Day: October 17, 2008

Was It Worth It?

Stupid is as stupid does!  Thus had better be the best sex that either of them have ever had.  If not, it will be the most memorable piece of fornication that either will ever have.

Two British citizens were found guilty on Thursday of having sex in public and were sentenced to three months in prison to be followed by deportation. Hassan Matar, a lawyer for the defendants, Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors, left, said they would appeal. Under the laws of the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, the maximum sentence for sex outside of marriage is a year in prison and the minimum is three months. “The verdict shows that the judge was convinced that they did not have sexual intercourse, but he punished them for the indecent act of kissing,” Mr. Matar said. Dubai is a popular destination for European tourists, but it also adheres to some strict Islamic rules, among them a ban on sex out of wedlock.

I have been horny before, but never this STUPID!

Letterman On McPalin

In case you missed his top 10 swipes at the Repub ticket, here they be:
10. “Sarah Palin is right now training for tomorrow’s vice presidential debate in Arizona. And she says it’s really helped her on foreign policy because from Arizona she can see Mexico.”

9. “John McCain watched the debate and he loved Sarah Palin’s performance. As a matter of fact, he applauded so much that all the lights in his house kept going on and off.”

8. “By the way, have you heard this? This just in . . . a backwoods hiker has found the wreckage of John McCain’s campaign.”

7. “You know, I don’t normally do this. I gave up drinking a while ago, but I started again. And I’m watching the debate last night and here’s what I did — I did a shot every time McCain said ‘my friends.’ So I’m blotto.”

6. “Tom Brokaw was the moderator. . . . At one point Tom tells Obama and McCain that they were going to now answer questions that came in over the Internet. And you know what McCain said? He said, ‘Uh, Tom . . . is that the same as the telegraph?’ ”

5. “At one point John McCain referred to Barack Obama as ‘that one.’ ‘That one.’ ‘That one.’ And McCain later . . . he apologized. He said he got confused. He thought he was at the bakery. ‘Uh, a couple of crullers . . . uh, that one . . . and uh, that one.’ ”
4. “Sarah Palin. We like Sarah Palin, right? She’s a lot of fun. Miss Alaska. She is saying that she doesn’t know who Barack Obama really is. Doesn’t know who Barack Obama is. That’s interesting. She also doesn’t know who Sarkozy is, Gordon Brown, Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez, Vladimir Putin, Osama bin Laden, the list goes on and on.”

3. “John McCain says he’s going to win. John McCain is going to win the third presidential debate. Of course, he also told Custer the surge was working.”

2. “John McCain is going to take this opportunity to unveil his new campaign persona. His new campaign personality, to really energize the last couple of weeks of the campaign — Fighting Underdog. Fighting Underdog. That’s John McCain and the campaign. And if that doesn’t work, then he’s going to go to Sadistic Yard Bull.”

1. “You heard what happened at a rally yesterday. Sarah Palin mistook some of her supporters for hecklers. And you know, confusion happens in all walks of life. For example, a few weeks ago, John McCain mistook her for a legitimate candidate.”

Does Ayers Equal Keating In The Media?

I was hoping by now that I would not have to address this subject too much more.  But as usual I was mistaken at the stupidity of a political season.

The two stories are not at all similar. Obama has had passing contacts with Ayers over the years, mostly via the board of a small non-profit; Obama once held a fundraiser in Ayers’ house. (Ayers, who helped carry out a handful of nonlethal bombings in protest against the Vietnam War, is an academic in Chicago and well known in education policy circles. Federal charges against him in connection with the bombings were dropped in the 1970s.) The New York Times story that launched Ayers back into the media spotlight found that “the two men do not appear to have been close.”
It’s hard to describe McCain’s role in the savings-and-loan scandal as “peripheral”; as one of the Keating Five, he was a key player in the highest-profile political scandal connected to the financial disaster. Though a Senate investigation cleared McCain of serious wrongdoing (it did flag his “poor judgment”), McCain’s ties to Keating were well-established: He had received over $100,000 from Keating, had traveled on his private jet and had vacationed in the Bahamas with him; McCain’s family and Keating were also involved in a business venture together.
McCain has claimed for many years that the shame of the Keating scandal was what motivated his interest in campaign finance reform. But does that mean that the Keating history is off limits? Should reporters treat criticism of McCain’s conduct in the scandal as a low blow, given that more recent stories have suggested that the senator is still doing favors for influential constituents, lobbyists and contributors (New York Times, “A Developer, His Deals and His Ties to McCain,” 4/22/08; Washington Post, “McCain Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer,” 5/9/08)?

There is an unfortunate tendency among campaign reporters to suggest “both sides” are equally at fault in situations like this. In this case, the McCain campaign’s accusation that Obama is friendly with a terrorist is considered somehow on par with Obama raising McCain’s political record on a matter of actual relevance.

For now Obama does not need to go there, McCain is doing a fine job of hitting his political thumb with the hammer of negativity. (damn that was good!)

UpDate: Obama’s Economic Plan

Just when you thought that I was an Obama supporter….BAM!….he throws a wrench in those works……

On the eve of the Bush administration’s announcement that it is plowing another $250 billion into the banks to stave off an imminent financial meltdown, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveiled his own economic plan, touting it as a “rescue plan for the middle class.”

In reality, the proposals that he and other Democrats are now putting forward amount to little more than window dressing for the real rescue plan—that is, transferring hundreds of billions of dollars in public funds into the private coffers of Wall Street.

Whatever campaign promises he—or for that matter his Republican rival McCain—makes in the closing weeks of the election campaign, the reality is that the overriding task of the next administration will be to impose the full burden of the bank bailout onto the backs of American working people.

