December 2009 Archives

The year in science, more or less, according to the most read articles over at Wired.com.

Basically, this is a story about Mikhail Kalashnikov marketing some vodka in the interests of world peace.

Um, sure, why not?

Here's another reason to check out his product:

For as bad as the degenerate players are, sometimes they put up numbers. Here's a slideshow of the sad sack Cubs of the past decade.

You know, it's enough to depress you a bit.

Because Republicans truly are nitwits who need to stop being taken seriously until they grow up.

I found a new Cubs fan site just in time for slideshow like this one.

In short, we as a nation spent way too much time on stupid people and their stupid issues.

Amen. Let's try to avoid that in the future.

Working at various casinos around the country, I occasionally landed in tribal areas. Many of them are working hard to improve their communities while hanging onto their past. For some tribes, it is already too late.

I have never been to Hopi territory nor do I know if they even have a casino to bring some money into the community. That said, when I heard this story about the young folks there trying to preserve their language, it struck a chord.

And to hell with all those bastards who just want people to conform and lose their identity.

"(Y)ou have to also remember the fact that the president being on vacation in Hawaii, it's much different than being in Texas. Hawaii to many Americans seems like a foreign place. And I think those images, the optics, hurt President Obama very badly."

- Former Romney spokesman and current Tool Kevin Madden

Republicans are, quite seriously, anti-American douchebags. To think that Hawaii isn't American enough for them goes back to the whole Palinite BS argument about "real Americans". I live in a desert surrounded by casinos and mountains. No one in Nebraska would find any similarity with that at all, but that person and I are both Americans.

There's probably some conservative racist code words in there too I imagine.

Best reply to this asshole who thinks only Texas can be viewed as the standard for America?

Yeah, uh, that state whose leaders want it to actually become a foreign place via secession?

- Commenter BobbyG

"Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country. And it seems strangely off-key now, at a time when our country is under attack, for the architect of those policies to be attacking the President."

- Dan Pfeiffer, White House Communications Director on Cheney's stupidity

Dick Cheney is being a douchebag blowhard again. He keeps on meddling with treason as far as I'm concerned.

More from Juan Cole on how Cheney has done more to make us less safe than practically anyone. Even al-Qaeda.

And the Ed Show has this wonderful bit, including the following quote:

"It was Dick Cheney personally responsible for the release of the masterminds of the Christmas airline terror plot....

"People like Jim DeMint and people like Dick Cheney need to go away so we can solve the problems they've created."

- Rep. Eric Massa, NY

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Personally, I find Rachel McAdams gorgeous. Anyone who can look hot in sweats (Family Stone) and has dimples pretty much has me. That said, she needs to go back to being a brunette. Oh yeah, there's an interview that goes with the following pics.

As for my earlier comment:

Needless to say, Cheney is well-qualified to take an authoritative posture when it comes to terrorism. After all, he and his little buddy "kept us safe" from terrorist attacks for eight years, right? Other than the worst terrorist attack in American history, of course, along with the Anthrax Attacks, the Beltway Snipers, the thousands of terrorist attacks on our contractors and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the attacks on our allies in London and Madrid, Cheney did a fine job keeping us safe.... Good job, Mr. Cheney!

Thanks again for telling it like it is Bob!

In the aftermath of the successful and terrible 9/11 attacks, Bush's approval ratings shot up to 90 percent. Democrats and Republicans rallied around the president in defiance against violent religious extremism. Meanwhile, President Obama has just presided over a failed terrorist attack in which a Qaeda-doof botched a crotch rocket -- the airplane landed on time and there were minimal injuries. The hijacker is still alive and is talking like Chatty Cathy doll. Yet President Obama is somehow targeted by the right as an utter failure because of it. Now imagine if there had been an attack even close to the scope of the 9/11 hijackings.

In other words, preside over the biggest terrorist attack in American history and it's an EPIC WIN for President Bush. Preside over a failed attack and it's an EPIC FAIL for President Obama.

I gotta be honest, Colbert sometimes gets too into character, but this one nails wingnut nitwit Beck better than anyone else did this year.

Okay, I redid my list from the poll:

Plus another honorable mention:

Yes, we're still reading. It may not always be books - frankly, most of my news and computer knowledge comes from a screen these days - but we are still a literate culture.

