism usually matches the sunrise glow at the base of Pikes Peak – you can see what will happen in less than a month.

My friends: it’s not good for Senator McCain."

Country First, forget your pre-existing conditions

I do not understand why Obama's campaign does not EMPHASIZE MORE the fact that McCain's privatized health care proposal will mean that nearly 100 million Americans who have diabetes, hypertension, asthma, enlarged prostates, arthritis, and dozens of other chronic health issues will have NO COVERAGE when they go to get their private insurance. Americans are not a homogeniously healthy & robust population - if we were, health care costs would not be soaring as much as they are. Everyone has a family member or knows someone with one of these chronic conditions. All of those people, when going to private health insurers in McCain's proposal, without a national plan, will ALL be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Why isn't the Obama campaign emphasizing this more? It seems to be a GIANT GAP that needs to be exploited.

Undecided Voters, aka 'The Stupids'

Crooks and Liars has this hilarious link to The Daily Show's piece on 'The Stupids', a detailed analysis of who the undecided voters are, and how they are distributed in society. I laughed so hard, I almost cried. "Cubs Fans" were included in that group.... LOL (I am, and have always been, a Cubs Fan myself).

I hope you enjoy it as well. TDS link, directly.

Cephalopod Awareness Day

yesterday, being the 8th day of the 10th month, it was "International Cephalopod Awareness Day". they even held a "cephalo-pod-cast" ..... buh-dum-pish! I missed it.. but I do consider well prepared cephalopods to be quite yummy.

So very wrong and twisted...

Toon Tang

• Not to be viewed or listened to with children in the room.
• Not to be viewed if permanent mental and psychological scarring is to be avoided.

I think this must've been filmed outside of Reno Nevada. It's not X rated, but it's not G either.

A Must See... even in cases of rape or incest

my buddy Jason tipped me off to this one. Made me smirk... a few lines in it, are pretty funny.

Fantastic Day

I love October in Phoenix! 99F ambient, invigorating 76F pool temp, the sun not so blazingly hot that it's not trying to melt my feet to my yoga mat, screaming neighbor kids are in school, light breeze to prove warm-blooded cooling by evaporation works incredibly well at 15% relative humidity!

This Haircut100 song was one that I used to listen to my freshman year in Terre Haute when I would borrow my buddy Craig's car and drive into town for a supply run during Fall and Spring days with exceptionally good weather. The video frankly sucks, but the song is one I enjoy from almost 25 years ago.

Palling around with secessionists

The Republican party was founded by Abraham Lincoln, on the basis that states cannot secede when they want to - like my previous state of residence, South Carolina once did back in 1861.

This is a nice, factual video, that goes to the heart of character, and who someone "pals around with".

Fox Perspective

Dog Humor.. and then Fox perspective... it seemed appropriate. Heh heh heh.

Listening to Chris Matthews, and others spout off their perspective on TV following the 2nd debate tonight, I cynically said to myself... "what does Fox News show? I betcha they've got McCain winning, hands down!" So I go to Fox News and honestly... I am left dumbfounded.

At the top of the page, ok, they show both Obama and McCain's campaigns declaring victory. No surprise. Then they have their "make your own" electoral map (what a joke!) - all other NEWS sites have actual poll results, but since Murdoch can't show bad news about McCain, they leave the map blank.

Then... what really made my jaw drop... 25 thousand respondents, it showed 35% McCain, 65% Obama to the question "Who won the debate?" 2 to 1 margin, on Fox News! That's ridiculous! The Republican base, whose major source of "fair and balanced" news is Fox, are beating the crap out of McCain in their own poll... wow.

I checked again, 20 minutes later, and 39 thousand people have voted, and it's 31% McCain, 69% Obama.... I thought Obama did a little better than bitter old man McCain, but trouncing him? Wow.

McCain could not leave the room fast enough... he wouldn't even shake Obama's hand... AGAIN.

Dog humor

My Uncle Joe sent me these. I found them to be quite funny, and a good balance, to the Palin supported bloodsport - ying and yang wise. If you liked these, there's lots more here.

