Sunday, 31 March 2013
The video the Exxon oil company, and the Republican party, DON'T want you to see. Update!
Courtesy of Raw Story:
An Exxon-Mobil oil pipeline ruptured Friday afternoon in the town of Mayflower, Arkansas, forcing the evacuation of 20 homes and shutting down sections of interstate highway. According to Little Rock’s KATV, a hazardous materials team from the Office of Emergency Management has contained the spill and is currently attempting a cleanup.
The burst pipe is part of the Pegasus pipeline network, which connects tar sands along the Gulf coast to refineries in Houston. Thousands of gallons of crude oil erupted from the breach around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, spilling through a housing subdivision and into the town’s storm drainage system, fouling drainage ditches and shutting down Highway 365 and Interstate 40.
Residents were evacuated to avoid health hazards from crude oil fumes and to keep stray sparks from igniting the standing oil. Emergency workers contained the spill by hastily constructing earthen dams.
According to the YouTube link over 84,000 gallons have spilled into the town so far.
You know it is bad enough to have an oil pipeline burst in a remote parts of Alaska but so much worse when the spill is right next door and forces the evacuation of your entire neighborhood.
Perhaps THIS will be enough to get certain politicians to reconsider the idea of building the Keystone XL project.
What am I saying? After all you can bet the pipeline won't be built next to any of the homes of powerful Republican Senators now will it?
Update: This is somebody's backyard in Mayflower, Arkansas.
That is NOT water.
An Exxon-Mobil oil pipeline ruptured Friday afternoon in the town of Mayflower, Arkansas, forcing the evacuation of 20 homes and shutting down sections of interstate highway. According to Little Rock’s KATV, a hazardous materials team from the Office of Emergency Management has contained the spill and is currently attempting a cleanup.
The burst pipe is part of the Pegasus pipeline network, which connects tar sands along the Gulf coast to refineries in Houston. Thousands of gallons of crude oil erupted from the breach around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, spilling through a housing subdivision and into the town’s storm drainage system, fouling drainage ditches and shutting down Highway 365 and Interstate 40.
Residents were evacuated to avoid health hazards from crude oil fumes and to keep stray sparks from igniting the standing oil. Emergency workers contained the spill by hastily constructing earthen dams.
According to the YouTube link over 84,000 gallons have spilled into the town so far.
You know it is bad enough to have an oil pipeline burst in a remote parts of Alaska but so much worse when the spill is right next door and forces the evacuation of your entire neighborhood.
Perhaps THIS will be enough to get certain politicians to reconsider the idea of building the Keystone XL project.
Update: This is somebody's backyard in Mayflower, Arkansas.
Reality show "Wife Swap," features Tea party activist and Sarah Palin supporter swapping homes with wife involved in polyamorous relationship. TV so bad, it's almost good.
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| The Loudons, radical right wing, teabagger family, that loves Sarah Palin. |
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| The Envy's, could NOT be more different than the previous family. |
Sadly the most comprehensive information I could find was a write up over at Glenn Beck's insanity filled online media outlet, the Blaze. Since I am borrowing some of their information, I am providing a link. Whether you want to visit is entirely up to you.
Here is what they wrote about the two families.
First up The Loudons:
Mother Gina Loudon is a proud conservative Christian and card-carrying member of the Tea Party. Originally from the South, she and her husband, former Missouri State Senator John Loudon, dedicate much of their time to conservative activism.
“The toughest part is that politics can be consuming during an election cycle, but we do it as a family (knock doors, campaign, even speeches). We work hard to balance work and family, but I admit that in peak political season, I look forward to down time with my family when campaign time is over!” said Gina, who lives in deep blue California (San Diego, to be exact).
Next the Envy family:
Angela Envy has been married to Chris, a semi-professional wrestler, for eight years. They have four children.
They also have a 23-year-old girlfriend named Ashley.
No, not the kids. The parents. The parents share a live-in girlfriend.
“We consider ourselves to be a polyamorous family. Ashley came into our lives about one year ago, almost by accident, and she never left. And just like that, we became a triad. It was easy and natural and we have such a good time!” said Angela.
“With Ashley, there was twice the energy and convenience of a normal relationship and she fulfils the needs that Chris cannot. The three of us share a room and sleep in the same bed and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s going to be hard for me to be away from her for this experience,” she adds.
Oh you just KNOW this is going to be good! (P.S, For extra credit try to guess which mom can't make it through the swap without quitting. Or is that hint too easy?)
"How about that? the kids are getting a lesson." I LOVED that!
Here is part two.
Okay now let me just say that I think BOTH of these families have some serious issues (I mean professional wrestling, really?), but , and this is just me, I would CERTAINLY rather hang out with the Envy family than the Stepford..I'm sorry...Loudon family. (Loudon's comments after getting a few drinks into her were so over the top that I thought she might just BE Sarah Palin for a minute there.)
I really cannot imagine why people volunteer for these shows, though in Loudon's case I imagine she is simply trying to follow in her idol's footsteps.
Gee how'd that work out for ya?
P.S. As you can imagine the Right Wing is in full damage control mode to protect one their own, and even Rush Limbaugh felt the need to blame the whole thing on media bias.
Religion done right: Two gay students, attending an all boys Catholic school, will be allowed to attend their junior high prom as a couple.
Apparently the young men had asked permission, probably expecting their request to be rejected, to attend their prom openly as a couple, rather than to go seperately and hide who they are.
Initial reports were that the school had rejected their request, resulting in a flurry of angry social media posts, but that turned out to be premature.
Instead school president, Father Edward Salmon, decided that they had the right to enjoy their junior prom just like every other student.
He also chose to issue this response on Wednesday to any parents or students who may have a problem with his decision:
March 27, 2013
Dear Sisters and Brothers of our McQuaid Jesuit Community:
Our new Holy Father, Pope Francis, in the homily for his Inaugural Mass, had encouraging and inviting words: "Today amid so much darkness we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation and to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope, it is to let a ray of light break through heavy clouds."
Darkness and heavy clouds have gathered here at McQuaid recently because of misinformation, fear, misunderstanding, and even anger. That misinformation, fear, misunderstanding, and even anger came about after two of our brothers asked whether they could attend the Junior Ball together. Into the darkness of misinformation, fear, misunderstanding and anger, together with Pope Francis, I invite and encourage each and every one of us in the McQuaid family to be men and women who bring hope to one another. I invite and encourage each and every one of us in the McQuaid family to be men and women who look upon one another with tenderness and love. I invite and encourage each and every one of us in the McQuaid family to open up a horizon of hope, to let a ray of light break through heavy clouds.
I myself would like to let a ray of light break through by correcting some misinformation. It is simply not true, as was reported and as many seem to have assumed, that a decision had been made by McQuaid authorities not to allow the young men in question to attend the Junior Ball. No decision had been made.
I would like to let a ray of light enter into the darkness of fear. I, together with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who in their Pastoral Message, "Always Our Children," ". . . call on all Christians and citizens of good will to confront their own fears about homosexuality and to curb the humor and discrimination that offend homosexual persons. We understand that having a homosexual orientation brings with it enough anxiety, pain and issues related to self-acceptance without society bringing additional prejudicial treatment."
I would like to let a ray of light enter into possible misunderstanding of the Church's teaching. In that same message, Always Our Children, the Bishops are clear --"Nothing in the Bible or in Catholic teaching can be used to justify prejudicial or discriminatory attitudes and behaviors." The Bishops continue: "It is also important to recognize that neither a homosexual orientation, nor a heterosexual one, leads inevitably to sexual activity. One's total personhood is not reducible to sexual orientation or behavior." In that same message, the Bishops refer to a 1986 Letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which emphasizes that "Respect for the God-given dignity of all persons means the recognition of human rights and responsibilities. The teachings of the Church make it clear that the fundamental human rights of homosexual persons must be defended and that all of us must strive to eliminate any forms of injustice, oppression, or violence against them."
