Monday, February 28, 2011

Some naughty rockabilly

Depending on who you talk to, jump the broomstick meant either a legal marriage or a common law marriage. As for around the world, father doesn't like it.

Your Dylan Dally Moment

"Until we see handcuffs come to Wall St."

Dylan talks with Phil Angelides


Moody's rates the Republican/Teabagger budget

As we learned last week from Goldmine Sachs, the proposed budget cuts by the Republican/Teabaggers would reduce the GDP by 2%. Moody's has released their take on the cuts:
Still bad, but not as bad as Goldmine Sachs. However let us not forget that Goldmine has a better record on predictions than Moody's.

When you put a Republican in the left seat

From the pen of Tom Toles

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R.I.P. Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider

You went west with the rest of the Dodgers but you will always be Brooklyn's hero.
He was the only player to hit four home runs twice in a World Series, including in 1955, when the Dodgers ended decades of frustration and defeated the Yankees, bringing Brooklyn its only World Series championship.

Todays Sumsay

Sumsay that Fox News is an actual news channel. This remains an unproven assumption.

There is no Republican/Teabagger governors conspiracy

They are all such brilliant minds that they came up with the same ideas at the same time. Do not try what they did at home unless you are willing to defend against a RICO indictment.

Clarence "Clara Bell" Thomas speaks

And gives an impassioned defense of his wife, saying she does not influence his decisions, he pulls them out of his ass and she never goes there.
At one point Thomas recognized his wife in the audience and suggested she was being targeted for her beliefs, telling the audience, according to the recording, “my bride is with me, Virginia Thomas. And some of you may know her. But the reason I bring that – specifically bring it – up is there is a price to pay today for standing in defense of your Constitution.”

Thomas said his wife “started her organization to give 24/7 every day in defense of liberty,” and said he shared her principles.

“We are equally yoked, and we love being with each other because we love the same things. We believe in the same things,” he said. “So, with my wife, and with the people around me, what I see, I’m reinforced that we are focused on defending liberty. So, I admire her and I love her for that because it keeps me going.”
Not reported was his follow on comment that when he didn't believe the same thing as his "bride" she made him sleep on the couch like a white man.

Not coming soon to a theater near you

But good for a laugh on your PC.

Target - Koch Brothers

According to an open letter issued by the anonymous organization Anonymous, the next target of their group are the notorious financiers of all things anti American, the Koch Brothers.



Right on brothers and sisters! We have nothing to lose but our chains.

For those who wish to do what they can, Anonymous suggests boycotting Georgia=Pacific products including:
In the US, those products were listed as Vanity Fair, Quilted Northern, Angel Soft, Sparkle, Brawney, Mardi Gras and Dixie. For Europe, they were Demak'Up, Kitten Soft, Lotus / Lotus Soft, Tenderly, Nouvelle Soft, Okay Kitchen Towels, Colhogar, Delica, Inversoft and Tutto.

To start the week

A musical appreciation of the Republican/Teabaggers as they prepare to either shut down the government or gut it.

Lose the future

Paul Krugman explains how Texas, the land of the Texas Miracle, where there is a millionaire behind every bush, where rich exterminators light their Cuban cigars with $100 bills, where oil has made more men wealthy than a dog has fleas, plans to balance its budget and make up a huge deficit on the backs of its children. As everyone knows, seed corn makes the tastiest corn bread.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Is your baby glowing with health

Or just an excess of radiation from his last X-ray? Questions like this abound because, despite efforts by the medical community there is no national standard for training or competence of medical technicians or other personnel involved in radiology.
With technologists in many states lightly regulated, or not at all, their own professional group is calling for greater oversight and standards. For 12 years, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists has lobbied Congress to pass a bill that would establish minimum educational and certification requirements, not only for technologists, but also for medical physicists and people in 10 other occupations in medical imaging and radiation therapy.

Yet even with broad bipartisan support, the association said, and the backing of 26 organizations representing more than 500,000 health professionals, Congress has yet to pass what has become known as the CARE bill because, supporters say, it lacks a powerful legislator to champion its cause.

In December 2006, the Senate passed the bill, but Congress adjourned before the House could vote. At the time, the House bill had 135 co-sponsors...

