Is this man senile or what?

Alaska Senator and convicted felon, Ted "The Internet is a Series of Tubes" Stevens said today in a debate, "I have not been convicted of anything." He went on to say, "I think you will find out, I will succeed and I'll be found innocent."

A couple of Halloween Treats

Here are two Halloween items I hope you will enjoy.
The first is the 5th movement of Belioz's "Symphonie Fantastique." You can find the entire piece on youtube if you like. This is the 10 minute finale, "The Witch's Sabbath."

Berlioz ‘s Symphonie Fantastique 5th movement




Here is a blurb about the symphony from wikipedia.

The symphony is a piece of program music which tells the story of "an artist gifted with a lively imagination" who has "poisoned himself with opium" in the "depths of despair" because of "hopeless love." Berlioz provided his own program notes for each movement of the work (see below). He prefaces his notes with the following instructions:[1]
The composer’s intention has been to develop various episodes in the life of an artist, in so far as they lend themselves to musical treatment. As the work cannot rely on the assistance of speech, the plan of the instrumental drama needs to be set out in advance. The following programme must therefore be considered as the spoken text of an opera, which serves to introduce musical movements and to motivate their character and expression.
There are five movements, instead of the four movements which were conventional for symphonies at the time:
1. Rêveries - Passions (Dreams - Passions)
2. Un bal (A ball)
3. Scène aux champs (Scene in the country)
4. Marche au supplice (March to the scaffold)
5. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a witches' Sabbath)

From Berlioz's program notes:[1]
He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath… Roar of delight at her arrival… She joins the diabolical orgy… The funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies irae, the dance of the witches. The dance of the witches combined with the Dies irae.

***************************************************

The second part is Ray Bradbury's animated movie"The Halloween Tree." Someone posted the video in 8 parts. It's about an hour long and tells the story of Halloween from a youngster's standpoint. Narrated by Ray Bradbury and uses the voice of Leonard Nimoy as Moundshroud the story teller, it's entertaining and informative. Your kid's may even enjoy it.

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Happy Halloween

Blast from the past

Remember when this letter was going around the intertubes four years ago? It seems that a lot of the red states are now purple and credit goes to many progressives from red states for standing up to the bigots. In all fairness, there are a lot of wonderful places in red states that weren't covered in this letter. They have the Grand Canyon, the Rockies, beautiful Florida beaches and tons of other great vacation destinations, really good food, warm hospitable people, cowboys, country music, the home of the blues, the birthplaces of America's best writers (even though it seems they came to NY to die)... but you get the point. It also leaves out the point that the blue states would get stuck with the economically devastated California.

This letter does not necessarily reflect the views of the bloggers at Blondesense, but it's worth a look. Again.

Dear Red States:

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and all the slave states.

We get stem cell research, the best beaches and the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood.

We get Apple, Intel and Microsoft; you get WorldCom.

We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss.

We get 85 percent of America 's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama.

We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America 's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners), 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia .

We get Hollywood and Yosemite , thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

Finally, we're taking all the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico .

Peace out,

Blue States

h/t ROF

Say something nice about the other guy

CNN Politics has a piece by contributor Bob Greene where he asks decided voters to say something nice about the other guy. He thinks that it makes people feel better by looking for the better side of the man they oppose. It was quite a change from the vile divisiveness we've been hearing.


We're progressives around here. Can we come up with something nice to say about McCain or are we too snarkalicious?

Sci Fi or Sci Fact?

From Military Investigates Amnesia Beams

A team of scientists from the United States and China announced last week that, for the first time, they had found a means of selectively and safely erasing memories in mice, using the signaling molecule αCaMKII. It's a big step forward, and one that will be of considerable interest to the military, which has devoted efforts to memory manipulation as a means of treating post-traumatic stress disorder. But some military research has moved in another direction entirely... continued

Obligatory Friday Sex Post

Halloween "YIKES!" Edition.

Republican Bizarro World

From John Aravosis at Americablog:

Let me get this straight. John McCain finds a guy to be his mascot for Americans who will be hurt under Obama's tax plan, when in fact Joe Mascot does better under Obama's plan than he does under McCain's. And to add insult to injury, Joe doesn't really pay all his taxes anyway - he's delinquent. But somehow that makes him a "hero" to Republicans, and it makes him John McCain's perfect mascot for the campaign - a guy who doesn't pay his taxes and who will benefit more from an Obama presidency. And now, "Joe" has hired a personal manager (read: agent) who hopes to get Joe doing Home Depot commercials and maybe even running for Congress (seriously). What's next, $150,000 outfits and $8,000 make-up jobs? Are there any Republicans left who appreciate the debasement of their party that is happening before their eyes?

Yes, that's right. The Republican party is but a shell of what it once was. Now it's no longer the home of the well to do corporatists. It's a redneck party and what a party it is!

Oh Goodie

It appears that the powers that be are manufacturing expecting a message from Osama bin Laden right around the election. It is being said that he would run the risk of becoming irrelevant if he doesn't rear his ugly face.