The Bishops continue, "It is not sufficient only to avoid unjust discrimination. Homosexual persons 'must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2358). They, as is true of every human being, need to be nourished at many different levels simultaneously. This includes friendship, [brotherhood] which is a way of loving and is essential to healthy human development. It is one of the richest possible human experiences. Friendship can and does thrive outside of sexual involvement."
Lastly, I would like to let a ray of light into the darkness that anger can bring. Based on the misinformation circulating and a certain misunderstanding of Church teaching, some people began posting prejudicial and humiliating comments in the social media. Speaking or writing or acting out of anger is not usually helpful. Others, however, deeply concerned for the dignity and respect of all persons, wrote thoughtful and encouraging e-mail messages to McQuaid officials.
In conclusion and in the hope that I and all of us at McQuaid Jesuit will let a ray of light break through the darkness and the heavy clouds that have surrounded us, I have made the decision that, if our two brothers who have asked to attend the Junior Ball together wish to do so, they will be welcomed.
With this decision I am not contradicting the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church with regard to human sexuality; I am not encouraging nor am I condoning homosexual activity just as I do not encourage or condone heterosexual activity at a dance. I am not contradicting the Church's opposition to the redefinition of marriage. With this decision I invite and encourage us all, as Pope Francis does, to exercise care, protection, goodness which calls for a certain tenderness "which is not a virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness."
Sincerely in the Lord,
Edward F.Salmon, S.J. President
I know I am often critical of religion, and that is certainly not going to end anytime soon, but I think it is fair that when somebody representing a religion does something this positive, and unexpected, it warrants our recognition and praise.
Good on ya Father Salmon.
14 facts (Yes facts!) about guns in America.
1) A gun in the home increases the risk of homicide, suicide, and accidental death. Contrary to what many people believe, having a gun in your home doesn’t make you safer but instead endangers you and your loved ones. A gun in the home makes the likelihood of homicide three times higher,suicide three to five times higher, and accidental death four times higher. For every time a gun in the home injures or kills in self-defense, there are 11 completed and attempted gun suicides, seven criminal assaults and homicides with a gun, and four unintentional shooting deaths or injuries.
2) Many children live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns. Every parent and grandparent needs to be careful where their children play and ask if there is a gun in the home. One third of all households with children younger than eighteen have a gun and more than 40 percent of gun-owning households with children store their guns unlocked.
3) Guns make violence more deadly. Contrary to what the gun industry says, guns do kill people. Guns make killing easy, efficient, and somewhat impersonal, thereby increasing the lethality of anger and violence. An estimated 41 percent of gun-related homicides and 94 percent of gun-related suicides would not occur if no guns were present.
4) Better enforcement of current gun safety laws is needed but is not enough. There is no question that we need to improve enforcement of current gun laws so that federal agencies have the information and authority they need to deny gun purchases to criminals and those who are a danger to themselves and others, and so that these agencies can go after illegal gun trafficking. However, this isn’t enough. Under current law almost anyone can buy a gun without a background check. Federal law requires that anyone purchasing a gun from a federally licensed dealer submit to a background check. But private sales, like many sales at gun shows and increasingly on the internet, do not require a background check.
5) The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is forbidden from regulating the sale and manufacture of guns. A 1976 amendment to the Consumer Product Safety Act specifically states that the Commission “shall make no ruling or order that restricts the manufacture or sale of guns, guns ammunition, or components of guns ammunition, including black powder or gun powder for guns.” As a result, the CPSC can regulate teddy bears and toy guns but not real guns, despite the fact that they are one of the most lethal consumer products.
6) Common sense gun safety laws help reduce gun violence while protecting the legal use of guns.
7) Loopholes in prior gun safety laws prevented them from being as effective as necessary. The 1993 Brady Law, which required federal background checks for guns purchased from licensed retailers, did not require such checks for guns bought through private sales. Today, 40 percent of guns are bought from private sellers. The 1994 assault weapons and large capacity magazine ban did not apply to weapons and magazines manufactured prior to the ban, allowed importation of rifles that could accept large capacity magazines, and allowed the manufacture and sale of “copy cat” assault weapons with only small differences from banned models.
8) Common sense gun safety regulations protect lawful ownership and use of guns. The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004 protected the rights of gun owners by exempting every shotgun and hunting rifle in use at the time. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s proposed 2013 legislation reinstating the ban specifically exempts over 900 sporting weapons. Background checks do not prevent legal gun purchases.
9) The majority of Americans, including gun owners and NRA members, support common sense gun safety regulation. Almost three-quarters of NRA members (74%) and more than four out of five gun owners (85%) believe that all potential gun buyers should be subject to a criminal background check. Nearly two thirds of Americans (65%) and half of gun owners (50%) believe that allowing people to own assault weapons makes the country a more dangerous place.
10) Armed school guards and teachers will not necessarily make children safer but will jeopardize the futures of some children. Armed guards or officers are already in about onethird of our nation’s public schools. Columbine High School had an armed guard, and Virginia Tech had a full campus police force. There is no evidence that armed guards or police officers in schools make children safer.
11) Criminal background checks work; and making them universal at the federal level would make them far more effective. Since its implementation in 1994, the Brady Law, which instituted a federal background check requirement for sales through licensed dealers, has denied 2.1 million firearm purchase applications. However, its impact has been limited by the ability of criminals to access firearms through private sellers, who are not required to perform a background check.
12) Universal background checks will not lead to a registry of gun owners. The Brady Law of 1994 explicitly bans the creation of a registry of gun owners. Under the law, instant criminal background checks have been made on over 100 million gun sales in the last decade, without leading to the formation of any gun registry.
13) The NRA has actively prevented enforcement of current gun safety laws. Since the 1970s, the NRA and its allies in Congress have worked to attach amendments, known technically as riders, to appropriations bills that make it more difficult for the federal agencies responsible for overseeing firearms dealers to regulate criminal or negligent dealers. By banning the disclosure of data on gun sales, known as trace data, to the public, banning any electronic storage of firearms sales records, and prohibiting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives(ATF) from requiring dealers to inventory their stock of weapons, these amendments make it incredibly difficult for the government to trace the source of crime guns and to identify dealers engaging in selling guns to criminals.
14) The NRA represents a small minority of gun owners. The NRA is clearly out of sync on some issues with both gun owners and NRA members. For example, polling data show that 85 percent of gun owners46 and 74 percent of NRA members support universal background checks,47 a policy position which the NRA vehemently opposes.
So there you go. The next time one of your crazy conservative relatives wants to tell you that "the government is coming to take away all of our guns," or that "guns don't kill people, people kill people" or that "if you criminalize owning guns, only criminals will have guns," you will have some facts to shut their misinformed asses down.
Yes I understand that facts do not always work on these people, but I also know that if we are as passionate about gun violence as they are about "clinging" to their guns, and we have facts as well, we just might get something substantial on the books to protect our children.
The President asked us not to forget, I am honoring that request.
(P.S. All the information and footnotes you need to back up these statistics are contained in the link at the top of the page.)
This Croation man wants Jon Stewart to hire him as a correspondent. I think he might actually have a shot at the job.
Courtesy of this guy's YouTube account:
There's an old joke in my country. Guy looks up at the sky and says: "God, why can't I win the lottery?"
God replies:" Because you never bought a ticket, you idiot!"