Under these conditions, the proposals put forward by Obama are striking above all in their timidity and inadequacy in the face of the worst economic crisis confronting American and world capitalism since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Rolling out his so-called rescue plan in a speech delivered in Toledo, Ohio on Monday, Obama began by acknowledging the depth of the crisis already confronting large sections of the population, including the three quarters of a million workers who have lost their jobs over the course of this year.

Given the deepening economic crisis, the American working class is headed for a direct confrontation with the incoming administration, no matter whether it is headed by McCain or Obama.

Man Sues GOD!

okay, how about a little humor for the day?

A judge has thrown out a Nebraska legislator’s lawsuit against God, saying the Almighty wasn’t properly served due to his unlisted home address. State Sen. Ernie Chambers filed the lawsuit last year seeking a permanent injunction against God.

He said God has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused “widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants.”

Chambers has said he filed the lawsuit to make the point that everyone should have access to the courts regardless of whether they are rich or poor.

Douglas County District Court Judge Marlon Polk ruled that under state law a plaintiff must have access to the defendant for a lawsuit to move forward.

Chambers, who graduated from law school but never took the bar exam, thinks he’s found a hole in the judge’s ruling.

“The court itself acknowledges the existence of God,” Chambers said Wednesday. “A consequence of that acknowledgment is a recognition of God’s omniscience.”

Therefore, Chambers said, “Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit.”

Chambers has 30 days to decide whether to appeal. He said he hasn’t decided yet.

Chambers, who has served a record 38 years in the Nebraska Legislature, is not returning next year because of term limits. He skips morning prayers during the legislative session and often criticizes Christians

“Joe The Plumber”

After his introduction to the world in the last presidential debate, he has become an instant celeb.  The Trail, a blog written for the WaPo.com by Robt. Burns.

Joe the Plumber is not exactly a plumber, he’s “not even close” to making the kind of money that would result in higher taxes from Democrat Barack Obama’s proposals and has such an aversion to taxes that a lien was filed against him by the state of Ohio.

Such is the whirlwind of information that has come out about Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, since Republican John McCain made him famous in last night’s debate. McCain mentioned him more than 20 times to use him as a symbol of hard-working Americans who would be hurt by Obama’s tax policies. Obama and Wurzelbacher met earlier in the week in Toledo, where Wurzelbacher said Obama’s plans to raise taxes on those making $250,000 a year or more would penalize him in his plans to buy the plumbing business for which he works.

Wurzelbacher since then has been on Fox News, interviewed by CBS’s Katie Couric and appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Not all the attention has been welcomed. Wurzelbacher, 34, told the Associated Press that he was not a licensed plumber. Because he works for a small company that does residential work, he said, he doesn’t need to be licensed.

Wurzelbacher, whose legal name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, owes the state of Ohio $1,182 in personal income taxes, according to tax records that show a lien for that amount filed against him in January 2007.

Wurzelbacher said he is of modest means, but worried Obama’s tax plans would eventually hurt him. “You see my house. I don’t have a lot of bells and whistles in here, really. My truck’s a couple of years old and I’m going to have it for the next 10 years probably. So I don’t see [Obama] helping me out,” he told reporters this morning.

He also sounded concerned about the attention he is receiving. “I’m completely flabbergasted with this whole thing and just hope I’m not making too much of a fool of myself and hope I can get my message out there,” he said.

Today In Labor History

17 October

Labor activist Warren Billings is released from California’s Folsom Prison. Along with Thomas J. Mooney, Billings had been pardoned for a 1916 conviction stemming from a bomb explosion during a San Francisco Preparedness Day parade. He had always maintained his innocence – 1939

“Salt of the Earth” strike begins by the mostly Mexican-American members of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union Local 890 in Bayard, N.M. Strikers’ wives walk picket lines for seven months when their men were enjoined during the 14-month strike against the New Jersey Zinc Co. A great movie, see it! – 1950

Twelve New York City firefighters died fighting a blaze in midtown Manhattan – 1966

International Printing Pressmen’s & Assistants’ Union of North America merges with International Stereotypers’, Electrotypers’ & Platemakers’ Union to become Printing & Graphic Communications Union – 1973

Industrial Union of Marine & Shipbuilding Workers of America merges with International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers – 1988

Teacher Changes Sex

Some parents of children at a Vacaville, Calif., elementary school have complained that they were not notified before a teacher’s gender reassignment surgery.

The parents told the Travis Unified School District that they believe they had a right to know before the school year began that a Foxboro Elementary School music teacher, whose name was not released, underwent gender reassignment surgery during the summer break and now uses the honorific “Mister,” KCRA-TV, Sacramento, Calif., reported Thursday.

The school board said such disclosure would violate privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Twenty-three students from 15 different families have been transferred out of the music class since the beginning of the school year.

Are Hearings The Answer?

Congress has slated a wave of hearings on economic, finance and regulatory issues, reflecting Democrats’ growing ambitions in the final weeks of the 2008 election campaign. The effort is unusual because it comes during a congressional recess. The schedule crests next week when six different House committees plan to hold eight hearings. They include a Budget Committee session featuring Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the economy, a Financial Services Committee look at overhauling regulation of the U.S. financial system, and an Education and Labor Committee field hearing in San Francisco to examine sagging retirement savings

In the debate over the weakening economy, Democratic leaders hope to use the hearings to pave the way action on a measure designed to boost growth. They envision a bill that would include spending on highways and bridges, extended benefits to unemployed workers, aid to cash-strapped states and a tax cut. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California is inclined to support a $150 billion package. A group of economists convened by Ms. Pelosi urged the Democratic leadership to consider a package twice that size.

Would not this had been better done before they threw $700 billion at the “problem”?