Pinch Yourself–Did You Burst?

Tags

astronomy, Mars, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, Mormonism, science, taxes, voting rights, welfare reform

 

 

This is one of the first shots taken by Curiosity of its new home in a crater, looking out on a mountain that is in that same crater.

No word yet whether Curiosity can see Russia from her porch.

Yeah, I know, she’s a non sequitur now, no need to beat a dead horse.

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Given that Willard tends to avoid like the plague any discussion regarding his faith, you might be interested in a New Yorker piece about four new histories of the movement. I am not a person who makes fun of what anyone chooses to believe as long as it doesn’t include harm to others, but after attempting to read the book of Mormon, simply as an exercise in being “informed” I gave up, finding it to unalterably boring to push through.

But the story of Joseph Smith and his magic tablets is fascinating, so you might decide, after reading the New Yorker review to pick up one and have a go.

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Willard must have the shortest memory in the history of homo sapien sapien. I swear he must. Again, he is vilifying the president for something he (you got it) supported himself. The President would allow states to opt out of certain welfare work requirements upon proof that they had come up with a more innovative (lest costly and workable) alternative. Now Willard says that amounts to just sending people a welfare check. Of course he said the opposite when he was governor of Massachusetts, when he praised and pushed for such a waiver system. Click on the link and you can see his fat signature on the letter.

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I almost hate to post this as a joke, since frankly, you and I both know, it’s all too possibly true.

From the Onion:

H/T to Joe.My.God.

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We have been a waiting for weeks now Willard’s tax returns. Willard says he ain’t a gonna give ’em up, since the mean old Democrats will only twist them, and ya know, ask for more.

Well, I have moved that “answer” around in my mouth for a good while now, and it’s time to spit out the truth. Whatever the tax returns say are FACTS. They are what they are. Perhaps they can be twisted but they can’t be made into some awful lie because facts are facts. Unless of course you are of the Romney mind: then facts are irrelevant and you can just say they mean the opposite of what they commonly mean. Is that what he is afraid of? That the Obama folks will invent new meanings like he does?

The burden is on Willard. As everyone says, he can clear this up in a heartbeat. Release them, and fair-minded people will read the truth.

But Willard can’t stand the truth. And that must mean that there is something gawd-awful in them.

As Hunter at Daily Kos says:

Whatever’s in Mitt Romney’s old taxes, whether it be zero-tax years or Swiss tax amnesties or non-tithing or that he made several million dollars on a new product called Fetus Chow, it’s apparently so bad that America wouldn’t vote for the rich business guy if they saw it.

It ain’t goin’ away Willard. You can refuse, deny, and look the other way, but we can smell a rat.

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Editorial alert:

As a law student, I heard this phrase a dozen or more times: We believe it is better than a 100 guilty go free rather than one innocent be wrongly convicted. Indeed nothing can be more shameful than the periodic release of yet another innocent who has been imprisoned for years for a crime he did not commit. (The phrase goes back at least as far as Blackstone and English law, but has been attributed to many others, including several justices down through the years.)

What this speaks to is our special commitment to justice.

If there is a hallmark to a democratic state it must be the right to vote. I can think of no other more important right than the ability of one to cast their vote for a candidate of their choice. Indeed, one wonders why the far right which is always a titter about “our freedoms” isn’t more vocal on this most important freedom of all.

Yet, clearly the GOP is trying mightily to inhibit the right to vote for literally millions of Americans across the country–and doing so quite openly, all under the guise of “stopping voter fraud”. This voter fraud of course proves to be non-existent when looked at, averaging less than one possible case PER state, per year. In NO CASE has there been any fraud that changed an election of threatened to do so.

Is is not better that 100 potentially fraudulent votes be cast rather than one rightful voter be denied the vote? I would think so.

You?

Related articles

• Tax Returns Smoke Hides a Blazing Inferno of Romney Lies (politicususa.com)
• Something Fishy Mr. Willard Mitt Romney? (4youmyviews.wordpress.com)
• Mormonism And Racism: Why Is This Being Ignored? (theobamacrat.com)
• Republican Congressman: Romney Tax Return Issue Not Going Away (redsfan.newsvine.com)
• Welcome to Mars, Curiosity! (pbs.org)
• On Mormonism (wnyc.org)
• NASA hopes Curiosity landing site is a Grand Canyon of Mars (latimes.com)

 

Coming Out of the Bunker

Tags

Boehner, death penalty, DODT, economy, elections, electoral college, GOP, Michele Bachmann, Pennsylvania, Rick Perry, the Fed, voting rights

I took a peek out of the bunker this morning, having no clue what I might find.