Individual states decide what standards, if any, radiological workers must meet. Radiation therapists are unregulated in 15 states, imaging technologists in 11 states and medical physicists in 18 states, according to the technologists association. “There are individuals,” said Dr. Jerry Reid, executive director of a group that certifies technologists, “who are performing medical imaging and radiation therapy who are not qualified. It is happening right now.”
The bill is still awaiting Congressional action, hopefully the troglodytes will understand that having children who can take their own picture without snapping the shutter is not a good thing.

The Abby Normal of Minn. politics

I was just reading a McClatchy piece on the Republican/Teabagger crew turning away from the Wasilla Winky Dink in favor of the Queen of Batshit Crazy, Michelle Bachman. The reason given by one party stalwart was:
Sarah Palin with a brain
Yes, with a brain, damaged, but with a brain. And as we all remember, the monster in Young Frankenstein, so ably played Peter Boyle, also had a damaged brain. And they both came from the same source, Abby Normal.

Is you champagne on ice?

Earlier this week we posted on a NY Times article revealing that Roger Ailes had suborned a false statement to a federal official from Judith Regan. We weren't the only ones to notice. Rumors abound that Roger will be indicted soon. Reaction from News Corp has been tepid, at best.

Roger would look almost as good as TurdBlossom in an orange jumpsuit.

Live tweets from the Capitol in Madison, WI

At 6:15 EST it looks like the protesters will stay inside tonight.

Live updates from Firedoglake

According to earlier tweets, the cops didn't really have their hearts in doing Scott Walkers dirty work.

ddayen tweets

Some old, something new

I heard the more traditional version on her latest (posthumous) CD which led me to this interesting and excellent take on an old classic. Either way the soul is soothed.

10 years into a shitty little war

Once owned by George W Cheney but sold, as-is, to Barack Obama, the US Army gets around to this.
The Army has got you covered from head to toe as it prepares to issue helmets that can halt a bullet at point-blank range and new mountain boots for climbing the rugged terrain of Afghanistan.

The Enhanced Combat Helmet will come on line in the fall, although leadership is working to get them in the hands of troops even sooner.

The helmet is made of a state-of-the-art plastic, but don’t let that fool you. It has stopped zero-degree rifle bullets at point-blank range, and has stopped 7.62mm rounds, as well.
The new helmets do cost twice as much as the old ones ($650 v $325) so it remains to be seen if the Orange Boner's Teabagger caucus will cut the funds from the budget.

They had a rally in Austin Texas

Actually they had two, one in support of Wisconsin and one in support of Planned Parenthood, both rallies being mutually supportive, all had a good day. Juanita Jean herself was in Austin with her camera and took some fine pictures of a lot of people with signs. Curiously, all the signs were spelled correctly. The unions signs were good but Planned Parenthood had the best, including this one.

This makes the Koch Bros. happy

From the pen of Joel Pett.

Nothing is completely evil

Witness Wal-Mart, a company more noted for destroying Main St USA and encouraging off shoring by its vendors, than engaging in any civil good. Even the Great Retail Satan can show a good side now and again.


Now, Wal-Mart has turned its sights on polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, a class of compounds used since 1976 as flame retardants in electronics, furniture, sporting goods, pet supplies, curtains and toys, among other things. In a recent notice to suppliers, the company said it would begin testing June 1 to make sure products do not contain PBDEs.
US chemical manufacturers have ceased or will cease producing this chemical by next year. Wal-Mart's action will have the effect of forcing its Chinese suppliers to comply as well.

Newt is a real beaut!

Notorious cocksman and suspect fund raiser Newt Gingrich is still trying to get into the White House without an invite. With his moral and ethical baggage he has had to do some fancy stepping to convince people that he is not an immoral, two-timing, low life scumbag.He hopes to use faith to fool the people this time.



He has chosen well to be a Catholic, a religion that has over 2000 years developed the trappings of faith to cover over the lack of any real faith. A few masses, a handshake from the bishop and all he needs to pray for is the Baptists buy into it.

Friends of Keith launch new website

So if you have been having symptoms of Keith Olbermann withdrawal you can get a maintenance dose here.

Orange jumpsuits for corporate executives?

Nothing to see here, let's move along now. Joe Nocera looks at the lack of prosecution of the criminal element of the Banksters this time around.


Unlike the Savings & Loan fraud under Bush I, the crooks this time around avoided classic theft strategies in favor of incomprehensible financial frauds. That the government has chosen to give short shrift to investigation and prosecution resources has not helped one bit.

Those who want to prosecute don't know how and those who change this don't want to do so.