I've been watching Jon Stewart / "The Daily Show" for eight years now. Since day one I was completely blown away by the show. I wanted to be a part of it but for obvious reasons and the fact that I live thousands and thousands of miles away I couldn't just walk up to him and ask him for a job. But the idea of working with Jon Stewart side-by-side was something that was bugging me all along. So I finally called up some of my friends, and we shot this video. Posting this online was the hardest thing because to be honest, I'm f*cking scared. Some comedian from Croatia is trying to get a job on the most successful TV show in America? That sounds like a really, really bad joke. But if I hadn't done this, I would have regretted it, so I posted it online.
If you like it that's awesome! If you don't ... WTF, man! Like it, come on!
The idea of this video is so ridiculous it might work, I had to try. I made my own lottery ticket and just by clicking on it you helped me a lot!
Maybe if this video goes viral Jon will see it, be amazed by my awesomeness and I'll get the job. Or he will see it, think I'm an idiot and I won't get the job, either way is fine by me (no, it's nooot!) When I get the job I'm going to buy you a bagel! Thanks for watching! And its gonna be a really nice bagel, not some old sh*t that's been lying around in the store for two days and nobody wanted to buy it... If you see me in the street and say:" Hey man, I watched your video and I posted it on Facebook and Twitter!", I'm going to buy you a bagel! F*ck that, I'm going to buy you two bagels! Now I made myself hungry... I have to go.
Well I think he is at least better than that Al Madrigal guy. (I never liked him much.)
There's an old joke in my country. Guy looks up at the sky and says: "God, why can't I win the lottery?"
God replies:" Because you never bought a ticket, you idiot!"
I've been watching Jon Stewart / "The Daily Show" for eight years now. Since day one I was completely blown away by the show. I wanted to be a part of it but for obvious reasons and the fact that I live thousands and thousands of miles away I couldn't just walk up to him and ask him for a job. But the idea of working with Jon Stewart side-by-side was something that was bugging me all along. So I finally called up some of my friends, and we shot this video. Posting this online was the hardest thing because to be honest, I'm f*cking scared. Some comedian from Croatia is trying to get a job on the most successful TV show in America? That sounds like a really, really bad joke. But if I hadn't done this, I would have regretted it, so I posted it online.
If you like it that's awesome! If you don't ... WTF, man! Like it, come on!
The idea of this video is so ridiculous it might work, I had to try. I made my own lottery ticket and just by clicking on it you helped me a lot!
Maybe if this video goes viral Jon will see it, be amazed by my awesomeness and I'll get the job. Or he will see it, think I'm an idiot and I won't get the job, either way is fine by me (no, it's nooot!) When I get the job I'm going to buy you a bagel! Thanks for watching! And its gonna be a really nice bagel, not some old sh*t that's been lying around in the store for two days and nobody wanted to buy it... If you see me in the street and say:" Hey man, I watched your video and I posted it on Facebook and Twitter!", I'm going to buy you a bagel! F*ck that, I'm going to buy you two bagels! Now I made myself hungry... I have to go.
Well I think he is at least better than that Al Madrigal guy. (I never liked him much.)
Happy Easter. (I guess.) Update!
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| "Smile pretty Amy, or the Easter Bunny will steal your soul." |
Quite literally it is a celebration of the rising of a zombie, and his escape from the cave that the townspeople blocked with a giant boulder to contain him.
And if that were not creepy enough people compound that by reinforcing the mythology of a giant rabbit breaking into their homes to leave false idols of itself made from chocolate, and hiding eggs in every nook and cranny in the hopes that at least one will remain undiscovered until it begins to rot and permeates their house with a sulfur like aroma reminiscent of the darkest corners of a hell that awaits them if they do not promise their very souls to their zombie overlord.
And people wonder why I am not religious.
Update: According to Slate 40% of Christian believe that Jesus will return in the next forty years.
It is worth noting that the very earliest Christians believed that Jesus would return in their lifetimes and this lie has been stretched out over thousands of years, and is reinforced as fact to every new batch of Christians that come along.
For those of us who cannot believe how long Sarah Palin has managed to tease people into believing she will run for the Presidency, we need to remember that she is fishing in a pool of people conditioned into being deceived.
One hundred years from now there will be ministers once again promising their congregations that Jesus is about to rise again, and who will continue to benefit financially from the dangling of that bait. My hope is that the flock they are fleecing will have greatly diminished by that time.
I love people and I hate to see them manipulated over and over again.
Saturday, 30 March 2013
I think I will give the final word to the great Jim Carrey tonight.
'COLD DEAD HAND' A HUGE HIT on Funny Or Die! 1.8 million views in 3days! Forcing intolerent goons everywhere to show… say.ly/Vug5tbtYep it looks like this "has been" has been manipulating the crap out of the conservative morons and irritating them into driving the hits for his latest act of social comedy right through the roof.
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) March 28, 2013
So simple it should almost be against the law.
Study finds that Alaska is terribly inhospitable to women. And here I thought it was just me.
Alaska women earn less than men, were imprisoned at a higher rate during the last decade and are committing suicide at a rate twice the national average, according to a new study released Tuesday.
"There were some shocking results, some disappointing results," said state Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, who requested the study from the Legislative Research Services. The request was made after McGuire said she reviewed the 2010 Alaska Victimization Survey, for which 1,000 Alaska women were interviewed.
Among its findings, the review found Alaska women make 77 cents for each dollar a man earns in full-time, year-round work. That's comparable to the national average, the study says. However, the figure drops to 67 cents on the dollar for women when both full- and part-time are included.
Nearly 56 percent of unmarried men with children under the age of 18 own their own home in Alaska. For a single mother, that rate drops to 42 percent.
According to the review, Alaska has the sixth-highest concentration of homeless people in the nation. Of all single people in shelters in 2012, a quarter of them were women. But 62 percent of all adults with children in a shelter were women. Domestic violence is the leading cause for homelessness in women.
Well that is an even more troubling picture of the difficulties faced by women in our state than even I realized.
I know that many women seem to suffer more than men with the lack of daylight during the winter months and have lived through many a depression cycle during my years as a married man. Up here they call that SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and it can get so bad that it has quite a lot to do with our increased suicide rate, drinking, and episodes of domestic violence,
I would assume that none of this is helped by the fact that the most prominent woman in our state is also a national laughingstock. Not exactly something that inspires women living in the Last Frontier to overcome adversity now is it?
New study finds that "The legacy of decisions taken during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will dominate future federal budgets for decades to come."
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| George W. Bush: President, murderer, and traitor to his country. |
The Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, taken together, will be the most expensive wars in US history – totaling somewhere between $4 to $6 trillion. This includes long-term medical care and disability compensation for service members, veterans and families, military replenishment and social and economic costs. The largest portion of that bill is yet to be paid. Since 2001, the US has expanded the quality, quantity, availability and eligibility of benefits for military personnel and veterans. This has led to unprecedented growth in the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense budgets. These benefits will increase further over the next 40 years. Additional funds are committed to replacing large quantities of basic equipment used in the wars and to support ongoing diplomatic presence and military assistance in the Iraq and Afghanistan region. The large sums borrowed to finance operations in Iraq and Afghanistan will also impose substantial long-term debt servicing costs. As a consequence of these wartime spending choices, the United States will face constraints in funding investments in personnel and diplomacy, research and development and new military initiatives. The legacy of decisions taken during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will dominate future federal budgets for decades to come.
You know I have for all of my life had a pretty bad temper. Actually a VERY bad temper.
I have much more control over it now than I did in years past, but this is the kind of thing that strips away those controls and throws me into an absolute rage.
As the Republicans bitch at our President for not balancing the budget, or not addressing the national debt, or not bringing down the deficit, they do so acting as if those were EVER their concerns when George Bush was spending billions of our dollars, murdering the Iraqi and Afghan people, while simultaneously sending American servicemen, and women, into the meat grinders of two unnecessary wars.
Did even ONE of them mention spending in those days? (Yes, I know about Ron Paul, but he is really dealing with a whole different set of delusions.)