Sadly, those numbers include morons who read "Going Rogue" (and seriously, I doubt 80% of the people who bought that piece of crap actually read it) and the douchebags who read Bill O'Reilly and Mark Levin hatefests. So even for those anti-intellectual nitwits, reading is reading.

Now if we can all just actually try to learn and grow as a result of the act, that would be something.

Today's Fresh Air was a pretty good one. As part of their best-of's they do at the end of every year, today's episode had the zany Russell Brand, Jane Lynch, and a cool interview with Dennis Brutus, who passed away last week.

I heard this story about Sam, a kid from Elkhart, IN the other day. He's an aspiring musician in a town broken by the recession. Already he had few options. Being the son of undocumented immigrants, he has no way of getting into college.

I remember hearing his story on Latino USA awhile back. Here are part one and part two of his story.

There's a lot wrong in this country, from racism to poverty to "compassionate conservatism". How we treat those trying to make their way in this country outside the narrow confines of the bigoted rules we have is one of those things.

Best of luck Sam.

The history of stem cell research - and science in general - has been a rocky one this decade. Here are some of the highpoints and, given the Bush years, the very, very low points of progress in this field.

Honestly, even if the Republicans were giving away a hot dog and a blow job for every vote, their stance on progress would be enough to turn away from them.

Kind of the passing of a legend of sorts as Carl Kasell gave his last news report this morning.

Yeah, he's still got a job and all, but he was one of the rotating familiar voices I listen to on NPR and I think I'll be missing hearing him pass along the news.

Kick back and enjoy Carl. You've earned it.

"I know that public scrutiny will simplify this matter and act as a check against anyone's need to be overly vindictive, aggressive or malicious, not that Bristol would ever be that way, nor that I would. But her mother is powerful, politically ambitious and has a reputation for being extremely vindictive. So, I think a public case might go a long way in reducing Sarah Palin's instinct to attack."

- Levi Johnston, in his affidavit

God help me, but I do actually like this kid Levi. In a world full of people grasping for fame, he just kind of fell into it and is making the most of it. And now that the Palin family is trying to cut him off from his son, he's fighting back. Not for sole custody, but for joint custody, a chance at being in his kid's life, something Sarah "Family Values" Palin doesn't seem to want.

Don't get me wrong, he may be an ignorant racist from the backwoods, but if even he is turned off by Palin, the rest of the angry conservatives might want to be taking notes as to why.

Booman calls out the angry hypocrites and "poutragers" who hit Obama at every turn just like they did Bush.

Actually I'd argue more so since they feel betrayed by Obama. Frankly, the president has pretty much done what he said he would during the campaign. They must have been listening to different speeches or something. After three decades of conservative presidents, having a moderate actually *IS* an improvement. I guess these clowns were expecting a revolution or something.

Actually, between Booman, Juan Cole, and Bob Cesca, I have hope for our party. The rest of the angry progressive crowd have really turned me off with their alternating revisionist Clinton history (which was pretty conservative) with their gaggle of so-called heroes: Kucinich (perfect where he is but never gonna be president), Howard Dean (whose own health care reform was more conservative than Obama's), and so on.

Now granted, even living in Vegas do I even see these ladies, much less would ever make out with one of them. Not getting killed by my wife has a lot to do with this too. But with the chance to even have a friendly peck on the cheek from these ladies would be nice. Here's my ranking from the list, your's obviously would vary.

The honorable mentions:

Two comments. One, where the hell is Anne Hathaway? Two, Diane Sawyer? Hell, just stick with Diane Lane.

I almost agree with everything on this list including the order they are listed.

Makes we want to rewatch the last two Batman movies. Too bad I'm at work.

Patrick Swayze, Farrah Fawcett and John Hughes died and Orly Taitz, Dick Cheney and that idiot who wrote those Twilight books didn't.

Chez Pazienza analyzes the politics and pop culture of 2009 in a nutshell:

How can I properly categorize the various virulent strains of blatant ridiculousness we've been throttled by as a culture? What makes Sarah Palin more balls-out fucking stupid than Glenn Beck, or either of them more shamefully, cartoonishly insane than Michele Bachmann or the Teabagging Army?

Read here.

Turns out that just because we spend lots more on health care than any other nation, it really doesn't help us live any longer.

