Some public schools are looking to raise the price on a school lunch for the next school year.
Yeah, that rectangular slab o'pizza is gonna cost you come September.
Marketplace has a segment about our food pricing and shortage problem called Food Fight. Check it out regularly as they do update it from time to time.
Some older arguments concerning the price of rice and the impact on the poor in general.
So, Shaquille O'Neal rapped some nastiness about Kobe Bryant recently. Personally, I find Kobe a reprehensible piece of filth who thinks it is okay to cheat on his wife as long as he isn't raping someone.
Shaq? Not sure I have any feelings about him.
That said, foul language aside, he is pretty much free to hack on Kobe all day long as far as I'm concerned.
The funny in a not-so-funny way part of this is that Shaq, now playing for Phoenix, is a volunteer police officer for Maricopa County. The sheriff there, the infamous Joe Arpaio - whose idea of fun is rounding up a bunch of racists deputies and rousting Latino neighborhoods on the off chance an illegal *might* be there - thinks that Shaq's language (using the "N" word for instance) is too racist for him and wants Shaq to turn in his badges.
Shaq can't rap a bad word, but Sheriff Joe gets to treat every brown person as an illegal alien he can abuse and deport? Give me a fucking break.
I have no idea why this happened, maybe I missed the memo, but there were a lot of stories related to email this week.
Apparently, one-fifth of Americans still haven't used email. We call them Appalachians and they believe any racist myth you tell them. Remember them? They vote for Hillary Clinton, and now John McCain.
NPR has a segment called Digital Culture. Throughout the week, I heard stories on how kids can handle multiple conversations at once over various media, a discussion of the etiquette of "friending" people online, and on one company's effort to avoid using email every Friday.
Also, a story on how people get attached and also overloaded on technology. In the article, it is called "disconnect anxiety", but I prefer the term created by Daniel Keys Moran in his fiction called "datastarve". Catchier, no?
Well, I updated to Movable Type 4 but now most of the entries have lost their date and the template is severely jacked up. Still deciding whether to roll back or not.
In the meantime, yes, this is still the blog, it is just shattered.
Stay tuned.
There's a lot of talk on how a McCain presidency would essentially be a third term for Bush. Even those who want to dispute that keep running into a reality that says differently. And it isn't even that McCain started out that way. NPR covers many times McCain was a so-called "maverick" in the past. That said, the more he runs for president, the more he flip-flops and discredits his own former views and embraces the Age of Bush.
An older article, but this one discusses whether McCain has a real problem with the veteran's vote. Given that he has recently shat on the new GI Bill, I would argue that it has gotten worse.
Since Official Space Alien Cindy McCain keeps trashing Michelle Obama, as does the whole of the GOP, we should ask why we should lay off the Second Mrs. McCain and her history as a thieving drug addict.
And, as 236.com continues to remind us whenever the GOP (or Trophy Wife McCain herself) attacks Michelle Obama:
Just in case you thought she was somehow an upstanding citizen, take the Cindy McCain quiz.
In the quiz, you'll notice a few references to John McCain calling his wife a derogatory name. Which still strikes me funny that Hillary Clinton feminists still plan to vote for such a vile person. Anyways, here's a NSFW and vulgar look at what could have happened...and didn't.
236 also does a VP assessment on Joe Lieberman similar to the one they did on Bobby Brady-Jindal last week.
Inane, but funny nonetheless.
Southerners. Honestly, the stuff they do with food amazes me. Fried Twinkies, then Oreos, then Coca-Cola. Weird, no?
And now? Fried Watermelon. Seriously, read the recipe, it will blow your mind.
Meanwhile, Burger King has created a $200 burger. I can't possibly envision a world where I would need, much less crave, the chance to blow 200 bucks on a hamburger, but there ya go.
And in China, they are Anglicizing some of the food items prior to the Olympics. Apparently there is too much colorful description on one end and/or too much honesty in the explanation.
That's all I've got.
For those who watch Battlestar Galactica, check this out:
Yeah, that's McCain, who looks a LOT like Colonel Tigh, who is probably a Cylon, an agent of the enemy, a fifth columnist, a stealth traitor. And hell, when you think of how long the VietCong, Chinese, and Russians had to mess with Little Johnny's brainpan, who knows what he is pre-programmed for? So, to paraphrase Hillary Clinton, John McCain is not a brainwashed enemy of America...as far as I know.