Putin"rears his head"

Putin teaches Judo, new video released. Russian women, and gay chatrooms, rejoice.

When clicking on the link, make sure you read the last line of the article first. LOL!

Another tip o'the hat to Jason for this gem.

Alaskan Independence Party - what a fun group of folks!

The AIP - Alaskan Independence Party... wow, what a fun bunch of guys and gals. They want to secede from the union and take their natural resources with them (as this Salon article points out). They put states rights first and foremost, before country or any national affiliation - "Alaska First -- Alaska Always." They sorta make 1861 South Carolinians look reasonable (as a former citizen of South Carolina for 16 years, I've met lots of secessionists - 'it's just a cease fire, the War of Northern Aggression ain't over!' I actually heard one day at Michelin Tire, back in the maintenance shop, from a citizen of Cowpens SC).

They're pretty irrelevant, as far as a domestic terrorist group with extreme ideology is concerned. Except, Sara Palin's husband was a card carrying member of the AIP, and she spoke at their 2008 convention via video recording (countin' on yer votes, you betcha)... and Palin's husband has been functioning as her Chief of Staff (approvin' travel vouchers for members of the state executive branch, plannin' meetins, helpin to block media access to his wife, handlin' all sortsa stuff, ya know, dat a Chief of Staff would normally do).

AIP was founded on very moderate principles. Don't get carried away now. Their founder, Joe
Vogler, started the movement in the early 1970s. Among the colorful Vogler quotes now famous are "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions." Then there's "The fires of hell are glaciers compared to my hate for the American government." And "The problem with you John Birchers is that you are too damn liberal!"

Ohhhh, you betcha!

Change you can believe in... LOL

tip o' the hat to my buddy Jason for this one.

Crowded Skies simulation

As someone whose filled 2 passports with stamps, and been in several commercial flights where high altitude "evasive maneuvers" (over the Netherlands, Siberia / Irkutsk, and Kentucky) were taken to avoid collisions, this video I found very interesting.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XBwjQsOEeg

If you have a dog...

...then this video is worth watching.

It was produced by the "Defenders of Wildlife", one of the country's leading science-based, results-oriented, wild-life conservation groups.



"I guess she and her friends just can't wear enough of them".
Truly, despicable. I've hunted before. This is not hunting. This is wealthy red-neck joy-slaughter.

Tip of the hat to Andrew Sullivan's blog for pointing this out.

Make-Believe Maverick

This Rolling Stone Article "Make-Believe Maverick" by Tim Dickinson, is very factual, very long, and paints a despicable picture of McCain. The earlier NewTimes article, "Post Modern McCain" I have in print in my rest room's magazine rack here in AZ was good, but somewhat rambled from time to time,and was disjointed. Dickinson's article is damning in it's depth, linearity, clarity, and comprehensive summary.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23316912/makebelieve_maverick/print

It's really worth the read. Thanks to my buddy Matt for pointing it out.

My new 3 gram friend - Archilochus colubris

This week,
as I took lunch around 1130am, I noticed the wire clothes hanger next to my back door, had a male hummingbird perched on it. On Tuesday, he was a little skittish, and darted away rapidly when I came up to the window, but by Thursday, I could open the door less than 3 feet from him, and he'd not fly away. On Friday, Archi (short for Archilochus colubris) was posing for me, and he and I exchanged those high pitched click-chirp-squeals that sound like a 'high-pressure-squeaky-kiss / saliva-squealing-through-teeth-and-puckered-lips'. In that tiny avian brain, maybe he wondered "wtf is that human trying to say? ...but at least he keeps the feeders filled".

Anyways... I hope Archi sticks around all winter. Now, if I can just get the salivas, ocotillo, and aloe to bloom again, there'd be awesome incentive for him to "possess" my yard.

Note: my pool is still warm enough to swim in(82F-ish), but the lows at night are getting down into the lower 70s, so that'll make the pool 'colder than Lake Michigan' within the next week or two, sadly. I'll try again this year, to swim in November like I did last year... but Man! That Was painful!