"...sources say a number of intelligence analysts have concluded it is critical for al Qaeda's top leader to be seen or heard, if only for public relations purposes. Those analysts believe that if bin Laden is not heard from, he runs the risk of being considered irrelevant or impotent.

"According to sources, the full weight of the intelligence electronic eavesdropping and human sourcing is right now desperately looking for any hint of a bin Laden statement. So far there is only rumor, no hard evidence a message is coming, officials said."

Who side are these intelligence eavesdroppers on anyway? And what relevant thing would OBL have to say to Americans? "Nyah, nyah, I'm still alive!"

Full story.

And in business news...

A Question for A.I.G.: Where Did the Cash Go?

A.I.G. has declined to provide a detailed account of how it has used the Fed’s money. The company said it could not provide more information ahead of its quarterly report, expected next week, the first under new management. The Fed releases a weekly figure, most recently showing that $90 billion of the $123 billion available has been drawn down.

Shell announces huge rise in profits

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell today joined the profits bonanza from record prices with a 71 per cent jump in third-quarter earnings.

The firm made a mammoth 10.9 billion US dollars (£6.6 billion) between July and September - a period when oil prices hit a peak above 147 dollars a barrel.

New York Seeks Details on CEO Pay From Nine Banks

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is demanding information about executive compensation and bonuses at nine banks that have received federal funds under TARP, the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

In a letter to each institution's Board of Directors, Cuomo warns the bonuses could violate New York's state fraudulent conveyance law.

"Obviously," he writes, "we will have grave concerns if your expected bonus pool has increased in any way as a result of your receipt or expected receipt of taxpayer funds from TARP."

The Obama Informercial

If you didn't watch it earlier. It's quite impressive.




Did you catch Obama on the Daily Show last night? You can watch it here.

Also Obama was hilarious in his North Carolina rally.

"Lately he's called me a socialist for wanting to roll-back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class. I don't know what's next. By the end of the week he'll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten. I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

Bush tries to pass law pardoning himself from war crimes

h/t Peter of Loin Tree

PS. this appears to be an older video

Palin the Socialist

Last paragraph from LIKE, SOCIALISM by Hendrik Hertzberg in the New Yorker.

For her part, Sarah Palin, who has lately taken to calling Obama “Barack the Wealth Spreader,” seems to be something of a suspect character herself. She is, at the very least, a fellow-traveler of what might be called socialism with an Alaskan face. The state that she governs has no income or sales tax. Instead, it imposes huge levies on the oil companies that lease its oil fields. The proceeds finance the government’s activities and enable it to issue a four-figure annual check to every man, woman, and child in the state.

One of the reasons Palin has been a popular governor is that she added an extra twelve hundred dollars to this year’s check, bringing the per-person total to $3,269. A few weeks before she was nominated for Vice-President, she told a visiting journalist—Philip Gourevitch, of this magazine—that “we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs.” Perhaps there is some meaningful distinction between spreading the wealth and sharing it (“collectively,” no less), but finding it would require the analytic skills of Karl the Marxist. ♦

Goes to show you that even the maroons running for public office don't know socialism even when they are practicing it.

Let Freedom Ring

Governor Charlie Crist of Florida decided to extend early voting hours in Florida to 12 hours a day from 8 hours a day and for all early voting sites to be open on Sunday.

At a hastily arranged news conference, Crist said the right to vote is sacred and that "many have fought and died for this right."

Early voting so far favors Democrats in the Sunshine State.

A Republican strategist in the state told Politico that, "He just blew Florida for John McCain."

Racists for McCain

OMG. Watch Pennsylvanians for McCain. They are completely batshit crazy. God help us. This isn't going to end if Obama wins. They are vile.

McCain: Business first. Workers last.

John McCain said he'd veto the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), supported by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, would enable working people to bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions by restoring workers’ freedom to choose for themselves whether to join a union.

"It’s dangerous for America, it’s dangerous to small business. And I think it’s a threat to one of the fundamentals of democracy."

John McCain does not want to raise minimum wage

"As long as we take care of small businesses. Small businesses right now — I see them every day — they say, You increase the minimum wage, I lay off workers. Is that what we want to do right now? Of course not."

Enjoy this one:

Joe The Plumber is on the campaign trail for McCain. He stopped in Ohio and twice agreed with a questioner that a vote for Obama is a vote for the death to Israel. He was on Fox News voicing his "opinion" and even got Shepard Smith pissed off. Furthermore, the McCain campaign stands behind Joe the Plumber's assertions. Scary.

SMITH: Joe, do you know Barack Obama’s positions on Israel?

WURZELBACHER: Listen, I know you wanna really get some answers on this one, I’m just not gonna help you out here, Shepherd. Let people go out and find, that’s what I’ve been telling people. […] Listen, you don’t want my opinion on foreign policy. I know just enough probably to be dangerous.

SMITH: Yeah, well that’s what I was kinda wondering.

Smith actually said at the end of the interview on Faux News, that Obama is committed to a strong friendship with Israel and called the whole joe the plumber thing frightening. Indeed.

...Thy just punishments..."