These soldiers, the ones that survived, will for decades to come need the support of a United States government that betrayed their trust and forced them to do, and suffer, unspeakable atrocities in the name of "freedom."
And we will also continue to spend, for generations to come, billions of dollars to repair the damage that our bombs and bullets did to countries that, through no fault of their own, were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yet the Republicans who gleefully and wholeheartedly voted to support these conflicts, and the money spent to conduct them, now have the audacity to demand that President Obama clean up their giant, expensive mess more quickly, and with virtually no support from them.
Like I said, I have a bad temper. Let's just say that there are members of the Republican party that do not want to meet me in a dark alley anytime soon. And that goes for the people who voted them into office as well.
(P.S. Before anybody gets their panties in a twist, you should know that I am not planning to hurt anybody physically. I have too much to lose, and nothing concrete to gain by doing so. But that does not mean that a face to face meeting with me would be something that one of these lawmakers should look forward to. I also possess a rather impressive and colorful vocabulary. And THAT I'm not afraid to use.)
New advocacy group uses Ronald Reagan's own words in advertisement to support background checks for gun owners. Right Wing heads to explode in 3..2..1
Oh man! You know this is going to piss off the conservatives like nobody's business!
I love it!
I love it!
Tennessee lawmakers freak out over new building designs that include"Muslim foot baths." Or as Americans refer to them "mop sinks."
It all began when the legislature decided to upgrade its 150 year old building by making improvement to the plumbing system. Among those improvements were updated bathrooms, that included installing sinks for maintenance workers to fill their buckets used for cleaning the facilities.
But where normal America sees a maintenance sink, Tennessee America sees a Muslim.
You see, a few Republican lawmakers in the state legislature were convinced that the new sinks in the bathrooms were actually secret Muslim foot baths, used by devout Muslims to clean their face, feet and hands before praying. Not surprisingly, the two lawmakers, Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro and Rep. Judd Matheny, proposed a law two years back to jail anyone who follows Shariah law (which, you know, is a big problem in Tennessee, being such a diverse welcoming place):
A proposed Tennessee law would make following the Islamic code known as Shariah law a felony, punishable by 15 years in jail.
State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, and state Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, introduced the same bill in the Senate and House last week. It calls Shariah law a danger to homeland security and gives the attorney general authority to investigate complaints and decide who’s practicing it….
Oh Republicans, where would we get our daily dose of derisive laughter if ya'll didn't exist?
Yep first they stop to wash their feet in the mop sink, and next thing you know they are strapping bombs to the janitor cart and wheeling it out into the lobby. ("Allahu Akbar! You Tennessee heathens!)
My guess is that Tennessee has been so jealous of all the attention that Florida gets for craziness that they felt they had to do SOMETHING in order to stay competitive.
This incident was so ripe for mocking that Stephen Colbert simply could not resist.
Jim Carrey responds to Fox News attacks against him. Update!
The ugliest attacks have come from the no talent human marsupial Greg Gutfeld, who even went so far as to claim that Carrey had killed more people "than all rifles combined."
Well yesterday Carrey decided to respond.
This from Hollywood Reporter:
Since I released my "Cold Dead Hand" video on Funny or Die this week, I have watched Fux News rant, rave, bare its fangs and viciously slander me because of my stand against large magazines and assault rifles. I would take them to task legally if I felt they were worth my time or that anyone with a brain in their head could actually fall for such irresponsible buffoonery. That would gain them far too much attention which is all they really care about.
I'll just say this: in my opinion Fux News is a last resort for kinda-sorta-almost-journalists whose options have been severely limited by their extreme and intolerant views; a media colostomy bag that has begun to burst at the seams and should be emptied before it becomes a public health issue.
I sincerely believe that in time, good people will lose patience with the petty and poisonous behavior of these bullies and Fux News will be remembered as nothing more than a giant culture fart that no amount of Garlique could cure.
I wish them all the luck that accompanies such malevolence.
" In my opinion Fux News is a last resort for kinda-sorta-almost-journalists whose options have been severely limited by their extreme and intolerant views; a media colostomy bag that has begun to burst at the seams and should be emptied before it becomes a public health issue."
THAT made my day!
You know you have to wonder why ANYBODY would dare to challenge a man who once made his living standing in front of people and telling jokes while they heckled, insulted, and tried to sabotage his act? That kind of experience MORE than prepares you to take on the tiny little minds over at, what did he call it, "Fux News?"
If these morons had half a brain they would have realized they would come out on the wrong side of any fight they picked with Jim Carrey.
Update: Apparently the marsupial responded to this statement by Carrey ( This comes from the uber Right Wing Townhall.com, so though I am obligated to provide a link in deference to blogger etiquette do not feel you need to visit and provide them with additional hits. I have included the portions worth discussing below.):
The Five didn’t let this one go—all of them, including Bob Beckel, took shots at the “comedian’s” remarks. “Our country is great because washed-up comics have the right to suck,” Gutfeld said. “I love the First Amendment—and Twitter especially—for it exposes the soft underbelly of the celebrity simple mind. They undo everything their publicists try to mask.
Yeah that was pretty much the most coherent and appropriate of their responses, so you are not missing much by avoiding that site.
So just to sum it up what we have here is a clash of cultures, the intelligent entertainer vs the classless clowns of conservatism. On the one hand we have a famous, well respected comedian and on the other representatives of a network losing viewers so fast that ratings statisticians are getting friction burns while calculating the loss.
The funny thing is that while Fox tells their dwindling audience that they have the upper hand, everybody else in the world is mocking them.
Apparently CPAC showed a video encouraging viewers to prepare to take up arms to fight their government. Gee, and we thought the craziest thing there was Sarah Palin and a Big Gulp!
Courtesy of Alternet:
Attendees at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) were reportedly thrilled by a short sci-fi video depicting a dictatorial near-future government and the underground "Movement on Fire" that springs up to resist it. The video, a thinly veiled advertisement for violent insurrection from the “Tea Party Patriots" group, boasts professional acting and Hollywood production values. But underneath its bright, professional sheen lurk dark overtones of End Times paranoia that will resonate with millions of American fundamentalists. Its apocalyptic imagery is as ancient as Revelations, its glossy look as modern as a Revlon ad, and its near-subliminal barrage of rapid-cut imagery rings with the terror-fueled sermons of 1,000 preachers.
It stands on its own as agitprop-cum-entertainment for the far right, which is filled with armchair revolutionaries whose favorite fantasies involve the same elements used in this video: attractive people, video-game-like locations, nightmarish bureaucracies and the world-changing power of their own oratory. “Let our lives be the spark that ignites the fire of liberty,” the protagonist shouts at one point. His words resonate with memories of historical heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice rather than yield to tyranny.
You know for a minute there I thought this was another one of those bad ScyFy Channel presentations. But come to think of it Sharktopus had a much more believable plot.
Apparently in the Tea Party version of "taking back our country," it has a lot to do with breaking credit cards in half, though I am not exactly sure how that helps throw off the yoke of oppression.
"I am going to break this cheap ass card in half and run around dressed in leather until you stop giving me stuff !"
Yeah you know nothing makes the nipples on these teabagging morons harder than the idea or overthrowing the government voted into place by the people they don't agree with.
Apparently their definition of a "patriot" is much, much different than the one found in the dictionary used by most Americans.
Attendees at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) were reportedly thrilled by a short sci-fi video depicting a dictatorial near-future government and the underground "Movement on Fire" that springs up to resist it. The video, a thinly veiled advertisement for violent insurrection from the “Tea Party Patriots" group, boasts professional acting and Hollywood production values. But underneath its bright, professional sheen lurk dark overtones of End Times paranoia that will resonate with millions of American fundamentalists. Its apocalyptic imagery is as ancient as Revelations, its glossy look as modern as a Revlon ad, and its near-subliminal barrage of rapid-cut imagery rings with the terror-fueled sermons of 1,000 preachers.