Might that be because we're too busy lining the pockets of already rich people to actually worry ourselves about healing anyone with those dollars?

Thousands of Americans are increasingly traveling to resort towns like Puerto Vallarta, in Mexico, not for vacation, but for the cheap health care. In many cases, reports Ray Suarez, for care they couldn't afford in the United States.

Yep, those damn illegal Americans stealing health care from the Mexicans. The story here if the embedded video isn't working.

Sex scandals, swine flu, tea parties, Michele Bachmann -- and that's just the first half of 2009

I completely forgot about these two fools but I've read some updates to their stories and am just flabbergasted at the stupidity allowed in this country.

First, there's the nitwit teacher/Holocaust denier who apparently can't be fired for trying to teach this crazy conservative crazy bullshit to kids. Thankfully, some of Lori Sublette's students are smarter than she is. At least I hope they are. Others who went into automatic anti-Semite mode are probably hopelessly lost to us as thinking Americans. Sadly, they will grow to vote for Sarah Palin.

Is she still teaching? Yeah, here's in libertarian Nevada, crazy psychopaths can not only teach, we let them be governor.

Then there's Joseph Pepitone. This guy decided to don a barrel, put a bunch of anti-government placards on it, then vandalize the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. He now swears he woke up, took the wrong meds, and impulsively did this. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Here's the bulk of the coverage by the network who just happened to be there when Whack Job went a'painting. Check out the video, particularly this one and this report.

Oh, and the non-premeditated part of his defense? Bullshit, as evidenced by this video:

He's been profiled before for having a jackpot taken away by a game malfunction. It's a four part series that starts here.

Hey, I work in the gaming industry. I feel bad for anyone this happens to but it DOES happen. This doesn't give you a reason to be insane.

But yeah, there are just a couple of the morons that make up Vegas. You gotta take the bad with the good sometimes I guess.

Not that this meme, like most Republican ones, deserves to even be noticed as rational, but Bob Cesca points out that Bush waited more than a week to address the Shoe Bomber incident. You know, another failed terrorist attack.

Plus, he didn't even bother to address the DC sniper deaths. At all.

Where was the Rethug outrage then?

What a surprise. When Barack Obama was elected, the Rethugs stocked up on ammo because they were waiting to revolt because the election didn't go their way.

Okay, they bought a shitload of guns because a black guy got elected, but I was trying to be civil. But yeah, many of them are fear-filled racist whackjobs who want the whole to end. Violently.

Anyway, Queen of the Birthers Oily Taint wants these yahoos to lock and load and to do it soon.

"What is the real intention of this Kenyan, Indonesian communist usurper? Is it to provide security for us or to destroy our security? Judge for yourself....

"(I)t might be time to start rallies and protests using our second amendment right to bare (sic)arms and organise in militias."

When is someone going to lock up this nutjob and the fools that follow her every word? She makes Palin and Bachmann only look disturbed.

Rachel interviewed Bruce Schneier yesterday to get his thoughts on security and the stupid ways we pretend to go about it.

Watch this:

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Then go read his blog if you haven't already been doing so.

This slideshow needs to be viewed if just for the following quote:

"Sarah Palin has always made about as much sense as opening up a rib joint next to a mosque."

- Michael Arceneaux

I have always thought that the fearful, chickenshit Republicans running around screaming about "Islamofascists" did a better job oh promoting al-Qaeda better than even terrorist spokesmen.

Glad to see others agree on this.

Now here's your (mostly) political wrap-up of the decade. It is pretty depressing to read; yeah, even some of the "good" stuff.

I think Hitchens overdoes it in his hatred of religion (not that he's necessarily wrong on some points, but I digress) though he hits it on the head in this article about the collective stupidity called "airline security".

Arlen Specter tells us what we already know: that the GOP is so determined to not let President Obama succeed that they are willing to screw over (and in the case of health care reform - kill) American citizens just to score talking points.

If love these features by Wired. This month's "What's Inside?" covers shoe polish.

A roundup of the screwups and lies of the GOP that directly led to a rich man's kid trying to blow up an airplane.

"The wife of Al Qaeda's second in command is now calling on women to become suicide bombers. To qualify, they must be able to push a car loaded with explosives, because, as you know, women aren't allowed to drive over there."

- Jay Leno

Reposted.