God Punishes Pakistanis for Complaining About U.S. Invasion of Their Country

Bloomberg: "More than 150 people were killed in Pakistan when a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck before dawn and destroyed as many as five villages near the southwestern city of Quetta, officials said.

"About 200 people were injured in the quake, Mohammed Zaman, assistant to the chief secretary of Baluchistan province, Nasir Khosa, said.

"The quake hit at 4:09 a.m. local time in a mountainous region about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north-northeast of Quetta at a depth of 15 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The epicenter was about 185 kilometers southeast of the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan."

"Confiteor Deo omnipotenti..."

Little Man in the Boat

And NO, it's not what you're thinking. Kindly get your mind out of the gutter, please.

I am speaking metaphorically.

The Little Man is John McCain.

The Boat is his campaign.

And it seems that everyone is poking a hole in his boat. If it's not journalists, it's the Obama campaign; if it's not bloggers, it's his own campaign staff.

Case in point:

A fellow named Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain's senior economic adviser, was interviewed by CNN Money concerning the McCain health care plan. Under the plan:

"...employees would get taxed on the value of their health insurance, which on average costs $12,680 per year for a family, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Workers pay an average of $3,354 in premiums, while their employers cover the rest. Most employees have their premiums deducted from their paychecks without paying tax on them. So, if you make $50,000, you are likely paying tax on only $46,646 of income.Under McCain, your taxable income would rise to $59,326. If you were in the 25% tax bracket, it would mean an additional $3,170 in taxes.But this increase would be knocked back by the $5,000 tax credit. So in the end, you'd actually have $1,830 to put in a health savings account, which could be used to cover premiums and other medical expenses."

Now there's a definite problem with this, and only a minor part of it is the fact that you'd be paying taxes on your health care. Taking out the tax advantage of employer-based health care benefits would result in higher taxes and some employers might drop health benefits completely.

Enter Douglas Holtz-Eakin. When asked whether employees would take advantage of McCain's proffered $5,000 tax incentive, Holtz-Eakin was all too ready to poke a hole in The Boat:

"Why would they leave?" said Holtz-Eakin. "What they are getting from their employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."

You just have to admire people who stay on message.

Right now, with just about a week to go in The Great Presidential Contest of 2008, McCain's campaign boat is looking like a nice healthy chunk of Swiss Cheese.

And try as he might, Captain (USN, ret.) McCain can't play Little Dutch Boy forever. Not with people like his own aides poking holes every time they open their mouths.

Glub ... glub ... glub ...

twirp

McCain calls liberals a threat to economy

That was the headline in this morning's Boston Globe. I had to laugh. I wonder who told John McCain to say that and how he can say that with a straight face. It's right out of Orwell's "1984."

McCain admitted not very long ago that he does not understand the economy. He just proved it. He really ought to STFU now before he chokes on his foot.

McCain said, "Now this election comes down to how you want your hard-earned money spent."

Yes it does and that's why I would sooner cut my nose off than vote for another 8 years of political retardation. Let's see. Did I want my hard earned money spent on a quagmire in Iraq? Nope. Am I happy that most of the money went to war profiteers? I think not. Did I enjoy seeing my hard earned money spent on fueling my car? Nope. Was I thrilled that most people didn't get raises in the past 8 years? Not really, no. Did I enjoy watching it evaporate in the stock market? Nope. In fact any gains I had over the past 8 years are completely gone. Why on earth would I want more of the same?

Lip service is cheap.

"Do you want to keep it and invest it in your future, or have it taken by the most liberal person to ever run for the presidency and the Democratic leaders - the most liberal, who have been running Congress for the past two years, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid?" McCain went on, to boos. "You know, my friends, this is a dangerous threesome."

Obama a liberal? Ha. Is that the new PC code word for "African American?" I know it was the code word for "Jew" not that very long ago. Pelosi and Harry Reid- liberal? ha. I really ought to purchase hundreds of copies of "1984" and pass them out to undecided voters and see if they make the connection. But alas I don't have that kind of money to piss away anymore. The bankers do. Gee, how did they get all that cash infusion? Socialism? Hmmm.

What does McCain think that Obama is going to do with all our "hard earned" money? He doesn't say. He doesn't say what he would do with it either.

I think what disappoints me most about my fellow Americans is their willingness to pick up on this new "Marxist" and "socialist" meme put forth by the McCainiacs. Does anyone bother to take statements into context anymore? I wonder if any of the maroons who cheer when McCain or Palin utter the words, "socialist" if they even know what that means. I doubt it.

Furthermore, many of these knuckleheads who are repeating the "socialist" meme consider themselves "christian." A Christian implies that they are followers of Jesus. Jesus was such a socialist that it would make their heads explode if they ever bothered to read what he had to say. "Sell all that you have, give it to the poor and follow me," Jesus once said to his disciples. Talk about spreading the wealth. I don't think there's a true Jesus follower among the McCain supporters.

The CEO ...

Defiantly hanging onto his bloated bonus package as his deregulated Randite world explodes around him ...

They have taken our money. Soon they will have taken our food and shelter.

Read all about it at Jim Kunstler's latest at Clusterfuck Nation:
"Easthampton Burning?".

