Month: January 2011

See! There Is A God!

So many things and so little time…….for years I have bitched about the lack of nudity on TV and the hard censorship…..but now all that could be things of the past….why?  There is a God!

Fox News is reporting…….

The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the $1.21 million worth of fines that the FCC levied against ABC after alleging that the network violated broadcast indecency standards for daring to show actress Charlotte Ross’ naked behind during a 2003 episode of “NYPD Blue.”

When overthrowing the fine, the court cited the FCC’s own declaration that “nudity itself is not per se indecent.” It also reiterated that the FCC’s context-based indecency test is “unconstitutionally vague,” as previously determined by the court when the FCC demanded fines from Fox when profanities were aired during the 2006 Billboard Music Awards.
I seriously doubt that this will give us what all the nay-sayers are warning about…..that is more nudity and such….doubt that this move will improve the quality or content of network TV….but it is a start…..and of course there will be those “sky is failing” folk that think that there will be bare boobs on news programs….but I think little will change….but on second thought….bare boobs on the news could make people more attentive to what is going on around them….if so…I say “show me your t*ts”……(a Mardi gras classic)………

The Height Of Paranoia

Humor is where you find it!  And then there is the absurd…….

Remember last year when a flock of Russian spies were uncovered, especially the sexy red head (oh so much I could say on that)…..you have seen all the gadgets on the 007 movies which enhances the operatives effectiveness…..but now there is a great twist to this……

BBC News is reporting…….

Saudi Arabian officials have “detained” a vulture on accusations of being a spy for Israel, media reports say.

The griffon vulture was carrying a GPS transmitter bearing the name of Tel Aviv University, prompting rumours it was part of a Zionist plot.

Last month, Egyptian officials implied the Israeli spy agency Mossad was to blame for shark attacks off its coast.

In December, the governor of Egypt’s South Sinai province, Mohamed Abdul Fadil Shousha, suggested the spy agency may have had a hand in a string of deadly shark attacks off the coast of the Sharm el-Sheikh resort.The vulture, which can have a wing span of up to 265cm (8ft 8in), was caught after it landed in the desert city of Hyaal a few days ago.

When locals discovered the GPS transmitter, they suspected the worst and handed it over to the security forces, said Israel’s Ma’ariv newspaper.

Conspiracy theories quickly began circulating in Saudi newspapers and on websites that the bird was involved in espionage.

This would give a whole new definition to the term “bird’s eye view”……..

O’Donnell: Truly A Place For Her

From time to time….I read something that triggers some form of humor in my brain…granted sometimes I am the only one that see the humor………but I have to write!

“I am not a witch”  was the proclamation of candidate of Delaware GOP, Christine O’Donnell….even after she admitted to being at a coven meeting….but maybe she should stop denying the obvious and embrace her calling……in doing so there is a place for her in this world…..

Romania’s witches aren’t happy about a change in the country’s labor laws that makes witchcraft a recognized profession. The move, part of a crackdown on tax evasion, will make it harder for witches to avoid paying income tax, AP reports. One witch has threatened to cast a spell using black pepper and yeast to create discord in the country’s government as revenge.

It may be unpopular ruling or law……but at least they are now a recognized profession…..with that comes taxation and licenses…all the props one needs to be a legal entity….

With that ruling…..Christine O’Donnell does not have to fade a way into obscurity….she can just move and become a practicing witch…….then she will find the peace and the security from the establishment that she bitches about here….

What a great dream!  Sadly, that is all that it is…a dream of some form of normality in our nation…..sadly nothing like that will happen……take my word…….O’Donnell will return and we analyst will have our way with here….yet again……

What A Difference A Speech Makes

In my state of Mississippi, we are about to lose our beloved (not my beloved) governor, Haley Barbour and as with most other states the candidates are lining up to lead the state…..our Lt. Gov.  Phil Bryant (R) has announced his candidacy (like there was ever any doubt) and parts of his speech are below…..

Bryant said his campaign will be about “issues and ideas.”

“Let’s create the most job-friendly state in America to grow our economy now and for the future. By keeping taxes low, making sure lawsuit reform stays in place, and providing the right economic environment where businesses can grow and hire more employees, we’ll provide more opportunities for everyone.”

“We have to be innovative to redesign our educational system with a common sense approach to change,” Bryant stated. “By creating a skills-based curriculum in high schools, developing charter schools for failing school districts, and rewarding teachers for excellence, we’ll give our children a better chance for success in the future.”