If we had to remove our shoes after the (failed) Shoe Bomber attack, and we had to start chucking our bottled liquids following the (failed) liquid explosives attack, what will we have to remove and chuck following the (failed) Underpants Bomber attack?

You know, if FAUXNews was some operation out of some small town on the Plains, you'd feel bad for them saying stupid shit like this. Instead, one of our biggest media companies has a problem with him because he speaks actual English instead of the Hooked-on-Phonics crap they trade in.

Seriously, how freaking stupid can Republicans be? First they spend millions and decades on trying to force everyone (except Southerners) to speak English. Now that we finally have a president again who can speak it, they don't understand what he's saying.

Morons.

Because this year wouldn't be complete if the Rethugs didn't remind you that they are a pack of racists.

The year in FAUXNews obstructionism.

Fair and balanced my ass.

Good question.

I'd have to agree with most of this list, though would probably add Outfoxed and Hacking Democracy in there somewhere.

1. Why We Fight Arguably the greatest political documentary of all time.

2. Fahrenheit 9/11
Michael Moore's masterpiece. This movie helped me get through the second Bush term.

3. Idiocracy
Palin + Bush + FNC + Teabaggers = Brawndo!

4. Thirteen Days
I could watch this with my hair on fire.

5. The Contender
President The Dude! And Gary Oldman! And shark steak!

6. Bowling for Columbine
Michael Moore's other masterpiece.

7. SiCKO
Michael Moore's other masterpiece.

8. The Fog of War
Don't watch this right after watching Why We Fight. Your brain will melt.

9. Food, Inc.
The emerging crisis of this century.

10. The Corporation
Just really goddamn scary.

In short, calm down when it comes to worrying about terrorists and air travel.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics provides a wealth of statistical information on air traffic. For this exercise, I will look at both domestic flights within the US, and international flights whose origin or destination was within the United States. I will not look at flights that transported cargo and crew only. I will look at flights spanning the decade from October 1999 through September 2009 inclusive (the BTS does not yet have data available for the past couple of months).

Over the past decade, according to BTS, there have been 99,320,309 commercial airline departures that either originated or landed within the United States. Dividing by six, we get one terrorist incident per 16,553,385 departures.

These departures flew a collective 69,415,786,000 miles. That means there has been one terrorist incident per 11,569,297,667 mles flown. This distance is equivalent to 1,459,664 trips around the diameter of the Earth, 24,218 round trips to the Moon, or two round trips to Neptune.

Assuming an average airborne speed of 425 miles per hour, these airplanes were aloft for a total of 163,331,261 hours. Therefore, there has been one terrorist incident per 27,221,877 hours airborne. This can also be expressed as one incident per 1,134,245 days airborne, or one incident per 3,105 years airborne.

There were a total of 674 passengers, not counting crew or the terrorists themselves, on the flights on which these incidents occurred. By contrast, there have been 7,015,630,000 passenger enplanements over the past decade. Therefore, the odds of being on given departure which is the subject of a terrorist incident have been 1 in 10,408,947 over the past decade. By contrast, the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are about 1 in 500,000. This means that you could board 20 flights per year and still be less likely to be the subject of an attempted terrorist attack than to be struck by lightning.

Meanwhile, as you listen to Republican idiots screaming about how our nation isn't safe with Barack Obama in charge, remember that this assholes voting AGAINST funding the TSA just a few months ago.

I like visiting Yanko. It makes me feel like there are people out there still trying to make our lives better. Here are a few designs that I never got around to linking to, but they are damn cool.

In no particular order of coolness, I start with the kitchen uni-tool. A few of it's uses:

Next up is the folding keystick, which I certainly wish I had when I was on the road a lot.

Another really cool idea that hits home with me is the digital newspaper. Yeah, I'm all about books, but news on the go has increasingly been an issue. This would help out I think.

I'm not sure if the next idea would be plausible or not, but the concept of a cheap, quick water filter is a real need in this world.

Another cool innovation is a cheap disposable laptop.

This map on the go concept is something everyone needs. Though, frankly, people need to learn how to read a damn map first.

I saved what might be the best for last. It is a red light with a timer so you know how much longer you have to wait.

If you can't see the need for this, you are lucky not to drive in heavy traffic. Somebody really needs to make this. Now.