And the only difference this or that new President and Congress might make is the rapidity with which we are overwhelmed and dominated.

Senator 'Series of Tubes' Stevens Found Guilty on All Counts

He's the 5th senator in US history to be convicted of a crime while serving in the Senate. He will stay on the ballot in Alaska. It seems like he ought to resign as he is 84 yrs old and has served in the senate for 40 years. Full Story

Nipped in the Bud - One Down

But how many to go?

This, from The Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the Nashville field office for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the two men planned to shoot 88 black people and decapitate another 14. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told The Associated Press.

"They said that would be their last, final act _ that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama," Cavanaugh said. "They didn't believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying."

A egoist's dream...

Overused Metaphor Alert!

I was reading the morning newspaper this morning (duh!) and noted that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the Dallas Cowboys yesterday in football (that's for the benefit of the non-sports fans, although I think it'd be fun to see them square off in full-contact Parcheesi). The Cowboys defense held the Bucs to only three field goals and the final score was 13-9.

The Bucs came to Dallas with a bit of swagger in their steps, and why not? Dallas was falling apart; their starting quarterback was out with an injured finger, one of the star players was openly screaming on the sidelines and their defensive secondary looked suspect. By all measurements it should have been an easy win for Tampa.

But the saying goes "Any given Sunday ..."

Now it's time for The Overused Metaphor.

I've been looking at the polls and noting that the perceived gap between McCain and Obama is widening in Obama's favor. Bookies in London give McCain long odds to pull this one out, but the cocky little bugger (let's recall he is a gambler and a Navy fighter pilot, which requires a sort of a gambler's instincts) has vowed that he will win. Pundits and coworkers cite "the Bradley Effect" (that more people will say they'll vote for Obama for the pollsters, then turn around and vote the opposite way in the voting booth) as if it were a spell to ward off what they perceive as the evils of an Obama Presidency.

There are eight days left until the actual election.

And I'm too much of a realist not to say that Obama can still lose this thing.

and in other wars...

LA Times: 8 reportedly killed in U.S. raid inside Syria

AP: Suspected US strike kills up to 20 in Pakistan

A coincidence that it's one week from US elections?

Rousing the Rabble

"Fear is the path that leads to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate. Hate . . . leads to suffering."

There’s a lot of fear in America these days.
Oh, it’s not the fear of another terrorist attack. We’ve been collectively whipsawed back and forth on that issue so many times that the prospect of another 9/11 makes us shrug, by and large. With more Americans dying each year of the flu and food poisoning than died on 9/11, one needs a sense of perspective about terrorism.
The fear I speak of is largely twofold.
Both are related and can be grouped under the heading of Fear of the Unknown.
One is the fear of poverty, of having your savings disappear and of being unable to retire in comfort or having your children go to college. That fear makes people fret about the future; if we knew the future, we could at least sleep nights.
The second is the upcoming presidential election. I may be wrong on this, but we’ve never had an election held during two wars and on the cusp of a major recession. Just one of those circumstances would be bad enough – coupling it with the other is sure to make us a bit jittery.
I said earlier that The Fear was “largely” twofold, because there is another component that, quite frankly, makes a small segment of the population so pants-wettingly afraid that they become filed with unfocused anger.
Focusing that anger leads to hatred of the target, and that hatred, based as it is on nothing more than generalized anger, tends to be itself very nonspecific. It’s “fill in the blank” hate, ready to accept any label.
Which leads us to the subject of this post, and the person Sarah Palin is discussing in her speech. Senator Barack Obama.
To a small segment of Americans who have been taught by their elders, relatives, friends, community and church to fear and hate The Scary Other, Obama represents a threat. Obama, to them, is The Other personified.
Like I said, enough fear triggers and anger response that becomes hatred if you can put a name or a face on that fear. Which is precisely what politicians like Palin and to a lesser extent McCain have been trying to do.
Being at least somewhat more sophisticated than their audiences, McCain and Palin have tried to use the coded speech of right-wing ideologues, but the rabble (for want of a better term, and it is applicable) fall back on simpler labels:
Terrorist!
Communist!
Muslim!
N***er!
The level of hatred being stoked in these crowds is palpable, even in a YouTube clip. I shudder to think what it must actually feel like, in person.
Now, where does this hatred lead? You can’t just keep shoveling fuel into the fire; it has to have an outlet.
Which leads to the rest of the quote from Yoda – which, by the way, I accept as completely axiomatic.
Suffering.
Back in the day, this level of rhetoric was usually followed by a fun-filled pogrom through the nearest Jewish ghetto, or – more recently – a foray into the black area of the town.
There have been a few acts of violence so far, as people at these rallies couldn’t wait for the speaker to point them at anyone. To my knowledge no one has died, yet. In this context, the Ashley Todd false report incident may have been a deliberate attempt on someone’s part to ignite the hatred that’s been whipped up into actual, widespread violence.
It might be hoped that our collective common sense will assert itself, but after watching Gov. Palin do her demagogue act I worry that common sense will be too little, too late. I can only ask that Americans do what I wished they would have done after 9/11 – act without fear. Do not be ruled by fear or anger – both cloud your judgment, and do not allow yourselves to be driven to hatred and violence by politicians.
I opened this post with a pop culture reference; I will close with two more:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
- Frank Herbert, Dune

People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?
- Rodney King, 1992.