When it comes to running for President

A candidate will generally want to run on their record of achievement. One of the current crop of names of Republican/Teabagger candidates has to run away from his record, as far away as possible.
Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.) is known as a strong fiscal conservative, a top selling point for a potential presidential run. But before he was governor, Daniels was the first budget director for President Bush during a time when the country went from a budget surplus to a budget deficit, and it's likely that he'll have to explain how that fits with the philosophy he touts should he decide to jump into the Republican field in 2012.

On "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace pressed Daniels on this point. "When you came in, this country had an annual surplus for the first time in 30 years of $236 billion. When you left, two and a half years later, the deficit was $400 billion. You were also there when President Bush launched his Medicaid drug benefit plan that now cost $60 billion a year. I know there was a recession, but do you think it was wise -- at a time when we were fighting two wars -- to have two tax cuts and launch a huge new entitlement?"

Daniels said deficits during that time were inevitable. "It was a recession, two wars and a terrorist attack that led to a whole new category called homeland security," he said. "So nobody was less happy than I to see the surplus go away, but it was going away."

While Daniels defended the Bush tax cuts and said he was proud to serve Bush, he also distanced himself from the administration:
Poor Mitch, at this time only T-Paw Bridgefail has less to run on and little T-Paw doesn't even know it.

They are at it again

Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dumber,colloquially known as John McCain and Joe Lieberschmuck are getting all militant about Libya and demanding President Obama do more.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) both criticized President Obama's response to the crisis in Libya on Sunday, saying he needs to "get tough" and enforce a no-fly zone over the country. McCain also held out the possibility of a military option Libya...

"Get tough," said McCain on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "And I understand that America's security and safety of American citizens is our highest priority. It is not our only priority."
To Grandpa Gummo's credit he did not demand that the president get Americans killed right away. Neither did his best buddy Uncle Bootlicker. Apparently the current casualty rates in Afghanistan are satisfactory for them.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

DNC passes resolution to end Barry's shitty little war

In a move that puts it at odds with the White House, the Democratic National Committee passed a resolution put forward by Rep Barbara Lee of California. The resolution calls for a speedier end to the shitty little war in Afghanistan.
The resolution adopted Saturday states that "the Democratic Party supports prioritizing job creation and a swift withdrawal of U.S. armed forces and military contractors in Afghanistan which must include a significant and sizable reduction no later than July 2011."

The resolution cites the length of the war (nearly ten years), the cost (more than $100 billion per year), the lack of public support (72 percent want to "speed up the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan") and the argument that the conflict does not require a military solution.

"The passage of my resolution places the Democratic Party squarely on the side of American people who overwhelmingly support a swift withdrawal from Afghanistan, beginning with a significant and sizeable reduction in U.S. troop levels by no later than July of this year," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who submitted the resolution. Other submitters were DNC Vice Chairs Donna Brazile and Rep. Mike Honda (D-Hawaii) and DNC Secretary Alice Germond.
This also puts the DNC at odds with the Pentagon which long ago determined where their permanent bases would go to complement the ones in Iraq.

A favorite son of the district

Never shit where you eat

That is why well drillers move into areas where other people eat, do their thing, move out and leave their shit behind. This has been going on since Drake first did it in Pennsylvania. The NY Times has a look at the latest means of leaving shit behind when they have drilled; it is called fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing. It involves forcing water with various "proprietary" additives into rock to fracture it and release the natural gas trapped there. The drillers have always maintained the process is clean and safe. Multiple examinations have usually found otherwise. The Times look at this includes one paragraph that tells it all.
The rest of it shows how much greater those dangers are.

Using every part of the pig except the whistle

Gov. Hosni Walker discovers the joy of hearing his own words being repeated by the people.

Republicans worship the rights of fetuses

But, as Charlie Blow points out, when fetuses advance to the level of newborns, the Republican/Teabaggers could not care less if they live or die. As this and other examinations of the Republican/Teabaggers budget cuts show, the real Death Panel is the Republican/Teabagger House caucus.

The Sacrifice part of Shared Sacrifice

Bob Herbert talks to people in Philadelphia who have sacrificed much in this time of relocation of assets upwards. Their stories are no longer unusual or uncommon.


And this is what the Koch Bros. and the Banksters want more of. Even these people have assets not yet taken.

Mississippi is the most conservative state

It also has the highest level of poverty and the lowest level of education of the 50 states. I guess this is proof of what John Stuart Mill said so many years ago.