So, as more and more passengers get harassed in airport security lines, I once again question everyone's priorities.

Do we want to be safe or do we want to equate being felt up by some moronic TSA drone with safety?

Because, if we are going to harass, detail, molest, and otherwise abuse a class of people, let's at least pick the right group.

Rich kids. Particularly the idle sons of wealthy bastards. The Christmas bomber is the son of a Nigerian banker. Bin Laden is the son of wealthy Saudi/Yemeni construction clans. Bush the Lesser's daddy was president and had a ton of connections. Between them they have wars, bombings, mass civilian killings and general fear and violence that decades of intifada can't even come close to.

But everyone fears the angry Arab on the street. Hell, Tim McVeigh killed more children in one blast than a month's worth of suicide vests could. Hmm, was his father anyone of means? Might be worth looking into.

Are we looking into cavity searching the children of the rich? No? Why not?

Is racial profiling, or even religion profiling, going to get to the core of the problem? No, it is going to piss people off. And those pissed off people, some of them anyway, will find homes to encourage their hatred. Some of it will be funded by rich assholes like Dick Armey and be used to elect fucking nitwits like Sarah Palin. Others will go be funded to strap on a vest and blow up a bus or try to set a plane on fire. Funded by the idle rich.

I don't agree with everything on this list but they pretty much hit the nail on the head.

Kind of a send up of best-of interviews concerning recent movies that is worth a listen.

Another end-o'-decade list but this one is of a useful bit of pop culture.

Man, did I need a good laugh this morning and this editorial brings it. Not the editorial itself, I totally agree, but the wingnut commenters.

Damn, people are stupid. Comparing Bush's overreaction to 9/11 to Obama's (correct) assessment that this was one loon on one plane, carry on. Another commenter wisely pointed out:

"An idiot boards a plane in Amsterdam, and just before landing here sets himself on fire. According to larryvegas, it's Obamas fault. More of the crazy tin foil, skull cap, very far right wing propaganda. George W. gets his daily briefing, learns there is a imenent attack planned, goes on vacation, and we have 9/11. Can you really compare the two incidents?"

Conservatives hate everything. Even life, considering how hard they are trying to make the Rapture happen.

That said, their blathering and carping about Avatar isn't without merit. There IS a ecological message there, and an anti-war one. That said, those elements made me like the movie more, though I can see why it would piss off consumerist bigots. Too bad. I hope it makes a billion dollars.

More on Senator Whitehouse calling out the GOP for canoodling with racists and domestic terrorists.

I'm sure he's going to be told to keep backtracking on this, but honestly it needs constantly said to these cretins. In public. Every day. Until they stop, and you know they never will.

"And this is good. Democratic leaders are hoping to pass healthcare reform before Christmas. And really, what better Christmas present could Obama give the country than the gift of not having to talk about healthcare anymore?"

- Jimmy Fallon

The Senate finally got off their ass and health care bill.

Flawed as it may be, this is a huge step away from Republicans wanting people to die in the cold if they can't squeeze a dime out of them.

Hey lookie! There are some actual people that may even be actual Christians. Well, at least they loathe the crass commercialism at the heart of the modern Christmas.

Sure, they don't want capitalism encroaching on their religious holiday, but I'm sure most of these folks would club a gay people like a baby seal if they had a chance to.

Sorry, still jaded on religion.

First off: LOVED this flick. Go see it.

For those with kids, read this. The violence level may be a bit much for some younguns.

News flash. The teabaggers are so big of hypocrites that they now endorse a plan to attack capitalism itself come January 20th.

Socialists!

Damnit Ned, I was safe from this for quite awhile.

Now it's back.

In my head.

In.

My.

Head!

Check it out: anti-everything banshee Michelle Bachman is sucking at the government's teat to the tune of a quarter million dollars in subsidies to her family farm.

More on her socialist tendencies and that of others of her ilk.

And yes, her constituents are as insane as she is.

In other batshit crazy thug news, Glenn Beck has been named "Misinformer of the Year". Congrats to that psychopath.

If you still have doubts as to why, here's a montage:

Meanwhile, Chuck Norris is of the opinion that Barack Obama would have smothered baby Jesus in his manger or something. Don't ask me, I can't understand these idiots anymore. They just talk stupid and white morons eat it up.

