Month: September 2011

Another One Bites The Dust!

As Queen blares in the background…….

Recently we whacked the number one terrorist in the whole wide world, Osama,……..kudos to us!

And we have killed about a thousand number twos….even more kudos!

And now we got that bastard American that turned himself into a cleric….no…not Cat Stevens……you know that tall skinny bearded guy in Yemen?

An American radical cleric linked to al-Qaida who led an organization labeled as one of the most serious threats to U.S. security has been killed in Yemen, the country’s defense ministry said on Friday.”The terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed along with some of his companions,” the defense ministry said in a statement sent by text message to journalists, Reuters reported.

A Yemeni security official told Reuters that al-Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, was hit in a Friday morning air raid in the northern al-Jawf province that borders oil giant Saudi Arabia.

While the American government did not immediately officially verify the claim, NBC News’ Chuck Todd reported that a senior official had confirmed to him that al-Awlaki had been killed.

NBC News’ Richard Engel reported in a message on Twitter that a Yemen source said al-Awlaki was killed by U.S. planes. An American drone aircraft targeted but missed him in May.

We Americans can now sleep better at night…..for we have killed another bad guy…..and only about a bazillion left to go….kudos!

Assaulting The System

For years I have been telling people to watch their backs that they were letting the politicians get away with way too much and that it would eventually sneak up and bite them in the butt…..right about now the voter’s ass should look like hamburger!

It began with the hatchet job done on ACORN by Breitbart and his lackey film maker….it seemed that the Far Right had to silence ACORN and the job it did helping poor people register to vote….for those people were “Democrats”…argh!

Then after the 2010 election we had a number of Repub governors attacking collective bargaining and union membership as some how making the deficits worse in their states….states like Ohio, Wisconsin …….after all unions were the major contributors to the opposition…..those “Democrats”…..argh!

And then Repub governors and legislatures started attacking voting…..they passed new laws that limit who could vote or made it extremely hard for some people to register….states like Florida…because these people more than likely would have voted….”Democrat”….argh!

And now there is a new approach…..the Hill is reporting….

A new proposal by the governor of Pennsylvania that would dramatically change how the state awards its Electoral College votes could have a major impact on the 2012 election — and President Obama’s reelection chances.The plan would be similar to the configurations in Nebraska and Maine, which divide their votes rather than adopting the “winner-take-all” system in place in the remaining states plus the District of Columbia. But while Nebraska and Maine have a relatively small impact on the race, due to their size, Pennsylvania’s adoption of the system would have a dramatic effect on the presidential process.

They will tinker with a plan that was stated in the Constitution….remember that document?

This plan would further eliminate the whole  idea of one vote concept….this is the attempt to find ways to prevent Obama from gaining all the electoral votes….these newly elected Repub governors and legislatures are doing what they accused us Leftist of wanting to do in the past….and yet they get support and the Left got vilified……why is that?  To be fair, this idea could well, backfire on them….but that is not important….trying to gin the system for the 2012 election is all that matters at this time…….

I warned yet again…WATCH your backs…….or you will lose what few voting rights you have now…..and there are NOT many left.

Joke Of The Week–Venture Socialism

The GOP/Teabagger wind bag is at it again…..Sen. DeMint…this time he is using the tired old argument of socialism……again!

“I would love to be able to work with the president on something — but he’s practicing what we call ‘venture socialism.’ — I mean, he basically has taken an approach where it’s the government that needs to stimulate jobs,” DeMint told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. “And I know as an employer . . . you don’t hire someone because the payroll tax is a little lower or you get a $4,000 tax credit.

The socialism thing again, huh?  Do they not see how out of touch they really are when they keep throwing that accusation around?  Let me help them out just a wee bit….this from this from web site, AddictingInfo…….

Democracy is a form of government in which all citizens take part. It is government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Socialism is where we all put our resources together and work for the common good of us all and not just for our own benefit. In this sense, we are sharing the wealth within society.

Of course when people hear that term, “Share the wealth” they start screaming, “OMG you want to rob from the rich and give it all to the poor!” But that is NOT what Democratic Socialism means.

To a Democratic Socialist, sharing the wealth means pooling tax money together to design social programs that benefit ALL citizens of that country, city, state, etc.

Democratic Socialism does NOT mean taking from the rich and giving to the poor. It works to benefit everyone so the rich can no longer take advantage of the poor and middle class.