This is a song done by the Chad Mitchell trio back in 1962.
I'm posting it because of the "communistic" comments made by a fanatic Vice Presidential Candidate.
It's just music with lyrics but for any of you who never heard it, I hope you enjoy it.



Some things never seem to go out of date...(sigh!)

Republican Email Warns Jewish Voters of Second Holocaust If Obama Wins

"Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008," the e-mail from the Republican Federal Committee of PA reads. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let's not make a similar one this year!"
[..]
It warns "Fellow Jewish Voters" of the danger of a second Holocaust due to the threats to Israel from its neighbors and touts Republican presidential candidate John McCain's qualifications over those of Obama.

The email was sent to 75,000 Jewish voters. The Republicans in Pa have disavowed the email and claim that the "strategist" who helped draft the letter was fired.

The AP reports that Bryan Rudnick who was responsible for the email said he had authorization from party officials to send the email, but wouldn't say who it was.

According to TPM it gets better. The person who is distancing himself from the email is Peter Feldman, the same guy who on Thursday was pushing the mugging hoax by the white woman who falsely claimed that a black Obama supporter attackers and maimed her.

Ironically, on Saturday night, Feldman told the press that McCain "rejects politics that degrade our civics." The AP didn't remind him about the mugging hoax.

Perhaps McCain ought to distance himself from the Pa GOP and especially Peter Feldman, whose fear mongering, race baiting and desperation have gotten the best of him.

Speaking of desperation by the GOP see also these stories at TPM

WH is using the DOJ for political purposes again. WH wants information on the 200,000 newly registered voters in Ohio.
Claims of voter intimidation in NM Voting rights group calls for probe.

Governor Palin is now warning folks that if Obama becomes president we will no longer be free. We will be communist.

Furthermore, Palin took the clothing from the GOP but has strayed so far from the message that the McCain people plan to shred her after the election.

Worst. Campaign. Ever. The McCain campaign may go down in history as the dirtiest and most desperate presidential campaign in our history. And we still have a week to go. Expect it to get even worse.

Sister Love's Traveling Salvation Show

From the Huffington Post:


McCain Faces Internal "Palin Insurgency"


We’re starting to see the true Sarah “Fanatic, Religious Right-Wing” Palin coming out. She’s offered little glimpses of it in her past comments and the interview with Brian Williams seemed to show “tension” between McCain and Palin. Palin takes over the interview and McCain doesn’t appear too comfortable with the choice Dobson made him accept.

The story at Huffington should come as no surprise to any of us who have followed her emergence from the cave. That she pretends to be speaking from her own (warped) mind yet parroting views of extremist religious outside influence is becoming more and more evident. She continues to deliver more and more of Dobson’s Radical Views in her speaking.

Whether she actually understands the extent of the division she continues to cultivate in this country or if she is a mentally aware party to it really makes no difference. She is a TOOL of the Radical Religious Right; fomenting hatred, division and violence which are basics to maintaining control of the frenzied, crazed Xtians and necessary to spread the underlying fascism of their misinterpreted Xtianity.

Watching her closely, a few of us have noticed a growing fanatical expression no longer buried under that pasted-on, artificial smile. Her demeanor has become more bellicose as she tries less than subtly to inflame those at her rallies. She feeds off of the pernicious neurosis she instills in her mindless minions. Watch her eyes and facial expression as she whips the crowd with talking points that obviously aren’t hers but that she fully accepts. That appearance is the same I’ve seen in “Hell, Fire and Brimstone Preachers” at revivals goading their sheep into their demented visions of religious ecstasy...and she attains similar results. It’s the same attitude we saw in a World War II leader in his last days; in crazed “preachers” in Guyana; in Waco; in Montana; in a hundred zealots in a hundred different places driving their sheep into a fervor that can only end one way.

While she is being dismissed by many “rational observers” and even a number of semi sane McCain advisors, make no mistake, the shadows behind this unapologetic opportunist are the ones providing demented motives Palin spews to incite these cattle.

Even if the Republican Party tries to ignore or even disown Palin after the election, the diabolic Religious Nuts using her will not stop. Their taste of power these last 8 years is too adicting for them to ignore.

Another blogger has expressed disdain at Obama for his “Messianic” comments; him (Obama) standing in a Heavenly light. Concerns like that are petty when you compare the hidden malevolence behind Palin’s (and her handler’s) ever widening radicalism. Her association with the Cult she calls her church shows the depth of her commitment to that religious belief no matter how she downplays or evades questions about it. We’ve seen her type before, throughout history. We just never expected it to happen in America.

Bush and Cheney’s fanaticism is mild in comparison to what she and those who support her have planned for this country. Bush and Cheney merely wanted money.

Dobson and his ilk, through Palin, want our souls.