“We must stop Obamacare and control the growth of health care costs on our state budget,” Bryant continued. “We can make Mississippi a healthier place by working together with health care providers and research institutions to tackle heart disease and diabetes.”

“Most importantly, we must always stand up for our conservative values of faith and family, the right to life, protecting our Second Amendment rights and fighting illegal immigration,” Bryant said.

I heard the speech and re-read it several times…..straight out of a GOP playbook…screw working people and keep the wealthy, wealthy…..same song…different liar……

We in the state have been promised jobs if we keep taxes low….so far we have low paying jobs and lots of bills because there is NO revenue through taxes…..then there is the education thing….which if it were not so sad would be a good joke……this promised has been made decades and the state still has one of the country’s worst education systems….this will not change…..education is of NO concern to the Repubs……health care……another GOP punch line…….they want the industry to work with government to help the people…..that has worked so well that Mississippi is at the bottom of the states on health care….another silly piece of lying……and then there is the family, faith, guns and immigrants…all GOP talking points……on and on….but the reality is that NOTHING will change for the state in the next eight years……we will be industry friendly, low wages, sickly and under-educated….but on the bright side….we will have our guns, hate immigrants and be able to pray on Sundays…all the things that rednecks live for…..I feel so lucky to be in the presence of greatness!

It Is All About The Constitution!

The new story for the incoming Congress has a “new” idea…….why not turn to the Constitution to “legalize” all bills and procedures?  What procedures?  That game played by politicians in “Foggy Bottom”……

As usual it will be about the Constitution…….or what they want you to believe is about the Constitution…..but there is a new twist to the game…the GOP will do a very infantile thing at first chance….

From David Corn in Politics Daily……

On Thursday, Capitol Hill Republicans, a day after taking control of the House, intend to read the U.S. Constitution on the floor of the House of Representatives. This is, of course, a stunt designed to position the GOPers as the party that really, really, really cares about constitutional government. But the exercise is the showy equivalent of wearing a flag pin. It’s no great feat to mouth the words written in 1787 in Philadelphia by a committee of the Federal Convention. That doesn’t resolve any issues, for as any high school student with a decent history teacher knows, Americans have been arguing about what is and isn’t constitutional governance since Marbury v. Madison. Still, this stunt-reading comes at a convenient time, for there is indeed a foundational debate underway in the United States, and it does track back to this sacred secular text.

As reported by Andrew Cohen in Politics Daily…..

Under the new procedural rule, set forth in a five-page memorandum reportedly distributed last week to all House members, the House clerk will soon be required to reject outright any legislation that does not cite “as specifically as practicable the power or powers granted to Congress” that support the measure. The effect of the new standard will be to force lawmakers at the earliest stages of the legislative process to explicitly identify the perceived legal basis for the proposed exercise of federal legislative power. The purpose of the new rule presumably will be to screen out from any meaningful deliberation proposed legislation that House lawmakers believe is beyond the scope of congressional authority. That very argument — that Congress exceeded its constitutional authority under the Commerce Clause, for example — has been made, with force, in the ongoing legal and political battle over the validity of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act of 2010.

Beyond its symbolic power, however, it is unclear what impact the new rule will have upon the nation. Under axiomatic legal precedent, virtually all congressional action is presumed valid anyway, at least initially. Moreover, by taking their oaths of office, lawmakers swear to abide by the Constitution, and virtually all legislation is vetted for constitutional support on some level by government lawyers before it makes it to committee or to the floor of the House. It is also quite obvious, from 223 years of legal and political debate on the topic, that the text of the Constitution itself, including those portions that deal with legislative power, are susceptible to many different (and often evolving) views and interpretations, a practical reality that would likely render most “Constitutional Authority Statements” controversial and contentious.

All this is to make the process more “transparent”…..but to whom?  If it is for the people, then this game will be a waste of time….why?  Most people would not recognize most of the Constitution even if it bit them in the ass…..Is if for the Congress members?  If so, then my question is….should not these slackers already be aware of the Constitution and the status of bills?  If not…..why did you elect them?

This is just another political game….a game to make it appear that they are doing something when they are NOT!  As usual the Constitution will be a political prop………

Boehner’s First Day

In the past I have been very critical of the new speaker of the House, John Boehner…….and when I say critical I mean I have been unkind to the speaker….but his first day he did something that was unexpected by me and if this holds good for the next two years I may have to re-evaluate my opinion of the man….

As reported by Newser…..