Okay, Google it!  There is NO such thing as venture socialism….well in DeMint’s tiny brain….but not in any political or economic theory….as usual the Teabaggers make up crap and use it for its fear factor….a made up crisis or situation…….kinda like a ponzi scheme or some shot that causes mental retardation……

Just how stupid do they think the American people are?  (that is a rhetorical question)………I try to ignore the silliness of an uninformed mind but sometimes I cannot let it go…..and DeMint and his moronic statements is one of those I cannot let go……Sorry if I am being redundant……

Here We Go Again…..And Again

I go through this every year and will continue as long as these people keep playing games with our children’s education………

It is that time of year, it happens about every six months or so, when a major network tackles the subject of education….they call it “education nation” or some sort of nonsense….it is where the network puts together a collection of so-called experts and they talk, debate and lie to the viewers about the importance of education to the nation.

They put together story after story like charter schools, that idea where a good and equitable education can be had by lottery….the only thing missing in that is the scratch and win……your child’s education is in the hands of a bingo machine……..or we talk about the evils of teachers unions and how they have destroyed the whole field of education….another outright lie!  They pull together a bunch of politicians that will talk and try to convince you that education is the only way to save this country from the recession and then they return to Washington and vote to cut education as much as possible or some bullshit governor that talks about all the strides made in education in their state while they work to make it as poor and ineffective as possible……well, you get the idea and probably could talk about some that I may have overlooked……

The worst perpetrators of a sagging educational standard are conservs……some, nay most, want to disband the Department of Education and return it to the states…..now there is an excellent idea ( that is what is called sarcasm)…….in today’s political culture education is a very low priority and that is the way they want it….because an uneducated voter is a voter easily manipulated and tricked……and there would be NO standardized curricula…..and that would no better than a free hand to brainwash the students….when there are over 50,000 schools boards in this country and the members are elected what do you think would be the impact on educational programs?

Thomas Jefferson, the hero of the Right said about education……”To penetrate and dissipate these clouds of darkness, the general mind must be strengthened by education.”   And if this nation keeps its blind eyes to education then another quote would be more accurate…..”Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.”………….(in case you are interested the last quote was by Stalin)……

No matter what cute little title you give the program….No Child Left Behind…..Race To The Top…..or War on Stupidity…..it is all a game played with words and graphs….means NOTHING!

My long winded point is…..it is a waste of time for networks to keep airing all these so-called educational specials……they are doing nothing to improve education and their worthless guest are doing NOTHING to make the US a more educated country……talk is cheap without action you have said NOTHING!…..if you cannot make this country a more educated place….then  Shut up!  There are enough games being played in Washington….education should NOT be one of them!

Coming To A City Near You!

Unless you are an activist you probably do not know too much about the recent Occupy Wall Street protests and all the bad choices the police have made in dealing with the protesters….I have written about and all my “lefty” friends have also….but not many “regular people” know that the occupation of Wall Street was not the end but the beginning of the story….

The American people are seeing that the corporate bosses are screwing the country into the ground and protests are popping up everywhere…… including in Europe……from an article in Raw Story…..

Small groups of demonstrators in major American cities have started their own “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations and organizers are planning further actions in more cities across the United States.A diverse coalition of people have pledged to occupy Wall Street until something is done about corporate greed and the financial system’s undemocratic influence on the U.S. government.

The protesters have been camped out in New York’s old Liberty Plaza, one block from the Federal Reserve, since Saturday.

“The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99 Percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the one percent,” said a statement on the Occupy Wall Streetwebsite.”Occupy Los Angeles” protesters plan to begin a demonstration at City Hall on October 1. The “Occupy Los Angeles” Facebook page had nearly 2,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon.

Another demonstration popped up in Chicago over the weekend. Around 20 “Occupy Chicago” protesters gathered at Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower, on Friday and then marched to the Federal Reserve Bank. Some protesters have remained camped out in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the organizers said the “occupation” had grown from 4 people to about 50.

Other “occupation” protests are being planned for Detroit, Denver, Cleveland, Boston, Phoenix, Seattle, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. The site occupytogether.org has been set up in hopes of coordinating the protests.

Read Full Article Here…

Go to the websites and see if there is an “Occupy” near you….then go and be part of the movement….be part of the solution…….let your voice be heard…..let Washington know that they are part of the problem…..let the greedy bastards know that we are tired of their shit!

The country needs YOU!  The American people need YOU!  Help the movement get the news out…the media will not….it is up to YOU!

Hikers Released!

The world is all a twitter (the feeling, not the website) because Iran has released those two remaining American hikers, but not before they paid for the privileged of coming home and I have purposefully waited a week or so before commenting on the situation….well that time has passed and now I want to comment…..