Jack Cafferty went off on McCain for his constant flip-flopping on the issues. Check out the video at the link.
One correction for Jack though. He said McCain used to be against coastal drilling years ago. He was actually still opposed to it three weeks ago.
Meanwhile the GOP is stealing Hillary Clinton's playbook to smear Obama. This says two things. One, yes, Hillary Clinton DID run a tailor-made GOP attack campaign. Two, the Rethugs are still unoriginal bastards.
I've been reading up on the Great Depression and how the government helped get us out of that bind. I guess it feels relevant because all Bush wants to do is bail out speculation banks and give the store over to the Chinese and oil sheiks who hate us.
Anyway, I had read a neat article about the New Deal and the projects here in Nevada while I was at the Democratic Convention in Reno. I forgot to add the link, so here you go if interested.
I've been reading up on Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana that McCain is thinking of picking to be his vice president.
Scary guy. I know he's only in the running because he isn't white and the GOP really doesn't have ANY other minorities to choose from, but holy crap.
This guy, amongst other things, calls himself Bobby after Bobby Brady from the Brady Bunch. Weird, but not bizarre. More dumb than anything else.
What is TRULY scary is that this guy decided to perform an unsanctioned - and unrequested - exorcism on a fellow student when he was in college. The kicker? He swears it cured her cancer.
Um, you know, I even believe in the concept of exorcism (I know, I know, but I do) and I'm pretty damn sure you actually need to be more than Joe College to perform one. Freak.
I read this article about the early history of the Cubs on the west side of Chicago.
Pretty informative. And yes, the Cubs category is new, mostly because I know I keep weighing the blog down with political stuff and figured I at least needed a break from it. Hopefully I will work on making this a more well-rounded blog soon.
If it helps, I add a lot of restaurants and books I like on the Facebook page so check that out if you even have the vaguest interest in such.
Seriously, I *know* a lot of Republicans are racist. Hell, they invited in all the racist Democrats who defected during the 60s after the Civil Rights Act. They have David Duke. And Pat Buchanan. And, well, a LOT of bigoted scumbags. But still...STILL...the depths they will go to never seem to amaze me.
Yeah, that's an Obama sock monkey. The makers have since stopped production and apologized but I find that to be about as sincere as Hitler celebrating Passover. Assholes.
"We at TheSockObama Co. are saddened that some individuals have chosen to misinterpret our plush toy. It is not, nor has it ever been our objective to hurt, dismay or anger anyone."- a portion of their clueless explanation
Now, I have no means to know this for sure, but it appears that the creator of the Sock Obama is a full-blown Mitt Romney supporter.
Here is another explanation from the creators.
And then, a full-blown anti-apology that puts more faith in free markets than in the concept of NOT BEING A FRIGGING RACIST!
Next up is this:
This piece of crap is a campaign button sold at the Texas Republican Party Convention in Houston recently. The party swears it had nothing to do with it, and has given the rental fee for the vendor to the Red Cross.
And still....
You let him set up a table, spread out his goods, sell his filth, and did not do a damn thing about it until a reporter said something. Good job Republicans. I literally could not have expected less.
And, of course, the guy selling the button has apologized. Which I don't believe either.
One last supposedly Freudian slip from Rep. Mark Kirk, who said yesterday, "Yeah, and I would much rather have a policy where if we see Obama there's a shoot-on-sight order."
He was speaking about Osama bin Laden, but this type of "misstatement" has been VERY common amongst the GOP.
It is dated from last year, but I found this to be a mostly entertaining article.
Enjoy Cubbie fans.
Ben Kieffer: "Did your experience there (Baghdad) change your feelings about the question this country has been debating for years, whether we should be there or not?"Bob Konrardy: "I've been a registered Republican ever since I was a freshman at Loras. I was a member of their Republican Club. Voted straight Republican ticket all my life. I'm now a registered Democrat.
"Does that answer it? I will not vote for McCain."
I often pick up the local paper wherever I go, or listen to the radio, usually the local NPR affiliate. Occasionally I get stuff I'd like to share and often forget to.
Hopefully these links still work for a bit but I'd like to pass along some stories I thought relevant.
First off, from the Minneapolis StarTribune, a story on how the rise in crop prices is endangered the prairie lands that have just recently been reclaimed. It's a shame how what is good for some can be a detriment to the whole.