I was wary to say the least. But, oddly enough, the sun was shining, there was a light breeze, and nothing seemed untoward.

I scratched my head and wandered to the television to see if they could straighten out my puzzlement.

But not a word.

Not a word of all the mayhem and destruction that I was expecting. I mean Pat Robertson and Bryan Fischer and all those right-wing evangelicals had assured me that the minute, nay the very second that DODT was ended, that God’s wrath would descend upon the Old US of A.

I can only conclude that God is tricking us, waiting until all us bunkered-down types feel safe enough to sleep in our own beds. Then he’s gonna whack us. Yeah, that must be it. Robertson and all the rest couldn’t be wrong could they?

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Ironic when you realize that yesterday we, in our ending of DODT, re-affirmed the fullness of life, and the reverence for it being full, long and filled with open love. Today, Georgia is hell-bent it seems to kill. Troy Davis’ appeal to the Parole board has been denied and he is scheduled to die this evening.

I don’t know a lot of the particulars. I just know that as a lawyer, I know all to well the limitations of eye-witness testimony. It is often faulty, and in this case there is even more reason to think it thus. It may as well be the result of intimidation by those with power against those with none.

I always wonder this. It may be more likely that the convict is guilty, it may be most likely in fact. But if there is any doubt, any reasonable doubt, and surely recanted testimony should be deemed so, and most assuredly when there is no scientific and physical evidence, then isn’t it just sensible to err on the side of life?

Beyond all the ideological reasons why capital punishment is or should be a relic of a less evolved creature, beyond that is simple decency. How do you find closure as the family of the victim when you will FOREVER have the nagging knowledge that the killer still walks the streets? 

Yet, when at a recent debate, when it was asked of Perry how he slept at night given that Texas executed well over 200 people, leading the nation, before Perry to smartly proclaim that he “slept very well,” the audience of Republicans shouted with approval and joy at the killing field that is Texas. 

Where do you go from there?

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 It’s becoming pretty common knowledge that the GOP is set upon letting the economy flounder rather than pass anything that Obama could be credited with. To that end, Robert Reich reports that House Speaker Boehner sent a letter to the Fed, actually telling them to do NOTHING to stimulate the economy.

While, as always, it is couched in terms of “not doing anything that is not proven to improve things” the threat is obvious: “nothing you could do is proven as far as we are concerned.”

As Reich points out, it is “highly unusual” to comment on the Fed at all, as the Fed is “above politics” and it is not just a breach of etiquette, but rather a dangerous interference with global economics. It just goes to show how much the GOP is willing to do (meaning screw America) in their goal of returning themselves to power.

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Two tidbits from the wacky world of the Silly Candidates forum:

• Michele (where are my peeps?) Bachmann proves her stupids once again. Standing in front of dead beef carcasses in a meat-packing plant, somewhere in Iowa, Ms. “Eyes” said something to this effect: “I call upon President Obama to deny entry to the United States to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”  Please tell the idiot about the UN’s INTERNATIONAL status!
• Ricky (I’m readin’ a book about foreign policy right now!) Perry, intervened in the expected move by Palestine to ask for recognition as an independent state, saying all kinds of nasty things about Obama, and declaring that “as a Christian” he is called upon to support Israel.” Well, even Joe Scarborough thought Perry ventured too far. He slammed both Perry and Mitt (It’s slippin’ away from me) Romney who also tried hard not to be ignored on the issue. Andrew Sullivan weighs in as well.

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And of course, it wouldn’t be a day in America without another example of how Republicans strategy is to win elections not with votes anymore, but by rigging the election so that their minority party will still win. None other than Ricky (oh don’t Google me please)Santorum explains how Pennsylvania Republican Governor, Tom Corbett’s plan, will insure the Republicans win no matter what.