John Boehner may be the incoming speaker of the House, but he doesn’t want a whole lot of power. In fact, one of tomorrow’s first votes could be on a package of rule changes Boehner says will decentralize power—and even allow minority-party members to have more of a say. Of course, “new speakers always say they want to have a more open process,” Rep. Anthony Weiner tells the Wall Street Journal. “Then the sheer demands of making the trains run on time and getting things passed requires that you change your mind.”
Boehner’s rule change package, expected to be approved by House Republicans today, includes a requirement that legislation be posted online 72 hours before going to the floor, so that bills will no longer be changed the night before a vote, as well as a requirement that lawmakers vote on whether to raise the federal debt ceiling rather than doing so automatically when a budget is passed. He has promised to “work with members on both sides of the aisle” as he attempts to get things done, but will have to walk a tightrope as he also tries to appease the many freshman Tea Party representatives.

I will admit that this may all be just a silly political game, but some of it is quite good and shows signs of a person that may seriously want the system to work……I will watch and report……but I am NOT holding my breath!

Since every other word out of his mouth for the last year has been ….”Where are the jobs?”  After listening to his open comments and the word jobs was not mentioned once…..and since I was promised jobs by the conservs…I need to ask   Where are the jobs?

They’re Baaaaaaaaaack! (Again….And Again….And…..)

After about 2 weeks of quiet…the time has come for the good thing to come to an end…..yesterday the new Congress, #112, were sworn in and they begin to work…….with all that hot air the temps in Washington should get warmer, if nothing else…….

It is official…..they have been sworn in…..and now the same crap begins again…….the theater of the absurd…….They raised their hands and promised to protect the Constitution and then tomorrow they will be told what the Constitution consist of in substance…yes…they will be read the Constitution on Thursday…I would think that a guardian of the Constitution should already be aware of what it contains and what it has to say….but then I believe in Santa Claus (for my conserv friends…that is called sarcasm)……

While the Dems were working on health care and reform…the Repubs were screaming about jobs and jobs creation….but that was the 111th Congress….and now with the new Congress and new faces in charge the Repubs are screaming about health care and the Dems are yelling…jobs…jobs…jobs…..the more things change, the more they remain the same……

God!  I love this stuff!

Remember the election of 2010?  The GOP used the economy, jobs and austerity in government as their message…please tell me the pea brains recall that…..but what happens when they trot into Washington in power?

on the eve of taking it over, a dozen freshman Republicans are throwing a lavish DC fundraiser headlined by LeAnn Rimes. For $2,500, Politico reports that lobbyists, PAC managers, and others will be able to hobnob with lawmakers at the swanky W Hotel, with the highest rollers paying $50,000 for access to the hotel’s “VIP suite.

Looks like the newly empowered are saying screw populism…you know that idea that carried them to victory in November?  And it does not end there…oh no…it gets better…..

THIS FROM TALKING POINTS MEMO……

Republicans’ deficit reduction platform, which may have helped catapult them into the majority, is about to run headlong into a hard reality: Many of their key policy goals will increase the deficit dramatically.

To get around this fact, they’ve included measures in their new rules package to exempt some of their biggest legislative priorities from deficit consideration. Among the exceptions, which the House is likely to consider in the 112th Congress, are the health care repeal bill (scheduled for a vote a week from Wednesday), the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, an AMT patch, extending the estate tax, and more.

You can read more about the health care repeal side of this here. And more about the GOP’s Calvinball rules here.

Austerity?  Did you really think you would get the same message once they were elected?  If so, then YOU are more stupid than I gave you credit!

There it is …your New Year’s gift from the GOP….a good and thorough f*cking…..and I LOVE IT!

2011 Anal-Ocity #2

Some people just do not know when enough is enough!  It seems that No matter what religion one has in their heart….there are still  morons that just cannot keep a civil tongue in their head…..and this is just another indication of how much crap a religious type can have in there mind…..racism knows NO bounds…..

A letter in Israel signed by 30 rabbis’ wives offers clear-cut dating advice to young Jewish women: Stay away from “non-Jews,” and especially Arab men. “There are no few Arab workers who use a Hebrew name,” warns the letter, as recounted by AOL News. “Yusuf turns into Yossi, Samir turns into Sami and Abed turns into Ami. They seek your company, try to get you to like them and give you all the attention in the world. But as soon as you’re in their hands, in their village, under their control, everything changes.”

The letter-signers belong to a group whose stated goal is “saving the daughters of Israel” from assimilation, and it’s an example of how Israel “is falling into a deep, dark pit of racism” one rabbi tells Haaretz.

Here we go….2011 off to a stellar year for idiots talking…….nice to see that racism is alive and well in 2011…..