From Iowa Public Radio, an interview with Bob Konrardy, a Vietnam vet who got to visit his old unit, which recently deployed in Iraq. He compares what he knows of both conflicts. Not the best interviewer and Mr. Konrardy takes his time telling the tale, but it suited me fine as I drove from Des Moines to Moline that day. Here is a direct link to the audio, and I've got the podcast downloaded in case they take down the interview. Just let me know.
McCain is both for AND against George Bush. Just ask him.
That said, judging by his voting flip-flops, the FOR is more likely.
John Kerry points out McCain's conflicting views on energy.
Plus, he's caving in to racists and anti-immigrant forces in his party.
No surprise, but really, what a piece of shit this guy has turned out to be. And this is the *best* the GOP had to offer? Wow.
I got a nice reaction at HuffPo on this so figured I'd cross-post this here and at MyBO. It relates to today's news that McCain is trying to pin Obama as a foreign policy lightweight tied to the ways of the past. Which, as we all know, is such BS.
I would argue that instead of the September 10th mindset that McSame is trying to sell us, Obama has a September 12th mindset.
Remember when the world was shocked and entirely on our side? Remember when we still had allies totally committed to our cause? People we could share intelligence with foreign nations and plan actions against our common enemies alongside?
Remember when we didn't have to be chastised with "don't forget Poland!" when trying to remember which few countries were still with us? When allies were common partners and not places to redention people to get tortured in the name of Almighty George Bush?
That, "my friends", was September 12th, 2001. Every day after that was a direct slap in the face of world opinion by George Bush, sanctioned by people like John McCain. Is that the kind of leadership we NEED to return to? The kind where we made common cause with our fellow democracies against an evil abusing religion for it's own dirty ends? Yeah. You bet.
With their candidate all but confined to representing New York State and racists everywhere, Hillary Clinton's staff has been forced to find new employment (not that she has been able to pay them since February anyway).
Chief Attack Dog and Official Scumbag Lanny Davis has got a new gig - at FAUXNews. Yeah, I'm not really all that surprised either.
He's supposedly been hired to be a liberal sounding board, which is about as realistic as Bush not being a junkie and McCain being able to participate in doing the wave. Yeah, that was low. You know what else is low? McCain's "I Hate War" ad I saw the other day. Damn if I didn't almost spit up my chicken fettuccini alfredo when I saw that one. Mr. Ten Thousand Years War doesn't like war.
Yeah, sure, he's been tortured and the North Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russians probably have enough on him to fill a book, and he's probably got enough pre-programmed code words in him to perform a Russian ballet, so he *should* know how bad war is.
But it doesn't stop him from blowing Bush and letting our men and women die needlessly in Iraq.
Bitch.
Go ahead, follow the link and set a world record for downloads in a day. I upgraded this morning and the browser works a whole lot better. That said, I lost a couple add-ons that will hopefully get compatible soon.
MoveOn has a new ad from a new mother who doesn't want her son in McCain's 100 (or 1,000 or 10,000) year Iraq War.
Watch it here:
You know what else, McSame? You can't have our son either you asswipe.
From my Chimp-o-matic widget:
"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."-George W. Bush, 01/03/2000 in U.S. News & World Report
Seriously, what exactly did we screw up at so much as a nation to have deserved this douchebag? Whatever it is, we're sorry. Please make him go away.
Now, I'm not into putting bumper stickers on my vehicles, but I'll probably pin this up in my cubicle or something. If you want one, here is the link.
Republicans are obviously unhappy with McCain, but hey, so am I. Sleazeball with a bitch space alien wife and all. Here's an article about how he did his first wife wrong, and was sleeping with Alien Eyes while still married.
And you wonder why the Clinton feminists aren't planning to vote for McCain.
Meanwhile, the Army is openly anti-Obama, at least in print. Didn't they get the memo to not be political? Oh yeah, that only applies to the soldiers getting shot at in the field who want to vote for Obama. Duplicity, thy name is Army.
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has started a site called Fight the Smears to counter the McCain/GOP/FAUXNews talking points. Good call and too bad it has to happen. Then again, he got training in this from the Clinton campaign.