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Just a short word on the blog “What’s on the Stove?” I’ve got about twenty recipes up now, and a shopping list that you may find useful to cut and paste into Word and then columnize. Also, I revised the “menus” from here, and included another page for that. And in addition, there is now the bare bones of a “tips and tricks” page which might be useful to some. Enjoy it or not as you see fit. I add about three or so recipes a week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• GOP Houser leaders urge Fed to further depress economy, apparently to ensure Obama loses in 2012 (americablog.com)
• Republican Leaders Urge Federal Reserve To Resist New Stimulus (huffingtonpost.com)

All the News that Can Be Got Between Noon and Noon-fifteen

Tags

banking, consumer protection, GOP, Health care, Humor, Medicare, Michele Bachmann, paleontology, Ryan plan, voting rights

I know that the fine business of news reporting once upon a time was an honorable craft. I know that because I have heard and read about Edward R. Murrow and I remember Walter Cronkite. You know, reporters who actually spent time tracking down a story that was important.

Today, we have almost none of those types at least in the media. It’s all a dog and pony show now. Make sure it’s got all the bells and whistles, keep it short, make the video entertaining. Fluff it up.

One of the reasons that I was for an early resignation by Anthony Weiner, was not because of the hideousness of his crime, but because he would prove to be a distraction since the media would opt for the easy story–sex sells, and we all know it.

Weiner shares the spotlight with the trial of a mother for the death of her child. For several hours a day we are informed of the last detail of mom and dad’s testimony as well as about the new forensic science of “smell”. (There is a sealed can of “death” odor in case you missed it.)

Given these propensities, it comes as no surprise that the crazy Bachmann woman is getting just loads of press since the “debate” of a couple of nights ago. Albeit, some suggest that her bar was lower than a master limbo dancer could get under in the first place, but she got high marks for “having a command” of the facts, and being aggressive. Somehow that has catapulted her into the race as a viable candidate.

I suggest that this is only in the minds of the media asswipes who muse over such things while sipping that appletini at a long lunch. She’s fun, controversial, and easy to cover. The fact that if you were to look at her numbers nationally, she ranks in the barely negligible range, is of no matter. It is important that she is looking good in Iowa.

Well, let me inform you that Iowa is, nowadays, no bellweather of Republicanism. It is a rogue state of insanity produced by the strange animal known as caucus. See, we don’t all go to the polls and vote here in our primary. No, those of us who have a few hours to waste, go and sit with a bunch of other people with time on their hands (or very very serious interests in who gets the nod), and we argue, and argue and argue until the “caucus” for that district reaches a consensus. Since many of the folks are neighbors and friends, well, you can see the possibilities. Bottom line, caucuses wildly don’t reflect the average voter in the state. They do represent very special interests.

That Bachmann will do well in Iowa’s caucuses is correct. That it means much of anything is entirely another thing.

So, in the interests of not getting all wacked out of shape over this Bachmann “surge” let us recall that the woman is an idiot, second only to that fine piece of work, the Wasilla Witch. If you need reminding, then take a look at this list of Bachmannian crazy. Surely the domkoffs of the GOPpery are not this insane? Or stop by Politicususa and read their summary of the lady’s right-wing evangelical nuttery.

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 It probably goes without saying to the crowd that comes around here to read the news that the Ryan plan is awful–simply awful. It screws the elderly and no amount of saying it doesn’t will change that fact. Republicans are simply lying when they claim otherwise. What the CBO tells us, is that worse, it will raise costs astronomically. A good report on all this at Crooks and Liars today.

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Let me see if I can remember this correctly. Once upon a time banks had no regulation to speak of. This was back in the Bushy years. And they overreached, and then the entire economy teetered on the edge of destruction. Now the GOPers are determined that the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency shall have no money and nobody to run it, because banks need to be left unfettered to do their thing. Yeah, makes sense. Once again, the Rethuglians in Congress show us just how little they are interested in people. Who would think that anyone would be against protecting consumers except the fat cats who are trying to screw them–oh yeah, that would be the Repuklicans wouldn’t it?

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Couldn’t resist this little gem fromPolitical Irony:

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We’ve been reporting here now and again about voter suppression laws being enacted in GOP controlled states throughout the US. USA Today has done an editorial on the subject, calling a spade a spade. Again, there are no real issues with voter fraud here or anywhere. This is just a GOP dirty trick to suppress largely Democratic voters who are students, poor and the elderly. Note that in no case do these new suppression laws address absentee voting which is universally considered more open to fraud, but which the GOP deems most likely to be cast by Republicans.

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And just cuz you need to know this stuff, some stuff on evolution and the failure of mankind to make much evolutionary progress in the last 40-50 thousand years, go read this great article. It’s a great new book by one of the leaders in the field of evolution and man. It’s called the Origin of Our Species.