Banks expect punishment for foreclosure fraud

Well, not really. They are working hard for a multi-Billion dollar settlement for their criminal foreclosure activities which means that their shareholders will pay for the crimes of the executives. No one in the executive suites will go to jail, nor will they be fired, take a cut in pay or give back their bonuses. How will they ever survive such harsh punishment?

Tiny Tim Geithner, High Roller

Simon Johnson explains how Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is planning to put both the US and the world economy at risk for the benefit of his Bankster buddies.





So we have a bad idea, subject to no functional restraint being pursued by our Treasury Secretary. And it is not naivete on Geithners part. He knows that if he supports the Banksters without reservation he will face a multimillion dollar future on Wall St. If he fails the boys he will have to subsist on his government pension the rest of his days.

While we wait for the Republican shutdown of the federal government

The more stealthy Republican assault on the economy continues at the state level and is having the effect desired by Republican/Teabagger masters.




All eyes are on Wisconsin while the Republican/Teabagger termites work their evil in the other 49 states.

Judge them by what they do, not what they say

Michael Winship has an excellent look at how the Republicans in state government work and makes one point very clear; watch carefully what they do, what they say is just the smokescreen.

All of which fits into a narrative the Republican/Teabaggers have been hammering home since the days of St. Ronnie. Taxes are bad and government is a waste. Until you wonder why your street has not been plowed, you have to boil or filter your water and there is never a cop around when you need one. And schools are just a liberal welfare system designed to deceive your kids into thinking 2 + 2 = 4.

So the next time a Republican/Teabagger calls for shared sacrifice remember that he really means he will take his share and your share and you will sacrifice.

Support them today at Noon

We Are Wisconsin from Finn Ryan on Vimeo.

Support Americans in Wisconsin, find a rally

Friday, February 25, 2011

Powder Blue Trans Am

Your Daily Cenk Shot

Cenk and Glenn Greenwald discuss who really runs things in DC.


And now the rest of the story

Ex-Rep. Chris Lee (R-Kink) bailed out of Congress in hopes that everyone would believe that one little peccadillo was his reason. He forgot that nothing is ever lost on the Internet, it's out there somewhere. Gawker has found his somewhere.

Dog gone!

Colbert shows how to break unions, Mark Williams style.

The Colbert Report

Republicans one step closer to shutting down government

And Golfing John is down in Florida working on his stroke, maybe. More likely his heaviest lift will be all the checks he is picking up. The Great Orange Stan has the details on the Orange Boner and his minions.

Tennessee says " Fuck the 1st Amendment"

We will pass laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion any time we wish.
Refraining from eating pork? Giving alms to the poor? These could become criminal activities in Tennessee, where a proposed law would make adherence to Sharia -- or Islamic law -- illegal and punishable with jail time.

While a number of other states have filed legislation seeking to keep Sharia out of the courts, Tennessee is going one giant step further by attempting to outlaw it entirely.


The intent is not there, but the de jure fact will still exist. Even the Dread Chief Justice Roberts can't stretch the law to fit this piece of crap. Then again, Tennessee was never a real part of the United States.

Follow the money

Click pic to big

Defend your freedom

Find a rally near you.

The Great Divide

From the pen of Joel Pett.

The Wal-Mart of weed

That is how a most energetic hydroponics store called weGrow bills itself.
The 10,000-square-foot weGrow store, which opens Saturday at 1537 Fulton Ave., is the first national franchise for a company that bills itself as a supply and training destination for legal pot growers.

The enterprise, started in Oakland last year as a warehouse store called iGrow, and doesn't sell any marijuana.

Yet the gardening emporium attracted national attention for its unbridled embrace of the marijuana culture. It featured an on-site doctor offering medical pot recommendations and sales staff eagerly pitching grow lights and nutrients while teaching people how to raise bountiful cannabis buds.

The Oakland location is being reorganized as a non-retail distribution hub for a network of retail hydroponics outlets. The Sacramento store – billed as "the first honest hydro store" – is to be followed by weGrow stores in Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey and Oregon in coming months.
They have everything except the herbal matter itself. And very honest about what they are selling and who they are selling to. The Costco of Cheeb, The Macy's of Mary Jane, The Target of Tea, The K-Mart of Kif, The Sears of Spliff and perhaps someday if they go international, The Canadian Tire of Cannabis.