They have returned to the US and have made their statement in a press conference…..watch and watch it again….there are few questions I want to pose…..http://bit.ly/rbsd6b     First there is some background and then move on to the press conference one……

Before I ask myself questions I want to comment on the situation from the start……what we had were three Americans working in Iraq, for a contractor or whoever, that decide to go for a leisurely strolling, in a country at war, along an unmarked border with Iran where they accidentally crossed the border and were captured by the Iranians and imprisoned, about 3 years ago…..

Now if that story is the truth…I feel about them the way I feel about mountain climbers that go unprepared and get snowbound and need rescuing….they are STUPID!  You mean they went for a walk along a hostile border without knowing where they were at all times….if so let they rot…the gene pool does not need them!

Before I get the usual amount of hate mail…..I am NOT defending Iran….I do NOT think Iran is a good guy….so save the hate for someone else.   Yes, I am glad they are home….but stupid is as stupid does….period!

Now my questions.  Who wrote their statements at the press conference?  those were not statements that people make that are happy to be free.  They said they were beaten……where?  I have been beaten and you do not look like you came from a gym afterwards.  Why would they make overtly political statements at their welcome party?

My conclusions…..the CIA or State Department wrote their comments.  At least one of them more than likely worked for one of our cracker jack intel services.  Watch the video again and you tell me.

It is good they are home and we may NEVER know the real story of this saga.

Finally! Someone With Nuts!

We bloggers on the Left have been bitching that NO one in the media is paying attention to the situation occurring on Wall Street…..Americans are protesting the Wall Street control of the economy and our lives….many people are tweeting about it and talking about it but the media is ignoring it for as long as possible……but finally…..Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC had a section in his show, the Last Word, on the antics of the police….please watch and see that the news gets out…….http://on.msnbc.com/riQN1a

Finally!  Finally a media personality has shown some cajones!  More needs to be done and reported….but at least someone in the media is watching……..

“Compassionate Conservatism”

College of Political Knowledge

First, I want to send props out to a loyal reader and friend, Dusty of Left Wing Nut Job (please go to blogroll and visit this insightful site) for giving me the idea for this post……

Compassionate conservatism?  You may recall the term from the GW Bush campaign in 2000 and 2004…that was what some were calling his candidacy…..But just what is it, right?

GW and his gang did not invent the term….it was first used by Donald Wead in 1977 in a book that he had written….but the term came into wide usage during the Reagan years and forward…..that is all well and good….but what is it?

Compassionate conservatism has been defined as the belief that conservatism and compassion complement each other. A compassionate conservative might see the social problems of the US, such as health care or immigration, as issues that are better solved through cooperation with private companies, charities and religious institutions rather than directly through government departments. As former Bush chief speechwriter Mike Gerson put it, “Compassionate conservatism is the theory that the government should encourage the effective provision of social services without providing the service itself.”

It is a catchy little term that I think should be retired from the vocabulary of anyone in the GOP.  Yes, they still think that charities and such should be the ones that provide services to the people and the government is best that governs least, it has proven itself not very compassionate.

Look at recent events…..in three consecutive GOP debates….there was massive applause for a governor that had killed 200+ people, then there was a shouting contest to let a sick man without health insurance to be left to die and then the final straw was the booing of an American serviceman in Iraq who asked a question about gays serving openly….NOT one of those incidents shows any form of compassion in the least…

Then explain where is the compassion for the American people when GOP representatives, governors and legislators that are working to curtail the rights of workers or the assault on voting rights or the calling for the elimination of the department of education?  Or how about, is it compassionate to raffle off the same gun that shot Rep. Giffords in her own district?  Or better yet, is it compassionate to hold up needed disaster money while they play with budget games?  Just what part of the GOP would you consider compassionate?

My suggestion is that as long as the GOP attacks the people and coddles the Wall Street crowd that they stop using the word….COMPASSIONATE!  The days of a conservative using compassion are GONE!

Authoritarianism—GOP Style

College of Political Knowledge

Remember back in the day when everything you heard about the now defunct USSR was just how authoritarian they were?  How the people had very little say in the direction of the government and the country.  How if you were a politician and not on board with the current leadership you were eased out…..by eased I mean imprisoned, poisoned or in a tragic car wreck…..remember those days?

Everyone agrees that the USSR was an authoritarian regime and unacceptable…..but just what are the aspects of governing that made it so?  An authoritarian government is the form of government based on the principle of requiring obedience to the authority of one person or a small group of people. Other people must be obedient to the will of the government and they have little or no influence over the decisions made by the government. Authoritarian government involves a “top-down” command structure.