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What’s on the stove: chicken cacciatore, salad, bread

I Admit It, I’m Furrocentrist

Tags

Florida, Herman Cain, Humor, Maine, Osama Bin Ladin, Paul LaPage, Rick Scott, unions, voting rights

Yep, mea culpa. I confess, admit, and shamefully declare it. I have known it for some time, but it slammed me directly in the face last night.

We were watching a documentary called “Oceans” and enjoying all the beauty. I watched as green turtles swam through aqua-gorgeous waters off sandy beaches and dolphins racing all the waves in numbers that took one’s breath away.

I watched whales circle, bubble, and then raise large open maws to capture untold thousands of krill in one orgasmic feast. I saw birds diving for sardines and along shores picking off baby turtles racing for the safety of the ocean.

And then I saw orcas chasing baby seals to the shore and tossing them up in the air in fierce attacks. I heard the cries of disoriented and doomed little balls of frolicky fun, and I turned away.

“Tell me when it’s over,” I moaned.

And I realized that I could watch all manner of fish eat fish, or animals eat fish, or birds eat fish. I could watch anything gobble up reptiles, all manner of scaly things. I could watch chimps munch bugs of any description and never flinch. I never blinked as a bird slithered a worm down its gullet.

But, a furry thing be grabbed? A gazelle by a lion? A rabbit by a wolf? Oh no, no no no. My heart nearly breaks with the inhumanity of it all.

I am in a word, furrocentric.

I guess it’s wrong to be one. But in truth, I don’t intend to be treated for this malady. I will live with it. Thank you.

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You all remember good old Governor LaPage doncha? The one from Maine? The one who took out a mural in the state’s Department of Labor building depicting Maine workers? Imagine, a mural about workers in a LABOR building? It was because businessmen complained he claimed. Well, but of course, who shines their shoes? Mr. GOPer LaPage of to be sure.

LaPage is most noted for his brash, offend everyone (except business and the teabaggers). He has, while in office managed to be against all the things the right wingers are against, and for all the things they are for, meaning nobody likes him except big business and people who have no clue about much past what day of the week it is, and whether you want catsup with those fries.

Most recently the lovely LaPage has signaled his intentions to sign into law a GOP-passed bill that will end Maine’s same-day voter registration law. Yeah, and the reason for this is his firm belief that “Democrats steal elections,” so it’s fair to make it harder for people to vote. And of course, there is not one documented case cited for voter fraud. Never is. It’s all about a stinkin’ minority trying desperately to win elections against the will of the people, so they can continue to screw those same people.

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Political Irony has your late-night humor for the week. After you get through the interminable Weiner jokes, there are some others that are pretty darn good. Take a look.

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As you may have guessed, I’m thoroughly opposed to old step-‘n-fetch-it Herman Cain. I doesn’t surprise me that he was offered the opportunity as a youth to transfer to an all-white school to begin the integration process. He was offered the opportunity, and he wants his white audiences today to know he turned it down. My favorite blog and hopefully yours, We are respectable negroes has their take, or should I say the very very erudite Chauncey de Vega, has his.

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Can you hear me now? Or better still, “I just love the smell of falling Governors in the morning.” I think Walker in Wisconsin and Scott in Florida are racing to see who can be the most hated Governor. It’s unsure who might win, but I sure encourage them both to keep on doing what they are doing. Recall has a fine sound to my ears.

Scott, who just can’t stop trying to be a good GOPer, is pushing a “union dues deduction bill” through that would detour union dues to state agencies to avoid their use in “political” affairs. Yes, and the police in Florida are fuming and calling for a “leaving the party” event. Attacks on public employees is being met head on as it is in Wisconsin and elsewhere. People are indeed waking up.

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Just when you were positively sure that the planet could not support one single more STOOOOOPID person, well, another one comes along. His name is Bill Warren, and he plans on diving somewhere off the coast of India and swimming around to find the remains of Osama Bin Ladin. Ain’t that just ducky? Perhaps Mr. Warren will run into a nice big fat shark who will invite him to dinner and to see the bin Ladin remains up close and real personal–like inside his tummy. Talk about get a life!

Oh, and he said this, he really did. He’s going to look for the body “to see if it’s really dead.” If you find him alive down there, be sure to let us know. THAT would be news.

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What’s on the stove? Ribs, roasted parmesan potatoes and coleslaw.