Pakistan Is Lurking Around The Corner

One of my annual predictions for the last couple of years is that Pakistan will have some internal problems that could change everything in the AfPak region…..and this year is No different and now there is a bit more info on the country….

Reuter’s as usual has a terrific breakdown……

What to watch:

— Whether the government can bring the MQM back on board. To achieve this, President Asif Ali Zardari may have to take decisive steps such as the dismissal of his close aide and Sindh province’s home minister, Zulfiqar Mirza, a vocal critic of the MQM, which dominates politics in Pakistan’s financial capital and biggest city Karachi. A deal may be possible given divisions between the MQM and the main opposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

— Whether the prime minister quits. Differences between Zardari and Gilani have raised speculation that the prime minister is becoming vulnerable. Some analysts say Gilani may opt to resign instead of facing a confidence vote, which may encourage some of the disgruntled former allies to rejoin the government.

— Whether opposition opts for a no-confidence vote. With the MQM sitting the opposition, the government clearly loses its majority in the National Assembly. The opposition could now press ahead with a no-confidence vote against the prime minister in parliament. Much will depend on Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N). Sharif is one of Pakistan’s most popular politicians, but he does not enjoy good ties with most political parties and the chances of the opposition forming a new ruling alliance are slim. The ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) may try to lure some of the other, smaller opposition parties into its fold to regain a majority, but that looks unlikely. Therefore, a call for early elections is likely.

— Pakistan’s latest political storm could further weigh on investment in a country that relies on an $11 billion IMF loan agreed in 2008 to help its fragile economy. It will also make it even harder to reach agreement on a new reformed general sales tax (RGST), a key condition for future IMF loan disbursements.

Last year the floods were a good chance for the Army to step in and rattle the government…..they missed the chance…..but will they miss yet another chance to regain power?  Keep in mind the nukes….always a great thing to have to get your way, right?

Why Not Tax And Spend?

I hate to break it to all you conservs and TPers….that is what governments do…they tax and then spend their revenues to benefit society….well that is the plan, but unfortunately does not always work out that way….the politicians find creative ways to waste the revenue….like un-winnable wars, for one….

But there needs to be a better way of tax and spend…and it could possibly be a shot to the arm of the deficit….

This a proposal from the Center For American Progress……

  • Thus the need for revenue. In this report we offer revenue-generating plans that will hit four deficit-reduction targets: 33 percent of the way to primary balance in 2015, then 50 percent, 67 percent, and 100 percent. The most far-reaching of the revenue plans, the 100 percent tax revenue option, relies on seven distinct tax increases. This plan would generate $255 billion in new revenue by: Implementing a graduated surtax on adjusted gross income for households making more than half a million dollars per year
  • Imposing a $10 per barrel fee on imported oil
  • Returning the estate tax to pre-Bush tax cut levels—a $1 million exemption and a 55-percent rate
  • Removing the cap on the employer side of the Social Security payroll tax
  • Indexing the entire tax code to a better measure of inflation
  • Increasing the top rate on capital gains and dividends
  • Increasing the ordinary income tax rates on tax brackets between $140,000 and $380,000

Any deficit reduction plan is a balancing act between spending cuts, tax increases, the needs of the nation, and the wide range of views on which of these are most important. This report offers five different balances for getting to the 2015 target of primary balance. We believe the 50-50 plan, accompanied by a crusade to deliver government services more efficiently and effectively, offers the best option.

So tax and spend may be dirty words to conservs, but it is the way of government…like it or not…..

Okay, let us look at the states…..conserv commentators say that the reason industry left this area was because taxes are too high…..places like New York, Connecticut, etc….if that is the case why is not the South more industrial…you cannot find lower business taxes than in Mississippi and Alabama?  Answer us this!

We all want and need services provided by the government, like police, fire, education, homeland security, etc, but in this atmosphere of “smaller” government how do we find the cash to fund these services?  The answer!  VAT!

A VAT is like a sales tax in that ultimately only the end consumer is taxed. It differs from the sales tax in that, with the latter, the tax is collected and remitted to the government only once, at the point of purchase by the end consumer. With the VAT, collections, remittances to the government, and credits for taxes already paid occur each time a business in the supply chain purchases products from another business.

This could be sold to the corporations and businesses…..why?  They could recoup some of their taxes while the ultimate consumer, you and me, are screwed on getting any of the taxes back…this should make the conservs happy…this is a better plan than some of the others offered out there…..why not try….we might find the cash to actually have a country that lives within its means…….