Oh yeah, one last thing.

From the pen of Ben Sargent

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States resorting to slave labor

In these days of economic hard times, calls for shared sacrifice (I'll share the benefits with my buddies, you make the sacrifice) are no longer cutting the mustard. When state governors have ruled tax increases on the under taxed elements of society as off limits, many states are falling back on a time tested solution.


Why hire the unemployed when you got a way below market rate labor pool all locked up. And the judges will keep the pool filled, just tell them what you want,

They are going about it the wrong way

The morning Huff Po has a post up about the various mortgage investigations underway around the country. They all seem to have one thing in common, they are all seeking a settlement.


State attorneys general are intent on imposing larger fines on the nation's five largest mortgage companies, the sources said. Last year, attorneys general in all 50 states launched an investigation into claims that mortgage lenders improperly foreclosed on homeowners without proper documentation.
The money would be nice and all, but it leaves the same bad actors in the same flawed structure to do the same evil all over again. What is needed is some jail time to wake up the others. Throw a Ken Lewis, Jaime Dimon or Angelo Mozillo into prison for a few years and the remaining executives might put a few more restraints on their more lawless exuberant underlings.

Know your enemy

That simple piece of Napoleonic advice would serve the attention whores of Fred Phelps Family of Hate well if they were to observe it. As one of his spawn discovered, pissing people off as a means of attention whoring is a very bad idea when you do misjudge your opponent.
On Thursday, an Anonymous member went on the David Pakman Show for a live interview with Church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper. During the interview, the Anonymous member said that the group had tried to respond "maturely" to the Church's allegations, but that members had grown frustrated with the Church's response. Phelps-Roper chided the hacktivist and told him he was going to hell. As she said this, Anonymous apparently hacked and posted an official response.

Writes The Register, "The statement, headed 'This domain has been seized by Anonymous under section #14 of the rules of the Internet', derides the Church for attempting to 'goad' Anonymous into attacking it for describing them as 'crybaby hackers'. The statement went on to say Anonymous had bigger fish to fry, such as campaigns involving Libya and managing the fallout from its hack against HBGary." (Screenshot)
And he didn't even work up a sweat.

Wisconsin governor envies Iraq

Over there the government is allowed to gun down any protesters it chooses. And if events continue along the current path, the government of Maliki of Iraq may choose a whole lot of them in the days ahead.



Doesn't it make you proud to see how well the Iraqis have taken to democracy.

From this valley they say you are going*

The Pech River Valley may have traditional songs sung about it but US troops won't be singing them any time soon, even if they are leaving. The military has decided that the valley is too large a drain on US resources to stay there.

The withdrawal from the Pech Valley, a remote region in Kunar Province, formally began on Feb. 15. The military projects that it will last about two months, part of a shift of Western forces to the province’s more populated areas. Afghan units will remain in the valley, a test of their military readiness.

While American officials say the withdrawal matches the latest counterinsurgency doctrine’s emphasis on protecting Afghan civilians, Afghan officials worry that the shift of troops amounts to an abandonment of territory where multiple insurgent groups are well established, an area that Afghans fear they may not be ready to defend on their own.
It is their country and their Thief in Chief Karzai of the Afghans says his boys can handle it so we should leave it to them. The symbolism of it may be a small problem, however.
The Taliban and other Afghan insurgent groups are all but certain to label the withdrawal a victory in the Pech Valley, where they could point to the Soviet Army’s withdrawal from the same area in 1988. Many Afghans remember that withdrawal as a symbolic moment when the Kremlin’s military campaign began to visibly fall apart.

Within six months, the Soviet-backed Afghan Army of the time ceded the territory to mujahedeen groups, according to Afghan military officials.
We would all be better served if that were the beginning of a complete withdrawal from the whole damn country. If we are as broke as the Republicans say we are, coming home is about all we can afford.

*Complete lyrics here.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Some cartoons just aren't funny

Like these two from the New Yorker

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Today's Cenk shot

Cenk talks unions and Wisconsin.


We can be together

Volunteers of America

Video by Sister Susie Madrak. Music by Jefferson Airplane

Enjoy it, share it and don't forget to be there Saturday.

Find a rally here.

Let WIC disappear

We don't need to keep those women, infants and children alive if it comes at the expense of our oil companies. With that attitude the Republican/Teabaggers voted down an amendment to have deep water oil wells pay the same royalties as every other oil well in the US. This saved the oil companies $53 Billion at the taxpayers expense.