FAUXNews has taken to attacking Michelle Obama, calling her "Obama's Baby Mama" and calling their touching fist pound the night he won the nomination as a "terrorist fist jab". Not only out of touch, but classless and offensive as usual. And that, folks, is the Republican party for you.
Bob Cesca on Hillary's selfishness, even in defeat.
Chuck Rangel finally manned up and broke with Clinton after her pathetic excuse of a non-concession speech Tuesday night. Better late than never...I guess.
Paul Begala is drinking Carville's water again, stupidly comparing Hillary Clinton to Jackie Robinson. What a tool. Robinson had more class and dignity in his little finger than Hillary Clinton could ever hope to attain. And it isn't that she's been trying to be classy anyway.
The world loves the Obama candidacy. And one columnist here in the US laments the racism and hostility of the campaign season.
McCain's template, Bush, says he doesn't care that the Iraq War created more enemies of America. That's right up there with him inviting people to "bring it on" and kill our soldiers. Class act, that SOB.
Some views of McCain's speech the other night. What *was* with that green background anyway? And will someone tell him his smile is fake as all hell?
Personally, I'm thinking of him as the Tall Man from the Phantasm flicks:
"Hillary is sort of the 'Palestinian candidate' in my mind --- I'm supposed to feel sorry for their plight, yet their horrible actions make it hard for me to care."- Commenter carlgt1 responding to an idiotic comparison of Hillary to Jackie Robinson at HuffPo
Also, Jeffrey Toobin calls out Hillary on her refusal to accept reality as "deranged narcissism". I like that.
More quotes on the same subject here.
Obama wins. Now we get to try to ignore Hillary ignoring reality some more.
Watch his speech here:
If you just want to read it, go here.
I'll be honest, I swore the lady would have stolen the nomination at the 11th hour, but perhaps we can rise above hate and racism and bullshit. She has been rejected. Miracles do happen.
Now to take on the scumbags, liars, thiefs, torturers, and murderers in the GOP.
But for the moment, I am happy. I am proud. I am hopeful.
"They stab it with their steely knives, but they still can't kill the beast"- "Hotel California", The Eagles
So Hillary Clinton won't quit.
Idiot.
No, that's all I've got.
We developed a thought in my Star Wars club IRC channel. Maybe McSame and Nader should run together as the Grumpy Old Men ticket.
You've got a war hero turned terror-loving shill joined with a consumer advocate turned Bush enabler.
It should appeal to all kinds of "Well, back in MY day..." types. Just a thought.
...and his racism?
I am so very tired of his BS. He can barely restrain his hatred and bile, his insufferably smug nativism and prejudice.
He is against Latinos. He swears up and down that no whites will vote for Obama.
He probably chuckles when viewing the dead in China and Myanmar.
And he just Can't. Stop. trying to will Hillary Clinton into the VP slot. Probably because he hopes, like she does, that Obama gets shot.
Assholes like him need to go.
Well, Hillary Clinton won the second New York primary today, aka the Puerto Rico primary. Honestly, for as much as she sees backstabbing in every corner, why has NO ONE balked at her people turning the caucus in PR into a primary a few months ago.
Curious, no?
Anyway, she still thinks she has a chance. She's out of her damn mind.
As one poster on a recent Politico story puts it:
"If you are truly the stronger candidate, why have you lost? Why aren't you paying your debts? Why should we believe anything that you say? What is your message for this week? People please ignore her. Let's focus our fire on the fake Maverick."- Commenter C.K. Steele
This weekend's repudiation and gift to Hillary Clinton by the Rules and Bylaws Committee came with a fine quote from Donna Brazile, which puts this all together.
"My mama always taught me to play by the rules and to respect those rules....When you decide to change the rules, especially middle of the game and end of the game, that is referred to as cheating."
Video below:
As for myself, I have a comment for the diehard Clintonites:
For all you imbeciles who can't see the forest for the trees. For those of you who want to TRULY disenfranchise voters in caucus states, and so-called red states. For those of you who discredit HOPE and embrace DYNASTY. For those of you who say you'll betray your party, who call Obama a "looser" (sic) and a variety of racist bullshit, I ask you to do one thing for me.
Look in the mirror. Say the things you think about Obama. Make the faces you make as you type your hateful, racist, antidemocratic, anti-Democratic venom and answer me this one question:
Do you look bitter?
Yeah, he was - in the end - right about that too.