Palin Debate Strategy Flow Chart

This is really quite genius, and hilariously accurate. Tip o' the hat to my buddy Matt and to Andrew Sullivan for posting it.

During the Debate, Biden admitted his "love" of John McShame at least 3 times, and used "folks" more times than I could count. Biden also created the work "Bosniac" (a maniac, in Bosnia?) and had 2 verbal gaffes, bashed Exxon Mobile no less than 4 times, and tied McCain to W or Cheney (the Dark Lord) on every statement he made, succinctly and straight forwardly. Now word twisting or circular arguements were necessary.

Biden did better than I expected.

Meanwhile, on the adorable folksy side of the stage, I counted
8 uses of "maverick",
1 "Joe six pack",
4 "you betcha's",
4 "gonnas",
2 Main Stream Media bashes,
3 "up ders" (as in "up der in Alaska")
2 "Darn right!"s
2 "hurtin like it is" (eg, the "economy")
3 "that's for sure"s
at least 3 "bringin" s
2 "blame game"s
1 "I and the others in the legislature" (confusing executive, with legislature)
1 "takin politics out of the war issue" ("war issue" - really? ... really?)
3 winks,
1 "dog gone it",
1 feigned ignorance, and
5 true ignorances,

...by the former Mayor of Wasilla (population 6000), in my scrawled notes last night, while enjoying my delicious $6 bottle of Trader Joe's purchased Beneventano Aglianico, Epicuro 2006.

She could have done worse. With the Walmart / NASCAR / Rastlin crowd, I'm sure she "opened a whole can of whoop ass on that guy!"

My buddy Joe (in town on business unexpectedly) even joined Traci and I for debate watching hilarity and a Mexican dinner at Torta Rica.

My favorite quotes from the debate:
"I quasi caved in" - by Palin
"That's what were gonna do in Washington D.C. also" - by Palin, whose been there twice now!

Simple VP Debate Drinking Game Suggestions

To be "Fair and Balanced" this should be a non partisan drinking game
Everytime...
- you hear Palin non-answer, and talk around the question (eg: name one other SCOTUS decision you have disagreed with, other than Roe v Wade... and she answers "Roe v Wade" in a circular manner) you MUST take a drink

- you hear Biden talks for more than 30 seconds, you MUST take a drink (most people would be 60 seconds, but Biden is sooo long winded, he needs a shorter leash)

- you see Palin put her finger against her cheek, in an atempt to be adorable, you have to a) flip off the TV, and then b) call Bull Shit and then c) try to think happy thoughts while taking another drink

- you hear Biden mention anything about his "shot gun Beretta" you must finish your drink.

- you hear Palin mention not wanting the "Bridge to no where" you must do a) and b) and finish your drink

- you hear Biden tie McCain to W, nod and take a drink

- you hear Palin use the words "folks" or "6 pack" or "regular people" or where I am from" or "up in Alaska we..." you must empty your beer can, smash it against your forehead (to make the splitting pain of a CLEAR W comparison go away) and get another beer. If you are drinking from a bottle (as I will be, a Nice Puglia Italian red) PINCH your arm or leg really hard, until it welts. The welts (or forehead can circles) will help you remember tomorrow.

- you hear Biden talk about taking the train home each nice, get up and get another drink, finishing the one in your hand.

Other suggestions for drinking games are welcomed... I hope I am not too hung over tomorrow.

A double talking Vet

You'd think that a veteran whose been held as a POW would have the best interests of other veterans clearly at heart, supporting legislation that TRULY helps veterans. Instead, "Straight talking" McShame has REPEATEDLY fought legislation to help veterans. My Godfather, Traci's brother the decorated sniper from Desert Storm I, every single veteran and their families should be outraged by this. Despicable.

The list here is too long to excerpt. Hats off to Crooks and Liars for pointing it out.

...and when McCain is asked in Iowa yesterday, if he's had government supplied health care his entire life, he got all uppity and irritable, annoyed that ANYONE would ask him such questions. Video here at Politico.

Deregulation McCain-iac

Zaius Nation had this hilarious image.

Dr. Zaius is too funny!