It stands on its own as agitprop-cum-entertainment for the far right, which is filled with armchair revolutionaries whose favorite fantasies involve the same elements used in this video: attractive people, video-game-like locations, nightmarish bureaucracies and the world-changing power of their own oratory. “Let our lives be the spark that ignites the fire of liberty,” the protagonist shouts at one point. His words resonate with memories of historical heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice rather than yield to tyranny.
You know for a minute there I thought this was another one of those bad ScyFy Channel presentations. But come to think of it Sharktopus had a much more believable plot.
Apparently in the Tea Party version of "taking back our country," it has a lot to do with breaking credit cards in half, though I am not exactly sure how that helps throw off the yoke of oppression.
"I am going to break this cheap ass card in half and run around dressed in leather until you stop giving me stuff !"
Yeah you know nothing makes the nipples on these teabagging morons harder than the idea or overthrowing the government voted into place by the people they don't agree with.
Apparently their definition of a "patriot" is much, much different than the one found in the dictionary used by most Americans.
I have a lot of faith in science, but this might prove to be beyond their capabilities.
Personally I think if they bring back their Dodo Bird, that bringing back certain Republicans would just be redundant. Besides at least the Dodo Birds and Passenger Pigeon might find the climate helpful to their survival. The Moderate Republicans on the other hand would just be hunted down and slaughtered by the Teabaggers.
Friday, 29 March 2013
Men armed with loaded assault rifles show up to intimidate group of mothers who are protesting for more gun control laws. The very definition of manly.
Courtesy of Think Progress:
Several men with assault rifles and hand guns crashed a Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns National Day to Demand Action event in Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday and stood silently as the state chapter of Moms Demand Action held a rally in favor of limiting the availability of military style weapons and universal background checks.
At least two or three men showed up at the rally site before the event began and engaged in a discussion about gun regulations with the group, two participants in the action told ThinkProgress. The armed men — who were later joined by another man carrying a hand gun and a woman who runs Indiana Moms Against Gun Control — insisted that they had a right to carry the loaded weapons.
A member of Moms Demand Action said that she felt unsettled by their presence and said that the organizers would have to think twice before holding another event, particularly one where children could be present.
“It is my right to have this firearm, and I don’t have to defend, or show a need for, this firearm to own it.” What brilliant reasoning for showing up at a peaceful rally with an assault weapons strapped to your chest to intimidate mothers and their young children.
What kind of pathetic excuse for a man shows up to a rally at which children might be present carrying a weapon designed specifically to murder human beings?
Fucking POS!
Several men with assault rifles and hand guns crashed a Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns National Day to Demand Action event in Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday and stood silently as the state chapter of Moms Demand Action held a rally in favor of limiting the availability of military style weapons and universal background checks.
At least two or three men showed up at the rally site before the event began and engaged in a discussion about gun regulations with the group, two participants in the action told ThinkProgress. The armed men — who were later joined by another man carrying a hand gun and a woman who runs Indiana Moms Against Gun Control — insisted that they had a right to carry the loaded weapons.
A member of Moms Demand Action said that she felt unsettled by their presence and said that the organizers would have to think twice before holding another event, particularly one where children could be present.
“It is my right to have this firearm, and I don’t have to defend, or show a need for, this firearm to own it.” What brilliant reasoning for showing up at a peaceful rally with an assault weapons strapped to your chest to intimidate mothers and their young children.
What kind of pathetic excuse for a man shows up to a rally at which children might be present carrying a weapon designed specifically to murder human beings?
Fucking POS!
California Chick-fil-A offers free meals to gay marriage supporters. Wait, what?
A California Chick-fil-A did something shocking for same-sex marriage supporters this week: Supported them.
Corey Braun, the franchisee of the Chick-fil-A in the Victoria Gateway Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., provided dozens of free meal coupons to a group of same-sex marriage advocates demonstrating Monday at an intersection near the restaurant, PinkNews notes.
The move came months after Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy revealed his anti-gay stance in a July interview, saying he is "guilty as charged" when it comes to his franchise's "support of the traditional family."
"There were a lot of things said over the past year," Braun told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. "I wanted to show that Chick-fil-A doesn't discriminate against anybody. We serve everyone. We're happy to serve the community and this was an opportunity to have this group come in and show them our hospitality regardless of their beliefs, sexual orientation, or whatever. Chick-fil-A has never been about hate"
Well good for Mr. Braun!
Gee and just when you thought you knew which fast food restaurant was on whihc sides of the marriage equality debate.
Hmm, perhaps somebody ought to let a certain someone know that it is time to change her shirt.
Rachel Madddow presents the newest information about the Newtown massacre.
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Clearly this kid went on this spree utilizing the same tactics that one uses while playing his favorite video game, "Call of Duty." In other words he used pseudo military tactics and assault style weapons to massacre the youngest children in an elementary school.The New York Times has more:
At the school, he used a Bushmaster XM15-E2S semiautomatic rifle to fire 154 shots, the statement said. The police also found 10 30-round magazines for the gun, many of them partly or fully emptied.
Mr. Lanza also carried two semiautomatic handguns, one of which he used to kill himself. The police found a 12-gauge shotgun in the car he drove to the school.
The inventories attached to the warrants delineated pertinent items found by police in the home that Mr. Lanza shared with his mother, a two-story house with dark green shutters at 36 Yogananda Street in Newtown. Ms. Lanza was a gun enthusiast who often took her son to shooting ranges. She was divorced from his father, Peter Lanza, a General Electric executive.
The items included more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition bullets, some of them housed in a Planters peanut can and a Nike shoe box, and an array of weapons found in a brown safe and in bedroom closets. The lists mention four guns, including the shotgun found in the black Honda Civic that Mr. Lanza drove to Sandy Hook, and 70 shotgun shells found in the car. There were two rifles, including the one used to kill Nancy Lanza, as well as a BB gun and a starter pistol.
The police also found a certificate from the National Rifle Association bearing the name Adam Lanza. The type of certificate was not clear. The organization said on Thursday that Adam Lanza and Nancy Lanza were not members.
There was also a receipt from a shooting range in Oklahoma, an N.R.A. guide to the basics of pistol shooting and training manuals on the use of a variety of firearms, including a Bushmaster.
You know it is almost beside the point to consider this young man's mental condition in this discussion. In my opinion there is just NO reason for a civilian in America to have this kind of firepower.
And don't give me that bullshit "target shooting" or "gun collector" excuse either. ANYBODY can lose their grip on reality, due to heartbreak, job loss, or a myriad of other reasons.
The difference between most people in this country and these gun nuts is that when I get depressed, or sad, I eat ice cream or open a bottle of wine. I don't load my guns in a car and kill a bunch of innocent people. Nor, when I'm in a calmer state of mind, do I accumulate an arsenal in preparation to do so.
Adam Lanza could have had any mental illness you can imagine, and played violent video games until his thumbs fell off, but without access to these weapons he would have been relatively harmless. Looking for excuses in order to protect American's rights to imagine themselves as Rambo of Dirty Harry, is a waste of time.
The reason that so many of our fellow citizens have had their bodies pulverized until they can no longer cling to life is obvious. And the solution is equally as obvious.
Media finds that SarahPAC's newest web-ad is filled with hypocrisy and lies. Well duh, it IS an ad for Sarah Palin!
Sarah Palin attempted to relaunch her political career and her political action committee, SarahPAC, on Thursday with a Web video called “Loaded for Bear,” which presented the former Alaska governor as the new kingmaker for conservative populists in the GOP.