Another Republican/Teabagger stands with Hosni Walker

Everybody can breath easier, it's only ex-Gov T-Paw Bridgefail.

Your future, your childrens future

If you are lucky enough to find a job.
From the pen of Pat Oliphant

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Roger Ailes told an employee to lie

No big deal there, but the employee was Judith Regan who sued News Corp after she was fired. Her suit alleged that an executive of News Corp told her to lie to federal investigators vetting the now imprisoned Bernie Kerik. The executive was never named and her suit was settled for $10 Million and everything was to remain confidential. She fired her lawyers just before the settlement to avoid paying the cut of the action. Her lawyers were rightfully pissed off and sued her. Somebody forgot to tell the clerk that everything was hush-hush and all the information from the first suit went into the public record, including the name of the executive, Roger Ailes. There is also a tape of the conversation between Regan and Ailes which, allegedly reveals his subornation of lying to a federal officer.

Rupe will probably spend $Millions to paper this over, but will he keep Roger afterwards? Stay tuned.

Secaucus Fats gets his reach around from the New York Times

Matt Bai, who has become quite skilled at this sort of writing, does the deed in the upcoming Sunday Magazine.

Gail Collins explains the whats and whys of the Republican shutdown of the government.

And she does it in a clear and coherent way that will probably cause much pain and anguish to Teabaggers as they try to understand it.
Right now, all around the country, federal agencies are making plans for an orderly way to shut down nonessential services if Congress fails to do anything to keep the boat afloat next week. The air traffic controllers will stay on the job, but I would not plan any visits to a national park if I were you.

Hundreds of thousands of nonessential federal employees will be furloughed, stuck at home without a paycheck and contemplating their nonessentialness. The economy will tank. Nobody is going to be happy.

Except perhaps some of the House members who prowl the corridors yowling about deficits like accountants on crack. They think they were elected to shut down the government, so the idea of closing nonessential services must sound like a day at the beach.

All hope for averting disaster lies with Speaker John Boehner, who used to be a strangely tanned blowhard but is now regarded as a beleaguered statesman. This just happened a few days ago, so you may not have gotten the memo.

Unfortunately, so far, Speaker Boehner has not been all that helpful. There is very little in Washington that can’t be explained by an episode of the original “Star Trek,” and Boehner is playing out the one where the Romulan captain prefers the ways of peace but is saddled with a crew that will mutiny if he fails to follow through on the plan to blow up the galaxy.
That was simple, wasn't it? And there is more to clear up all the other questions you may have. Nevertheless, the thought of the Orange Boner in the original Star Trek, even as a Romulan, sours my memories of that show.

Newt, you put the question to the public


DEA proposes reclassifying marijuana

Right now marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 drug which puts it in the same class as truly dangerous drugs such as heroin, cocaine and watching Glen Beck. The DEA has proposed reclassifying it as a Schedule 3 drug.


In November 2010, the DEA proposed reclassifying dronabinol, a synthetic THC, as a Schedule III substance, which would place it among substances such as hydrocodone and allow it to be dispensed with a written or oral prescription. This will put marijuana on a lower level than Rush's beloved Hillbilly Heroin and also accept that it has a "currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States". That is a significant change as Sched 1 drugs have no accepted medical use. It also puts Big Pharma on the same level as Mexican drug cartels, but that is another story.

This means that they will still throw your ass in jail for selling it, unless your name is Merck of Pfizer.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

For the unemployed in the warmer climes

Something for you to mellow out with while you collect those checks and sip those Margaritas.

Bernie sounds the tocsin for working America.

Dumbass gets fired for "live ammunition" twit

For normal people that would be a tweet, but in his case twit is more accurate.
An Indiana Deputy Attorney General "is no longer employed" by the Attorney General's Office, after he tweeted for "live ammunition" to be used on protesters in Wisconsin, the office announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

The deputy AG, Jeff Cox, wrote his comments in response to tweets from a Mother Jones editor named Adam Weinstein.

"[A]gainst thugs physically threatening legally-elected state legislators & governor? You're damn right I advocate deadly force," Cox wrote, to defend his call for live ammunition.
And to add insult to injury, he is a Chargers fan in Indiana. How did he ever get his job?