Additional Republican Tripe:
From AmericaBlog:

Norm Coleman Mails "Rape" Comic Book to Minnesota's Children

They just defy the concept of being Human, Xtian or sane.

Sad, but funny. Watch the original first then the new one.

Is This Teh Real America?

It brings a tear to my eye.

I went to an Obama rally and I didn't witness one tiny bit of vile stupidity like what is on this video. Now he's a communist? Did anyone ever pay attention in school and even know what communism is? Or what socialism is?



It's no wonder that McCain wants to spend election night alone at home with his wife. Look what he's created. I hope he's satisfied.

Playing For Change: Peace Through Music

I caught this on Bill Moyers Journal last night. Get out the kleenex box and watch this PBS segment Playing For Change: Peace Through Music

Moyers talks with Mark Johnson, the producer of this remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music. Listen to musicians from around the world perform "Stand By Me" and "One Love".


“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.”

NO ON PROPOSITION 8

NO ON PROPOSITION 8

(click on above youtube video for Prop 8 television ad)

Adorable, happy little girl: “Mom, guess what I learned in school today? I learned how a prince can marry a prince and I can marry a princess!”

Mom: Rendered speechless, with eyes bugging out of her head as if she’s about to have a flippin’ coronary. Sheer terror sets into the kitchen….

What kind of a parental reaction is this to direct at a happy young child? This mom acts like she doesn’t even love her kid. This mom acts like she doesn’t tolerate her kid saying anything she doesn’t think is correct - or much less even like. Instead, this mom acts as if this book “King and King” is about to convert her child into a lesbian – and finally, she’s horrified that her school is actually admitting that homosexuals even exist!

Meanwhile, a Silicon Valley lesbian couple parked their SUV Chevy Suburban displaying a message in front of a “devout Mormon family’s home” with a large “Yes on Prop 8” banner hanging over the expanse of their garage.

The family’s murky “logic” in support of this anti-gay rights proposition goes like this:

"We are not motivated by hate and anger in any way," Michele Sundstrom said. "We think same-sex couples should enjoy the same rights and privileges as married couples, as it says in the California family code. We just don't want to redefine the word marriage."

Happy Friday!

-2Truthy

Race baiting: Shame Shame Shame

A 20 year old campaign worker from Texas who was in Pittsburgh for a McCain event claimed she was mugged by a black guy who was enraged by her McCain bumper sticker and then beat her and carved a backwards B on her face.

Well it's a hoax.

Now the Pittsburgh TV station KDKA reports: "Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter 'B' in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.

The story was all over the news but I didn't believe it.

John Moody, executive vice president at Fox News, commented on his blog that "this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election. If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee. If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."

McCain's got some really crazy racist fans, doesn't he?

UPDATE: The girl is upset that the media jumped all over this story. She ought to place blame where blame is due. On McCain and Palin who called her to console her after her "ordeal." I would love to know what they told her.

Obligatory Friday Sex Post

Nympho Christian website encourages pious wives to spice up their sex lives
The site, Christian Nymphos, dispenses advice on how couples can spice up their love life without breaking God’s laws.
Suggestions for new sexual positions, scenarios and games are published alongside to links to Bible study websites.

I have to spend some time reading this website.

I wonder what kind of positions and scenarios can be thought up using the bible?
Remember Lot's wholesome family in Sodom?

• How about Lot's daughters getting him drunk and raping him?(genesis 19:30-36)
• Or Lot offering his virgin daughters to the townspeople banging on his door? (genesis 19:18)
  
• Maybe licking the salt off your wife? (genesis 19:26)

There is a lot of interesting stuff in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. I wonder if that story is on the "to do" list. hmm.

What other stories do you think would make a good background for some steamy nympho sex?

In Today's Science News

Radioactive Tape: Sticky-tape generates X-rays when unraveled in a vacuum—powerful enough to see finger bones.

CIVICS 101 -How the U.S.A. elects its President

A brief primer on how it all works

........But the Electoral College system also persists because despite its shortcomings, there are several reasons to recommend it. Supporters of the system point out that the framers of the Constitution considered several other possibilities, but settled on this one for its advantages: It helps ensure political stability by making it difficult for third party candidates to become president; it gives rural areas and small states more power, better distributing political clout across the country; and it encourages a federal system of representation.

one of the commenters to this post says that this is not true because at the time of the writing, there was not a 2 party system.


Any input on this?

Anyone....?

Anyone.........?

News from teh FLIP FLOP EXPRESS

I was just over at Think Progress reading the top stories and my head almost spun off my neck.

Sarah Palin who likes to use the word "terrorist" loosely isn't sure that abortion clinic bombers are terrorists or not. I guess it depends on whom you are terrorizing.

Sarah Palin, who enjoys using divisive language and pitting one group against another in our great land said this to Brian Williams: "I’m not gonna label myself. And I think that’s what annoys a lot of Americans – especially in a political campaign – is to start trying to label different parts of America, different backgrounds."

McCain: Obama represents a Bush third term. How desperate is that?

Rove Blames Market Volatility On Obama How really desperate is that?

McCain’s tax plan would have saved the McCains $730,000. Not surprising.