The video riffed off her speech at CPAC, in which Palin railed against “the big consultants, the big money men, and the big bad media.” But there’s an irony alert ahead: the current stated purpose of SarahPAC is to raise money ahead of the 2014 election—most of which will be spent on conservative consultants.
Don't believe me? Well, this is a perfect time to page through SarahPAC’s Federal Election Commission filings, which—helpfully enough—were just released yesterday.
Seen through the lens of the invaluable Center for Responsive Politics, Palin’s PAC spent $5.1 million in the last election cycle (more than it raised in that time period, raising some questions about Palin’s claims of fiscal responsibility).
But the real news comes when you look at how donors’ money was actually doled out: just $298,500 to candidates. The bulk of the rest of it, more than $4.8 million, went to—you guessed it—consultants.
That’s some seriously hypocritical overhead.
These are the top-line costs of life in PAC era. But the devilish details in expense reports are what makes it really come alive. Palin’s chief PAC consultant, Tim Crawford, pocketed more than $321,000 this election cycle in direct payments alone, according to the documents. Aries Petra Consulting was taking in between $6,000 and $8,000 a month for speechwriting and “grassroots consulting”—something that sounds like an oxymoron, but ended up costing north of $160,000. C&M Transcontinental racked up $10,000 a month in management consulting, which is hard to imagine for a PAC whose job is simply to raise money and spend it on candidates. Inside SarahPAC, there were consultants for research and consultants for logistics and consultants for issues and on and on and on. It's hard to find any area where consultants weren’t employed. So when Palin thundered at CPAC that “Now is the time to furlough the consultants, and tune out the pollsters, send the focus groups home and throw out the political scripts, because if we truly know what we believe, we don’t need professionals to tell us”—it was a riff written by speechwriters and informed by all tools she tried to diss.
Just like Sarah Palin to attack the very people that she uses herself, to help her attack them. Kind of like reading a quip about the President relying on a teleprompter off of a teleprompter.
The woman has no self awareness whatsoever.
As I am sure most of you surmised the majority of the money spent by Palin's personal piggybank was for the ever hard to define "postage," which this time came to an incredible $957,385. (That is a lot of forever stamps my friends!) I don't think anything helps to illustrate that this is a tool for money laundering quite like the amount spent on this so-called "postage."
Personally I am thrilled that SarahPAC came out with this ad because it has invited the kind of media scrutiny that we all know Palin cannot withstand.
The hypocrisy of the attack on consultants was not the ONLY red flag identified by the media, there was also the contention that her endorsements were crucial to the election of some of the current conservative headliners.
This from the Tampa Bay Times:
Sarah Palin, enjoying a mini resurgence after her CPAC speech, is trying to feed her PAC and promoting herself as a kingmaker. In a new video, her PAC takes credit for picking winners from Ted Cruz to Marco Rubio.
But anyone who follows Florida politics knows Rubio kept a distance from Palin and she only showed interest after he was surging.
From a Nov. 8, 2010, Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald story: Rubio had an opportunity to cozy up to tea party darling and former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, but his campaign never emphasized her support. "Marco, keep up the good work. Call me. Can I help ya?" Palin told a conservative blogger who asked about Rubio at a conservative gathering in New Orleans in April. He never did. In the final stretch of the campaign, when it was clear he would win, Rubio showed up to a big rally in Orlando featuring Palin. But he left before she came on stage, denying opponents a photograph that could be used against him in the future.
Yeah Rubio may be young but even he recognized the smell of a rotted political corpse when he got a whiff of one.
Well clearly Sarah Palin was desperate for attention, and hoped this new ad would attract it. I wonder if she is happy with the result?
And does ANYBODY really think this web- ad will bring any significant money into the SarahPAC coffers?
Cause I don't. So I guess Palin will have to find some other way to keep paying off that
While one of our Senators comes out in favor of marriage equality, and another considers it, Rep. Don Young demonstrates that SOME Alaska politicians are stuck in stone age.
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| "What? I can't even be racists anymore?" |
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), in an interview with a local radio station released Thursday, referred to Latinos working on a ranch by using the derogatory term “wetbacks.”
“My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 or 60 wetbacks and — to pick tomatoes,” Young said in the interview with KRBD. “You know, it takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine.”
The term “wetback” is a slur often used to refer to illegal Mexican immigrants. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a Mexican who enters the United States illegally,” “from the practice of wading or swimming the Rio Grande where it forms the U.S.-Mexico border.”
"Wetback?" Who in the 21st century uses such an outdated and racist term?
Apparently somebody told Young that he was doing the Republican party, and of course his chances at reelection, no favors by coming out as racist against the Latino community so he issued this no apology apology:
“I used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in central California. I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect.”
"What? We can't call them wetbacks anymore? Dammit nobody told ME! My bad! "
Okay seriously can we vote this fossil out of office this next time? I am sick of his asshole being our sole Representative in the House.
Extremely powerful new ad for gun control featuring the families of Sandy Hook.
Courtesy of CBS News:
More than 100 days since the tragic mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., a pro-gun control group is airing an ad featuring family members of those who died in the shooting.
The ad, released by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, calls for a series of new gun control measures in Connecticut, including comprehensive background checks, a limit high on capacity magazines and an assault weapons ban. Even though the tragedy at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School spurred a nationwide conversation about reducing gun violence, legislation at the state level remains stalled.
The family members in the ad make an impassioned plea for action. "Don't let the memory of Newtown fade without doing something real," says Terri Rousseau, whose daughter Lauren Rousseau was a teacher at Sandy Hook and among the 26 victims of the shooting.
The ad, airing in the Hartford market, also features Lauren's father, Gilles Rousseau; Neil Heslin, father of Jesse Lewis; Chris and Lynn McDonnell, parents of Grace McDonnell; and Jillian Soto, sister of Vicki Soto.
I cannot get through that video without tearing up. Their pain is heartbreaking.
Yesterday the President said "shame on us if we've forgotten."
I haven't forgotten, have you?
More than 100 days since the tragic mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., a pro-gun control group is airing an ad featuring family members of those who died in the shooting.
The ad, released by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, calls for a series of new gun control measures in Connecticut, including comprehensive background checks, a limit high on capacity magazines and an assault weapons ban. Even though the tragedy at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School spurred a nationwide conversation about reducing gun violence, legislation at the state level remains stalled.
The family members in the ad make an impassioned plea for action. "Don't let the memory of Newtown fade without doing something real," says Terri Rousseau, whose daughter Lauren Rousseau was a teacher at Sandy Hook and among the 26 victims of the shooting.
The ad, airing in the Hartford market, also features Lauren's father, Gilles Rousseau; Neil Heslin, father of Jesse Lewis; Chris and Lynn McDonnell, parents of Grace McDonnell; and Jillian Soto, sister of Vicki Soto.
I cannot get through that video without tearing up. Their pain is heartbreaking.
Yesterday the President said "shame on us if we've forgotten."
I haven't forgotten, have you?
Finally! An afterlife that I can believe in.
I'm serious, I think I might do this. I would love to be part of nature and to "live" forever as something that provides life giving oxygen to the planet.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
President Obama on the mood of the country today concerning the Newtown shooting: ”I haven’t forgotten those kids. Shame on us if we’ve forgotten.”
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Courtesy of MSNBC:
“Now’s the time to turn heartbreak into something real,” Obama said at the White House Thursday—more than 100 days after the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown left 26 people dead.
Without mentioning the National Rifle Association specifically, Obama criticized the “powerful voices on the other side” for banking on “running out the clock” on the memory of the tragic shooting and “drowning out the majority of the American people to prevent any of these reforms from happening at all.”