A Cost Center of waste and fraud

The Commission on Wartime Contracting has been looking into the oversight, or lack of it, regarding the $Billions of contracts emanating from the Pentagon for troop support.
President Obama pledged nearly two years ago to fix the broken system of awarding and managing federal contracts. But a new report paints a grim picture of the government’s reliance on the private sector for support in war zones and urges a series of reforms to prevent more U.S. tax dollars from being wasted.

The Commission on Wartime Contracting
concluded that the use of hired hands has become a “default option,” pointing to the estimated $177 billion spent since 2001 on contractors in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a draft of the report expected to be released Thursday. Yet vigorous oversight and management of contractors by the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development is too often “an administrative after-thought,” the report said.

The bipartisan commission is urging Congress to provide the agencies with more people and authority to control this industrial army, which at times has nearly equaled the size of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Recommending that a Republican House provide more people with greater authority to examine government contractors who are probably stealing this country blind and kicking back to their GOP "friends", is an impossible dream. A more likly event would be for Obama to declare an end to his shitty little war and bring the troops home.

Christine O'Donnell to bewitch us on Dancing With The Stars?

She has been asked to do so. And why not? Could she be any worse than Bristol or Tom? And she needs the money so she won't have to dip into her PAC to pay the rent.

Texas Rangers (the cops) looking for anarchist group

That they believe was responsible for fire bombing the governors mansion. Given that most crimes can be solved by finding who benefits from a particular crime, the Rangers would be better off investigating the owner and real estate agent of the Gov. Good Hair's current $10,000 a month rental abode.

From the Dept. of Wishful Thinking

Reuters is reporting on the remarks of Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig who believes that the Banks are too big and need to be broken up.


The only people who don't agree with him are the ones who make the rules.

Will Stephen go to Wisconsin?

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Jezz Louise! It took him long enough

From the Huff Po:
President Obama has determined that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, and that the Department of Justice should no longer defend the measure, which severely limits the potential of states to honor or carry out same-sex marriages, in court, the administration announced Wednesday.

Not the fastest horse in the race, is he? I am guessing this is put out as a reason to give Barry another term in office. If we wait long enough he might figure out that George W Cheney and the others are guilty of using torture.

Eat your liver, Andy Breitfart!

Gov. Hosni Walker of Wisconsin took a phone call from Not David Koch and spoke about things as if it was really David Koch. The Buffalo Beast was the perpetrator of this fine prank on the Gov. and the Gov.s office affirmed that the recording of the call is real. Enjoy.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tuesday Night Toons

From the pen of Pat Oliphant

From the pen of Tom Toles

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Gov. Hosni Walker taking a page from his hero

Hosni Mubarak and cutting off Internet access in the state capitol building. According to Think Progress:



Likewise, the Teacher Assistants Associations (TAA), which has been coordinating the various cleaning and food operations of the protesters occupying it, has been allowed to occupy room 300NE in the Capitol as their headquarters or situation room. They have used this room to help coordinate protests within the Capitol. Up until today, they had been able to arrange a special high speed Wifi so they could work their coordinating.

Yesterday, however, the Wifi connection mysteriously ended and it’s not clear exactly why.
No one expects Republicans to be smart, they hire people for that. But you might think that one Hosni would have noticed how well it didn't work for the other Hosni. What next? An assault by hired Wackenhut thugs shooting flaming vodka from their buttholes?

Four hostages killed

But the Navy was able to save the ship.

Thirteen pirates were taken into American military custody and two were killed during the confrontation; the military offered slightly different accounts of events that led to their deaths. Two other pirates were found dead on the yacht, apparently killed by fellow pirates, and two more were negotiating aboard a nearby Navy ship.

BoBo Brooks misses the point, again.

In his column today, he looks at the troubles that Gov. Walker is creating and thinks that all will be good if every one just shares the pain. He fails to see, or perhaps deliberately overlooks, the fact that if the corporate and wealthy elements of society were to share the pain the level of pain would be greatly reduced. In fact, in Wisconsin it would disappear. BoBo should be glad no one pays him to be smart, he would never earn a penny.

First we support a criminal mob

That makes Al Capone look like a pool hall hustler. Now we have our military commander suggesting that Afghanis injured by US weapons fire did it to themselves.


Winning the hearts and minds of the people, one foot in mouth at a time.

Take the bastards down!

The Dropkick Murphys are releasing a song in support of the Americans in Madison, WI standing up to their Koch head Gov. Walker. They have also created a T-shirt to support them with the proceeds going to benefit Workers’ Rights Emergency Response Fund.