Newt Gingrich thinks SNL's Palin skits are slander and they should be sued.

McCain once voted against the use of campaign funds for clothing purchases.

Again, I can't wait for this election to be over. It hurts.

You've got to see this

Ron Howard for Barack Obama.

Visitors on their way to the Museum of Sex in NYC

Showing required Safe Sex attire.
(Anyone we know?)

Have a nice weekend...Going hunting?

Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans
The latest request from the Pentagon jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for contractors to provide a "Multi-Robot Pursuit System" that will let packs of robots "search for and detect a non-cooperative human".
One thing that really bugs defence chiefs is having their troops diverted from other duties to control robots. So having a pack of them controlled by one person makes logistical sense.

More at New Scientist.

Exit Strategy

Bill Moher on "Real Time with Bill Maher" has a segment on his friday show called: "Exit Strategy"
It is designed for us liberals, where to go if McCain wins the election. It is kinda funny...
I invite our commenters to design an exit strategy for the repugs, who are terrified of the prospect of Obama win! The desire to self banish I heard in person from some Long Islanders.
Feel free to call countries like Iraq or Afganistan or any other weird places on earth they can exit to in their desire to jump ship.
The sky is the limit.

Another thought:

Ronnie had Nancy. Reputedly, she was running the country during the last few years of his mental incompetence (should have been replaced by Bush 41 - Oh Gawd!).
Has anyone ever seen McCain at any rally without Cindy the C? To quote Cliff Claven, "What's up with that?"
I'm sure that her shadowing can be defended somehow, I just don't know how. And does the "First Dude" follow the Schnozz around? If so, he's staying in the background so we don't find out he is going to run things instead of Sarah.
So why's Cindy the C always within fainting distance of Johnny Boy?
Just a thought.

Addendum:

I just read on AmericaBlog NBC announced that Johnny Boy will be on "Meet the Press" Oct. 26th, live in, get this...Waterloo, Iowa! They have a video of ABBA doing Waterloo!
Hmmm? Wasn't there something historically significant about that name? We need hip boots to walk through the irony.

Yeah, I Know It's Not Friday

But I had to post this.

You can't make this shit up

After having children named Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig Governor Palin was asked what she would name another child. "I always wanted a son named Zamboni," she said.

She also considers herself an intellectual.

Generally, this blonde finds that those who label themselves intellectual are not.

Who the F@#K is that guy?

Jon Stewart - the only man I've ever really loved (besides my hubby)





and for everything else, there's MasterCard.........

Suspected US Missile Strike In Pakistan Kills 9

Are we at war with Pakistan?

How come it's not on the news?

Suspected U.S. missiles struck a religious school linked to the Taliban on Thursday, killing nine people in the lawless border region where al-Qaida and its Taliban allies are believed to plot attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The strike came hours after Parliament warned against any incursions on Pakistani soil and condemned the wave of terrorism tearing at the country, while stressing the need for dialogue.

This version of the story says that 11 were killed by drone missiles.

Nose Picking

Since the Right (and Faux Noise) has commented on Obama's ears, Failin' Palin's features are fair game.
Liz, I think what 2T and I referred to about her schnozz was the drooping "wattle." It just reminds me of someone who has to wipe their nose but never does; like something - there - you don't try to notice but once you do, you see it all the time.
It may not bother anyone else but it just seems to stand out to me (and don't get me started on her "square face"and wide, manly jowls!)

Some Thoughts for the Day:

Things I thunked about;

Go into a Wal-Mart (I know, it’s hard to do for some); look around at the vast amount of “Stuff” you can purchase with your dwindling dollars; take your time and really, really look at the vast amount of “Stuff”; then realize that over 70% of that “Stuff” is made in China; but you really don’t know which 70%; next check out the grocery section of your local Super Wal-Mart and wonder how much of that comes from China; then try to enjoy your next home-made (with products from Wal-Mart) meal!

Oil and gas prices went up; food, clothing, heating oil and nearly all necessary staples of our life increased in price because the cost of delivery went up; because gas prices went up; now gas is down over 30%; but other prices are still the same; they haven’t dropped and most small businesses said they are not going to return prices to the pre-oil price increase period; but the backbone of Amurikan jobs (small businesses) aren’t hiring because they can’t afford it, they say; but they're keeping the extra money anyway.

We had a milk/dairy products shortage a year or so ago and dairy products increased in price and decreased in volume; have you looked closely when you buy a half-gallon of ice cream?; it’s not a “half-gallon” any longer; it’s 1.75 quarts; but it’s the same price as that half-gallon; even though that shortage is officially over.

We haven’t heard anything lately about illegal immigrants coming into Amurika from Mexico; did they all stop because it’s election time? Maybe they can’t climb over the fence; did ladder exports to Mexico suddenly increase?

We had no trouble raising 700 billion for Wall Street on the spur of the moment with the gracious consent of the tax payers of Amurika; why are there people who don’t have heat for this coming winter when one-tenth of that amount could provide warmth for 95% of those who need it?