“Their assumption is that people will just forget about it,” he said, while pointing out that the family members with him on stage had not forgotten. ”The people here, they don’t forget. Grace’s dad’s not forgetting. Hadiya’s mom’s not forgotten,” he said, a reference to the parents of 7-year-old Grace McDonnell, who lost her life in the Newtown shooting, and teenager Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot in a Chicago park shortly after performing at the president’s second inauguration.
“The notion that two months or three months after something as horrific as what happened in Newtown happens, and we’ve moved on to other things? That’s not who we are,” Obama said. ”I haven’t forgotten those kids. Shame on us if we’ve forgotten.”
I watched this speech this morning and it was incredibly powerful. If you have not seen it I urge you to take the time to do so, and when you do listen for the silence in the room as the audience absorbs what the President is saying. There were times when you could literally heard a pin drop.
Today was also the day that we learned more troubling information about Adam Lanza:
Court documents say the gunman who killed 27 people — including 20 young children — in an attack at a Connecticut elementary school, owned several guns in addition to the ones used in the attack.
Search warrants previously sealed from the public showed Thursday the gunman also owned hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Authorities found a holiday card in the gunman's home with a check made out to him from his mother for the purchase of a firearm. They also found papers from the National Rifle Association in the home.
"Hundreds of rounds of ammunition." I cannot even imagine what kind of person feels that is acceptable or reasonable.
They also found papers from the National Rifle Association in the home. Oh right, what was I thinking?
The President is correct, the NRA, and their supporters, are betting on the short memory of the American people to work in their favor, and that soon people will have stopped caring as much about the shooting and will move on to new concerns leaving nothing done to protect our citizens from the next Adam Lanza, James Holmes, or Jared Loughner.
Well I don't know about all of you, but I am not moving on anywhere. And I certainly have not forgotten.
Time Magazine's new cover is going to make conservative heads explode all over the country.
Courtesy of Time Lightbox:
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases that will determine the fate of same-sex marriage in America.
The court’s decision won’t come for months, but regardless of how the justices rule, David Von Drehle’s new cover story chronicles how, thanks to a massive shift in public opinion, gay marriage went from inconceivable to inevitable in less than two decades.
To illustrate Von Drehle’s story, TIME invited same-sex couples in California and New York to share some intimate moments for photographer Peter Hapak. Two of these couples, Sarah Kate and Kristen Ellis-Henderson (married in 2011) and Russell Hart and Eric LaBonté (engaged since 2010), appear on our cover this week. (Newsstand editions will be divided between issues featuring the Ellis-Hendersons and those featuring Hart and LaBonté.)
You know what? People are just going to have to get used to it.
They're queer and they're here!
(And do you know what? They always have been!)
By the way do you remember how I wrote in my piece covering Mark Begich coming out in favor of marriage equality that the really BIG news would be when our other Senator Lisa Murkowski also came out in support? Well it looks like that very thing might be on the horizon:
"The term 'evolving view' has been perhaps overused, but I think it is an appropriate term for me to use," Murkowski said, according to the Chugiak-Eagle River Star. The senior Alaska senator has previously expressed opposition to gay nuptials.
She added that her state may ultimately revisit the issue at some point and that she's evaluating her own position "very closely." In 1998, Alaska passed a constitutional amendment that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
"It may be that Alaska will come to revisit its position on gay marriage, and as a policy maker I am certainly revieiwing that very closely," Murkowski said.
Murkowski seemed to suggested that her two young sons have inspired her to moderate on same-sex marriage — emblematic of the views held by most young Americans on the issue.
"I've got two young sons who, when I ask them and their friends how they feel about gay marriage, kinda give me one of those looks like, 'Gosh mom, why are you even asking that question?'" she said.
It's always the young people dragging their parents toward the future isn't it?
I think this leaves virtually no doubt that Murkowski will soon jump on board. Which then kind of makes me think we will soon see a real change in how other conservative Alaskan politicians deal with gay marriage, and gay rights, as well.
My guess is that soon they will simply have no choice but to support marriage equality, which could signal the end of Jerry Prevo's influence in Alaska politics and his ability to marginalize the LGBT community in Anchorage and beyond.
So though it is not my usual position I am really pulling for Murkowski to make the right decision here. As our VP would say, it is "a big fucking deal!"
Conan O'Brien melds Sarah Palin with Honey Boo Boo. What? You mean they AREN'T the same person?
Okay that was pretty funny, but I found the Voldemort/ Anne Hathaway melding truly disturbing. Gonna have nightmares.
So when did the family know that Trig Palin had Down syndrome again? Update!
When I found out Mom was pregnant with a baby who would have Down syndrome, I confess. I was scared. I didn’t know what it would mean for his life or for ours.
Whoa, hold the horses! That is NOT the way the family mythology describes how Bristol and the rest of the family learned about Trig's condition.
In fact in her book, and numerous articles, the Grizzled Mama makes a point of saying that she did not tell ANYBODY that she was pregnant, nor did she discuss the baby's condition, which was NOT known to the children until the day Trig was born:
Initially Palin hid her pregnancy – and her pain – from both the public and her children, son Track, now 19, and daughters Bristol, 17, Willow, 14, and Piper, 7.
"Not knowing in my own heart if I was going to be ready to embrace a child with special needs," she reveals, "I couldn't talk about it." (So pro-life of her, don'tcha think?)
On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to 6-lb., 2-oz. Trig, five weeks early. As Todd and their three daughters gathered around the bedside (Track, an Army private, listened in by phone from his base in Fairbanks), Willow said of the new arrival, "He looks like he has Down syndrome."
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| Trig Palin's first appearance right after his birth. He looks like he has Down Syndrome? |
Palin, who says her own qualms were laid to rest "the minute [Trig] was born," felt a lump in her throat. "If he does, you know you will still love him, Willow. It'll be okay."
Willow pressed: "But why didn't you tell us?" Palin admitted she didn't know how to break the news. "I was a little shocked," says Willow "but I don't care – he's my brother and I love him."
So how could Bristol have been "scared" about his condition during her mother's pregnancy if she did not even know about it until "Sherlock" Willow pointed it out after his birth?
It seems odd that if Nancy French were tasked with writing a post celebrating World Down Syndrome Day that she would not have at least been given the Trig Palin birth talking points.
Or is it possible that it has been so long now that Bristol herself has forgotten exactly how they weaved the webs they weaved when first they practiced to deceive?
So here let me educate Nancy so she will not forget again.
 |
| March 14, 2008 |
Then Palin started wearing scarfs and big jackets both inside and out making it impossible to see how her pregnancy was "progressing."
 |
| March 29, 2008. |
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| April 13, 2008. |
On April 17th, she woke up in a Texas hotel room and "Palin said she felt fine but had leaked amniotic fluid and also felt some contractions that seemed different from the false labor she had been having for months."
However Palin was a trooper and she gave her speech, after which she left the conference not telling anybody, including Texas Governor Rick Perry, that she was in labor and hightailed it back home on a commercial flight. During that flight, according to flight attendants, "The stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation. She did not show any signs of distress."
Then she arrived in Alaska at the International Airport in Anchorage, where NO security staff or emergency personnel were there to meet her. And totally on their own she and Todd drove past two large, well equipped hospitals in Anchorage and then for yet another hour to have her baby at the poorly equipped Mat-Su Regional Medical Center near Wasilla, where Cathy Baldwin-Johnson helped bring Trig into this would.
Tah-Dah!
AFTER which, the rest of the family was notified about the birth and then showed up to see the new baby.
Gee how could ANYBODY not remember a tale like that? I mean it is just so ridiculous, and memorable.
Sure sometimes people have trouble keeping lies straight but this was....oh, that's right!
Oh well I guess the next time somebody wants to write about a Palin pregnancy, or baffling political claim, or confusing family history, they should just swing on by IM. We will be HAPPY to help keep the record straight.
I mean somebody has to, right?