Is that what you were thinking it meant to be an authoritarian government?

Authoritarianism emphasises the rule of the few,it often includes election rigging, political decisions being made by a select group of officials behind closed doors, a bureaucracy that sometimes operates independently of rules,which does not properly supervise elected officials, and fails to serve the concerns of the constituencies they purportedly serve. Authoritarianism also tends to embrace the informal and unregulated exercise of political power, a leadership that is “self-appointed and even if elected cannot be displaced by citizens’ free choice among competitors,” the arbitrary deprivation of civil liberties, and little tolerance for meaningful opposition.  (Thanx to wiki for the help)……..

I have been watching the antics in Washington for many years now and I see a disturbing trend developing…….It is a scary thought but I am beginning to think the GOP is moving toward the authoritarian position…I know you think I am just paranoid….but let me explain why I feel that way and then you decide if I am paranoid or not…….

Let us look at some of the characteristics of authoritarianism…..

Election rigging……the GOP in many states are trying to enforce laws that would make it harder for people to register or even to vote….by making it harder to vote because of ID problems or no transportation and making it harder to register by eliminating certain types of ID or a time limit for getting paper work in…..

Secrecy in decision making……politicians meet behind closed doors to decide what is important for the country….like a debt debate when the country needs jobs…..to decide that the opposition has NO good ideas that can be met with compromise……

Elected officials are not held accountable for their actions or decisions….like breaking the law with a hooker and not being prosecuted or allowed to fondle pages, etc……representatives think they are above the law of the land….

Taking away of civil liberties…like freedom of association….freedom of independent thought……

They see no way to tolerate meaningful opposition….trying to eliminate the opposition by restricting the funds that they are able to access….

And finally, follows a path of their choosing and not one of the need of the people….and the people’s desires are NOT important as retaining power….

I know that many of my GOP acquaintances will tell me how idiotic all that seems and that it can be explained as democracy at work……but as an observer I say…CRAP!  There is NOTHING democratic about the antics of the GOP and its Tea Party handlers……..if this situation is not checked then I can see a day when it will be a one party that is as authoritarian as anything that was found elsewhere……(wink…wink…..you know where I mean)……..

How About Some Caveman Sex?

My last day of Zen…..with all the completely bonehead politics these days…I need that 2 days of mental serenity…….

My daughter and I have been arguing about Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon…I say the Nedies are a sub specie and my daughter says they aren’t….and of course me being the Daddy I am right……..we agree that man started its life in Africa and eventually set off Northeast and around the East end of the Mediterranean and eventually made their way to Southern Europe where we have all the cave paintings and artifacts…….I say the Cros made the trip and found the Nedies already in Southern Europe….thus the Cros started in Africa and the Nedies from some place else…..we, my daughter and I, get into shouting matches whenever the subject comes up…..and this post may do again….

The question now is, since they occupied the same area, at least for awhile, did the bump uglies with each other?

The Week Magazine has a few answers to this question……

Are scientists sure we mated with Neanderthals?
Yes: The proof is in our DNA. As much as four percent of the DNA in some people now living was originally Neanderthal, according to the study. Importantly, some of that DNA is found in the part of the human genome known as the HLA (human leucocyte antigen) sequence of genes, which plays a critical role in our immune defenses. “The cross-breeding wasn’t just a random event,” says lead researcher Peter Parham of Stanford University, as quoted in the Daily Mail. “It gave something useful to the modern human.”Ancient groups of Neanderthals living in Europe and Asia were exposed to a number of viruses and bacteria that weren’t found in Africa. They developed a resistance to these infections that Homo sapiens living in Africa didn’t possess. When modern humans migrated out of Africa into Europe and Asia, scientists theorize, interbreeding allowed them to quickly pass on the local Neanderthals’ immune defenses to their children.

Are Neanderthals the only group we humans interbred with?
No: We apparently had a wandering eye, and also bred with another ancient group of now-extinct cousins called the Denisovans, who are known only through the DNA found in a single tooth and finger bone fragment discovered in a Siberian cave in 2008. This back-and-forth pattern of migration and interbreeding shows that human history was “a lot more complex and interesting” than previously thought, says anthropologist Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, as quoted by Discovery News.

There you are….there is proof that the two sub species cross mated….and that could explain where such individuals like Perry, Breitbart and Beck came from…take a look at Perry…the features are more Nedie than Cro…..I’m just saying!