Is Iraq still a happening thing? Is it over? Did we win? Does anyone care if our boys and girls are still being maimed and killed for Cheney’s Oil? is there any way we can spend more money in Iraq so Halliburton can have a great Xmas and give bonuses like the failed Wall Street businesses?

Where’s George Bush? Where’s Dick Cheney? Have they gone to Paraguay yet?

Has Jenna dropped her load yet or is the Beige House hoping she’ll deliver December 25th as a sign from Sarah Palin? And did Bristol and what’s his name find an inn or will they have to look for a stable…or hockey rink? And will her mother’s pride and joy be a nice, bouncing 8 pound hockey puck?

Do they still make phone booths?

What have you thunk of lately?

Will God Decide The Election?

Gov Sarah Palin speaking to Dr Dobson of Focus on the Family:
"I know at the end of the day putting this in God’s hands, the right thing for America will be done, at the end of the day on Nov. 4.”

Does she know something we don't know? Is the GOP really God's Own Party?

What if God picks Barack Obama? Will she accept that God chose him?

Will millions of Obama supporters lose their faith in God if he picks McPalin?

October Surprise: War on America's Middle Class (While They Slept)

The Neo-Frat Boy Fascist’s Victory

As we all slumbered, counting our sheep,
The American People were hit in their sleep.
Dreaming of holiday trips to the sea,
Henry Paulson & Friends came looking for me.

There were no loud noises, no sirens or horns,

No flashing red lights through the windows or doors.
Far away on some spreadsheet a liberty lost
Died the death of this Nation, its sovereignty, tossed.

-2Truthy

Are the ruling elites of this country “idiots” or are they instead a clever klatch of diseased sociopaths, drunk on power as they pillage the economy at the expense of the American people? Is the Wall Street Banker Wealth Distribution scheme (otherwise called a “meltdown”) a result of ruling class “mistakes and incompetence?” Or is it the (in) direct result of an emotionally stultified and clueless, indoctrinated public, fed by our media for decades on power delusions of religion, race and social feel-goodism that have diverted attention away from crucial socio-economic policy?

In The Idiots Who Rule America Chris Hedges references the recipe on how to cook up a Fascist state:

“The first three aims of the corporatist movement in Germany, Italy and France during the 1920s, those that went on to become part of the Fascist experience, were “to shift power directly to economic and social interest groups, to push entrepreneurial initiative in areas normally reserved for public bodies” and to “obliterate the boundaries between public and private interest—that is, challenge the idea of the public interest.
Sound familiar?”

While clever Wall Street fox Hank Paulson, King of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) is tasked to “regulate” all of the unprecedented economic misdeeds, the American public is naive about power, which, by training, is at the margins of their attention as jobs disappear to fatten up their profits as no one holds them accountable. Americans have been raised to be good little partisan voters, signing onto a team with “heritage worldviews, as we do in religion.”

Although I must conclude that it was not sheer “idiocy” at all that paved the way for this wealth transfer between Wall Street’s investor class, I do completely agree with the latter part of Hedges’ sentence:

“It is only when these elites are exposed as incompetent parasites and dethroned that we will have any hope of restoring social, economic and political order.”

Indeed, we are in need of a media that is willing to expose the corporate neo-fascist frat boys (who are typically presented as heroes in the media or either completely hidden from view) and a steely, collective public will that is committed to dethroning these panty hamsters. However, I fail to see how scheming bankers can be written off as “incompetent parasites” instead of being called out on their calculated shakedown of John Q. Public. But hey, I’m no economist so what do I know? One thing I strongly suspect is this: We don’t need no stinking EESA. Obama and Pelosi are already planning a new multi-billion dollar "stimulus package" way above and beyond what has already been crammed down our throats. How much “stimulation” can the non-portfolio class of this country possibly take before the whole thing implodes? Never mind.

Perhaps what we need instead is a Department of Deprogramming led by smart, non-think-tanky economists with consciences and a sense of civic duty to replace this Department of Shit for Brains at the “T” to lead us out of this economic quagmire.

What we are now left with for “news” from “progressive” media run by the Power Elite is in crucial ways false and contrary to the public greater good. They tell us lies and instill a false consciousness not because they are idiots, but because they seek to gate-keep the scoop and then plunder and control us. Soon, when Emperor Obama takes the throne, his gr$$n backers will unveil their carbon cap and trade/footprint schemes that will further reduce us to the unsustainable numbers that we, Joe Consumer, in this new world order of dispensable human capital that We, the Disposable People, really are in their eyes:

“Listen to our officials talk about consumers—we’re only valuable to them insofar as we are predictable statistical constructs defined by corporations. Have you heard the Federal Reserve call for a new stimulus package? Beyond the fact that the Fed isn’t even a part of the government, their call represents one of the most troubling features from Hayek’s critique of scientific socialism: that the individual is treated as a means rather than as an end. They would manage us like cattle—not as living beings, mind you, but as potential dollars. None of this is new, and none of this is incompetence. This isn’t a financial collapse; it’s an engineered redistribution of wealth. It’s not a banking failure; it’s a dazzling success for bankers.” - Georg Poothausenschlofths

-2Truthy