Hear the song.

Dissension in the ranks of the Taliban

Carlotta Gall reports in the NY Times that there is a growing dissatisfaction within the Taliban between the mid level commanders who are doing the fighting, and dying, anf the top level leadership safe in Pakistan.


An opportunity to divide and conguer the Taliban, perhaps? Not really, because when all is said and done.
“We are tired of fighting and we say this among ourselves. But this is our vow, not to leave our country to foreigners.”...

In the end the Taliban would return to their own land, he said. “This is our country, these are our people, and we have only to retreat and wait and use other tactics.”
Who among the Karzai Boys mob would say and believe something like that?

Monday, February 21, 2011

A sampling of despair

Bob Herbert has seen some of the letters sent to Sen. Bernie Sanders describing the situations of people who have lost their American Dream.



They are paying the price for the failure of others. And the Republican/Teabaggers want them to pay more.

New week, new music

This saves me 1000 words

h/t GOS

Not exactly loaves and fishes

But the continuing saga of Ian's Pizza in Madison Wis. and the generosity of people around the country and the world in support of the Americans protesting the fascism of notorious Koch head and Gov. Hosni Walker is a joy to behold. If you want to buy a pie for the good guys, The Great Orange Stan has more details.

Recall Republicans in Wisconsin

Thing Progress has some information on Wisconsin's Republican State Senators who are eligible for immediate recall.
The eight Republicans who can be recalled right now are:

* Robert Cowles
* Alberta Darling
* Sheila Harsdorf
* Luther Olsen
* Randy Hopper
* Glenn Grothman
* Mary Lazich
* Dan Kapanke

When next January rolls around, a little over 500,000 petition signatures will be necessary to trigger a recall election for Gov. Walker.
If one of these people is your state senator, call the local Democratic Party office to find out where you can sign a petition.

Find other resources here.

100 years ago

In the "good old days" when business reigned supreme and unions were struggling to make a better life for their members, there was a fire. 146 people died in that fire because profit was king and safety was an unnecessary expense.



And now, 100 years later, unions are fighting for their lives because people don't believe they are needed. Because people don't believe that the Koch Brothers could look at 146 dead employees in this day and age and just see another cost of business.

Bring them home

From the Burns Sisters on this day we celebrate two Presidents who really were leaders.

Krugman on Wisconsin

And the struggle between Americans and their Koch head Gov. Hosni Walker. And he gets right to the heart of the matter.
So it’s not about the budget; it’s about the power.



Anyone with a true sense of history can see that what is happening in Madison, Wisconsin is our modern day Battle of Concord Bridge.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Quote of the Day

Jeffrey Simpson, a Canadian columnist who has trouble believing that the US likes being crazy.

Bill Maher takes on the Confederacy

And he even mentions your great-great-grand uncle Lucius Merriwether Cornpone.

Career counseling you won't get at the Unemployment office

Susan Antilla has some career counseling that will not only get you back on your feet, but if you are diligent, will land your ass in a tub of butter, as they say.


Ms. Antilla gives ten very good reasons why this is sound advice.

Why condoms should be flavored

I am not going into why there is always some son of a bitch trying to ruin the best things in life. Since we are now at this point we might as well try to make lemonade.



The latest data suggest that 64% of oropharynx cancers - growing in the middle part of the throat - in the United States are caused by HPV, which is more than tobacco causes, said Maura Gillison of Ohio State University. And as the number of partners on whom you have performed oral sex goes up, the risk of oropharnyx cancer goes up.
To whoever wrote this article, you can suck on a latex flavored one. In the interest of safety first, the rest of us would probably like a peppermint or a strawberry or, dare I say it, a banana flavored condom.

Juan Cole debunks 5 myths about the Middle East

Covering essential points from the fantasies of Bill Maher to the Myth of the Internets, Professor Cole tries to bring reality to an important part of the world, the US.

Pirates seized yacht full of bibles


Meanwhile, down on the farm

From the pen of Stuart Carlson

click pic to big

Why do governments classify material as secret?

As often as not to prevent the embarrassment that would follow if the public knew just how stupid people can be without oversight. One such case involves Dennis Montgomery and his mystical, magical software that could uncover terrorist plots.



"In for a penny, in for a pound." Or as the modern world sees it, when you make a mistake, it is easier to make more mistakes with the cover up than to admit the mistake.

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