Day: July 15, 2009

The Circus That Is Sotomayor

Oh Hell–I was not going to get pulled into this debate because I think it is just plain silly–but after watching the hearing on Tuesday….I feel I must say something….anything.

What a crock of crap!  The Repubs are just playing silly!  They have nothing……and are trying to make something out of nothing.  They are failing…but that is nothing unusual…they have been failing since the 2008 election.  But they try…and try…and try….and each time they look more lame in the eyes of people with half a brain.

Okay on to the hearings…..my first reaction to Graham was…”you have got to be kidding”.  He basically told Sotomayor that she needs anger management;

“Now, let’s talk about you. I like you,” he said, to laughter from the audience. He then read anonymous comments from lawyers in New York who called Sotomayor overly “aggressive” and a “terror on the bench.”

This from the man that was the cheerleader for the angriest person in Washington, John McCain.  It is silly.  Beyond the shear absurdity of Graham’s comment, I want to know if Sotomayor was a man would that question or issue had been raised?

Then there was Kyl, whose job it was to bring up her “wise Latina” statement from 8 years previous to which Sotomayor responded:

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) asked whether Sotomayor would agree with President Obama’s statement that suggested there was space in judicial decision-making for “empathy” for certain disadvantaged groups. But Sotomayor flatly rejected that approach.

“We apply law to facts,” Sotomayor said. “We don’t apply feelings.”

She did an excellent job at bitch slapping the senator from Arizona saying that if he would watch the whole speech then he would see that she had a lot more to say that is being overlooked by the Repubs.

And then I got to watch the ranking Repub on the hearing bench, Sessions.  I have tried to see just what it is he is trying to do and the best I can come up with is….he is still pissed about being turned down as a judge in the 80’s and he just wants to get even.  This guy needs to go back to Alabama and get over himself.  Unfortunately, he came off as the stereotypical old white guy racist from the South.  Someone please tell him to shut up!

And there was a statement that about 80% of her decisions on the appellate court had been overturned by the Supreme Court…..someone needs to remind the Repubs that is what the Court does….that is why they are there…..Just another shot to the ass of the GOP…apparently they have NO idea what the Supreme Court does….or it is more important to attack a person than to get to the truth.

All in all she held her ground and answered each attack with truth and calmness.  She WILL be confirmed…the GOP is just doing what they do best….play games.

2009 Anal-Ocity

Another piece of undeniable (sarcasm) logic from the governor of the great state of Alaska, Sarah Palin:

When she was in the process of announcing her soon to be official resignation, she said and I quote:

“I am not a quitter, I am a fighter”

And then she announces she is quitting.  That makes for a great anal statement.  Thanx, gov.

Palin Inserts Herself

A Daily Agitation

Our fav right wing nut, Sarah Palin,  is trying to insert herself into the national dialog, she has written an editorial for the Washington Post.  She is trying to help set policy but so far she is a failure.  And why would she want to use the “elite” press to make her point unless she had broader plans for hewr future.  I guess she began with an energy statement since she was the governor of a state with lots of oil, she dealt with oil companies and all that somehow makes her an authority on energy issues.

In an op-ed piece in today’s Washington Post, she critiques the energy plan that President Obama and Democratic allies in Congress are pushing through.

After reading her op-ed one will see that she used a 1000 words to say “no”.  She is a true Repub….she is turning a complex issue like the cal and trade debate into a slogan…hers is “cap and tax”, the new name for the conservatives to use in attacking the program.

She did nothing to offer an alternative to the Obama plan, just said no.  She did use another tried and true Repub tactic ……fear.

We have an important choice to make. Do we want to control our energy supply and its environmental impact? Or, do we want to outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Make no mistake: President Obama’s plan will result in the latter.

All Americans are worried about their jobs, the economy and their savings and she tries to scare the people into thinking one way without offering real alternatives or proof of what she is saying.

Read the op-ed and ask the question–what is her alternative?  Wait!  Do not hurt yourself.

Anyone can say “no” and anyone can make up a slogan and anyone can ……..but to be a statesman one needs to offer alternatives to complex issues and that my friend eliminates Palin from such a title.

I Swear, Therefore I Am

I see and read a lot of studies on an array of subjects and this one is just plain dumb…..dumb in the sense that it was not needed most people will say that the results are just what the study discovered.

Cut your finger? Hurt your leg? Start swearing. It might lessen the pain.  Researchers from the school of psychology at Britain’s Keele University have found swearing can make you feel better as it can have a “pain-lessening effect,” according to a study published in the journal NeuroReport.

Colleagues Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston, set out to establish if there was any link between swearing and physical pain.

“Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon,” says Stephens.

Their study involved 64 volunteers who were each asked to put their hand in a tub of ice water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice.

They then repeated the experiment using a more commonplace word that they would use to describe a table.

The researchers found the volunteers were able to keep their hands in the ice water for a longer when swearing, establishing a link between swearing and an increase in pain tolerance.

Stephens said it was not clear how or why this link existed but it could be because swearing may increase aggression.

“What is clear is that swearing triggers not only an emotional response, but a physical one too, which may explain why the centuries-old practice of cursing developed and still persists today,” he said.

My first thought was….”Ya Think!”  or a Homer Simpson moment…

All I want to know is where can I get on the list of people getting this grant money to run a study?  I have this idea for the military applications of a frisbee….but I need a grant…please help me out here!

Budget Crisis And Social Impact

In these tough economic times states are struggling with their budgets and how to find the revenue to pay for the propgrams they already have in the works.

This observation is made by Joe Kishore for wsws.org:

The crisis extends across the country. Seven states still have not passed budgets: California (budget deficit—$24 billion), Illinois ($9.2 billion), Pennsylvania ($4.8 billion), North Carolina ($4.6 billion), Connecticut ($4.1 billion), Ohio ($3.3 billion) and Mississippi ($480 million).

Of the states that still remain without a budget, several have threatened to shut down government services altogether if agreements are not reached soon. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (a Democrat) vetoed a budget passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature that includes major attacks on social programs. Quinn favors somewhat fewer cuts, combined with an increase in the state’s regressive flat income tax. Providers of services for the mentally ill and disabled have already laid off staff in response to the budget crisis.

The crisis in the states is having a particularly dramatic impact on education, as the vast bulk of funding for public education comes from the states and from local property taxes. States across the country are already cutting or eliminating summer school programs. These programs are critical for students and for parents who have nowhere else to send their children during work hours. Summer school programs in Florida and California, among other states, have been virtually wiped out.

Of all the programs that are needed most…education is at the top of my list…our rankings in math and science are already sliding down the list…we do not need to imperil our children any further.

Once again, I see that banks and massive corporations are more important than our children….money can be found to bail out the wealthy but little to none is available to the future of our people.  Sad…no matter how you look at it.