Update: This is from an interview that Barbara Walters conducted with the family in November 2009:
"We didn't find out he had Down syndrome till the day he was born," Willow said. "So that was kind of a shock. But we didn't really care. He's still our brother."
So the revisionist Palin-bots can stop trying to muddy the waters now. From Willow's own lips NOBODY in the family knew!
A Needed Response. Directed toward the Steubenville rapists.
Courtesy of HuffPo:
"Hey bros, check who passed out on the couch," the guy in the video begins, staring into the camera, as a seemingly unconscious girl is sprawled out on the sofa behind him. "Guess what I'm going to do to her."
Probably not what you might think.
The "bro" in question proceeds to give the girl a pillow, a blanket and a glass of water before turning back to the camera. "Real men treat women with respect," he says.
A mere 26 seconds, University of Oregon student Samantha Stendal's video, titled "A Needed Response," is as short and pithy as they come. Directed toward "the Steubenville rapists...or any rapists out there," the video's point may seem obvious, but the message could do with some reinforcement in the wake of the Steubenville rape trial.
You know maybe it is just me, but since when is this something that has to be taught to young American men?
I was raised by a single mother and I can tell you right now that if I had ever dared to force myself on a young woman she would have cut my balls off and thrown them into the snow. You might think that is an exaggeration, but you would be wrong.
Like the video says, "Real men treat women with respect." And real fathers and mothers need to sit their children down and drill that into their tiny little heads.
"Hey bros, check who passed out on the couch," the guy in the video begins, staring into the camera, as a seemingly unconscious girl is sprawled out on the sofa behind him. "Guess what I'm going to do to her."
Probably not what you might think.
The "bro" in question proceeds to give the girl a pillow, a blanket and a glass of water before turning back to the camera. "Real men treat women with respect," he says.
A mere 26 seconds, University of Oregon student Samantha Stendal's video, titled "A Needed Response," is as short and pithy as they come. Directed toward "the Steubenville rapists...or any rapists out there," the video's point may seem obvious, but the message could do with some reinforcement in the wake of the Steubenville rape trial.
You know maybe it is just me, but since when is this something that has to be taught to young American men?
I was raised by a single mother and I can tell you right now that if I had ever dared to force myself on a young woman she would have cut my balls off and thrown them into the snow. You might think that is an exaggeration, but you would be wrong.
Like the video says, "Real men treat women with respect." And real fathers and mothers need to sit their children down and drill that into their tiny little heads.
Damn! Gay couples are coming out publicly all over the place.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
If you think that either Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush are the GOP answer to Hillary Clinton in 2016, you might want to run that by Florida first. Also some bad news about Ashley Judd.
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| Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush for 2016? Yeah, that's cute. |
Raleigh, N.C. – Hillary Clinton now leads Florida’s own Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio by double-digit margins in 2016 presidential match-ups as her popularity continues to climb in the state, according to PPP’s latest poll. Clinton leads Bush by 13 points (53/40), Paul Ryan by 13 points (54/41) and Rubio by 16 points (56/40).
This is a significant gain from January, when Clinton led Bush by 5 points and Rubio by 4 points. Clinton now claims 20-24% of the Republican vote and 55-58% of the independent vote against each of her potential Republican opponents. Her favorability has jumped to +19 (56/37) from an 11-point spread (52/41) two months ago.
As you know Jeb Bush was a pretty popular governor of Florida, being the first Republican to win two terms, and Marco Rubio is one of their two current Senators, so if THEY cannot put a dent in the Clinton political lead that certainly does not bode well for the rest of the party.
And just think that is a gain of almost ten points in only two months. Imagine how much larger the split will be by 2016?
Look, I'm NOT saying that a Clinton victory in 2016 is a sure thing. I am just saying that if you look up the word "Juggernaut" there is a picture of her next to it to help illustrate it.
However, and I say this with a heavy heart, along with this good news is some truly upsetting news concerning 2014.
Oh that is just depressing.Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate.I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months ~
— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) March 27, 2013
I wonder if Bill Clinton got to her?
Your dose of nausea for the day. SarahPAC digs under the couch cushions for spare change in order to produce another web video begging for money to support their discredited leader. Update!
Courtesy of TPM:
SarahPAC, the super PAC led by former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, released a web video Wednesday to rally supporters and raise money for the 2014 midterms.
The video features a number of commentators and politicians heaping praise on Palin's ability to endorse winning candidates. It ends with a shot of a grizzy bear standing upright and growling.
God that was pathetic!
"We haven't yet begun to fight?" Fight what, creeping irrelevance?
Trust me that fight was lost long ago.
I don't care what kind of soaring music they use, and production values they utilize, they are simply NEVER going to make this woman...
....seem politically viable any more.
She is literally fading away from the public arena, both figuratively and, considering her frightening weight loss, literally.
If these people really cared about her they would stop encouraging her to continue saying stupid things in order to attract attention, and grifting from the paint ship eaters, and instead encourage her to go into rehab and possibly eat a damn sandwich or two.
These people may be actually killing her with, what they perceive as, kindness.
Update: Jesus she even activated the Greta to help shear the sheeple.
SarahPAC, the super PAC led by former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, released a web video Wednesday to rally supporters and raise money for the 2014 midterms.
The video features a number of commentators and politicians heaping praise on Palin's ability to endorse winning candidates. It ends with a shot of a grizzy bear standing upright and growling.
God that was pathetic!
"We haven't yet begun to fight?" Fight what, creeping irrelevance?
Trust me that fight was lost long ago.
I don't care what kind of soaring music they use, and production values they utilize, they are simply NEVER going to make this woman...
She is literally fading away from the public arena, both figuratively and, considering her frightening weight loss, literally.
If these people really cared about her they would stop encouraging her to continue saying stupid things in order to attract attention, and grifting from the paint ship eaters, and instead encourage her to go into rehab and possibly eat a damn sandwich or two.
These people may be actually killing her with, what they perceive as, kindness.
Update: Jesus she even activated the Greta to help shear the sheeple.
"Is she running?" The only thing running on her is her ass from taking all of those laxatives to help her lose weight.VIDEO: New Sarah Palin video - is she running?watch it and tell me what you think:soa.li/aXLprYP
— Greta Van Susteren (@gretawire) March 28, 2013
Even Bill O'Reilly admits that the "compelling argument" for marriage equality is "on the side of the homosexuals."
He (Bill O'Reilly) said he didn't "feel that strongly" about gay marriage "one way or another" and thought the decision should be left to individual states. "I want all Americans to be happy," he said, adding, "I live in New York. New York is fine with it."
(Megyn) Kelly said pro-marriage equality forces had made very compelling arguments that opponents had been hard-pressed to tackle.
"I agree with you 100 percent. The compelling argument is on the side of homosexuals," O'Reilly said. "That is where the compelling argument is. We're Americans, we just want to be treated like everybody else. That's a compelling argument, and to deny that you've got to have a very strong argument on the other side. And the other side hasn't been able to do anything but thump the Bible." This, he added, was not a basis on which to enact public policy.
Whoa! Referring to opponents of same sex marriage as "bible thumpers" is certainly going to get Fox News in a little hot water with their hyper religious conservative base.
You know I almost wonder if this is not also part of the conservative's plan to reach out to the young people. Perhaps the folks at Fox News recognize that this is a losing argument for the Republican party, and as their propagandists have decided to lead the way toward accepting the inevitable.
Unless of course you are actually willing to believe that Bill O'Reilly wants "all Americans to be happy?"
Yeah me either.
Stephen Colbert mocks the GOP Growth and Opportunity Project.
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Oh yes, this is a FABULOUS idea! I can only imagine much quicker the youth will move away from the Republican party after watching them flail away in an attempt to make their point while sitting opposite Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
Gonna be a bloodbath. A very, very humorous bloodbath.