Plus, Sarah Palin wins Politifact's "Lie of the Year" award. It couldn't have gone to a more deserving nitwit, though the runners-up are equally loathsome, stupid, and insane.

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Remember, don't overeat this holiday season!

Funny pic.

So, according to this story, John McCain is either senile or a wretched liar. Or possibly both.

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Carl's Jr has another ad out featuring a hot woman eating their food. Kim Kardashian is the latest.

Frankly though, Padma Lakshmi really did it for me:

And though I would rather be shot in the groin than watch whatever reality crap she's on, the Audrina Patridge one was pretty hot too.

And then of course there's Paris, which admittedly wasn't a bad ad.

And honestly, none of these would exist if not for this:

Well, I had to find a remix just to be able to listen to it....

This is why I watch movies:

Still love that flick. Found in an article on top Cameron movie moments.

Somehow I always get suckered into posting these end-of-year lists. At least Time rolled a lot of them together to save, well, time. Enjoy.

Yeah, another reason I can't be a Republican is that I like dinosaurs. And science. Not to mention the concept of reality.

All that aside, this story concerning venom-packing dinosaurs both is exciting and downright frightening. Definitely worth a listen.

The Big Picture shows up a glimpse of 2009 as we run out the days. A whole hell of a lot happened this year folks.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Click here for the full-sized version.

(h/t to My Modern Met)

I linked to some of the same stuff this article does but here's the part that really hits home. Consult the following chart:

Face it folks, a flawed bill that does a lot of what we'd like to see is going to save lives and money. Just get in line and let's do this!

(h/t to Bob Cesca for linking this)

More good arguments for the health reform bill to pass.

Also, Bob Cesca's top 10 fixes he'd like to see, including:

Bonus: Government-funded, government mandated atomic wedgies for Joe Lieberman. Administered daily. By me.

Hey! That's what I wanted to do!

A quick round-up of some stories that interested me of late.

Concerning "Avatar":

Interview: James Cameron, A King With A Soft Touch?

Movie Review: 'Avatar': Cameron's Dizzying, Immersive Parable

Do You Speak Na'vi? Giving Voice To 'Avatar' Aliens

Plus one quick story concerning "Invictus":

Filming 'The Game That Changed A Nation'

Also one concerning Jeff Bridges' next movie:

Jeff Bridges' New 'Dude': A Fallen Country Star

Some followups concerning Blackwater:

Blackwater: Private Army In The News Again

Our filthy water supply:

Overloaded Sewers Lead To 'Toxic Waters'

Hostage negotiators:

'Hostage Business' Survives Economic Downturn

Immigrants and private prisons:

Questions On Public-Private Prisons For Immigrants

and the evolution of the English language:

What's The Word? How English Evolved This Decade

This really just needs to constantly be reiterated: John McCain is a non-stop, continuous piece-of-shit.

Just wanted to throw this out there in the interests of fair play.

But seriously, why do Republicans hate the troops more than they do health care reform?

I seriously hope someone runs against the GOP with this question. At this stage, all those asshats are playing games and I sincerely hope they get called out on it.

Here is Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island calling out the GOP and telling some truths. Primarily that, should the health care bill pass, Americans will finally know that Republicans have been lying to them.

Here are some highpoints:

For some reason, one poignant piece is missing, and it may be something that progressives may be ashamed of. I don't know why. I think it is the finest bit of his speech.

Concerning Republicans, particularly the most odious ones:

"They are desperate to break this president. They have ardent supporters who are nearly hysterical at the very election of President Barack Obama. The birthers, the fanatics, the people running around in right-wing militia and Aryan support groups, it is unbearable to them that President Barack Obama should exist. That is one powerful reason. It is not the only one."

To see the whole of Whitehouse's segment, try around 1:16 at the follow video:

"This is the beginning of health reform, not the end of health reform."

- Tom Harkin, on on the health reform bill

Hey folks, it might not be the bill we all wanted, but there are cost savings for our families.

Also, as Senator Harkin says, we've got our foot in the door. Republicans will find it nigh impossible to remove the concept of government involvement in health care. This idea will grow and we will hopefully have some form of government health care in the future, because, ironically, the people who may most benefit from it are the angry treasonous teabaggers who are currently conned into being against it so fervently.

And to put it all in perspective, here is Ezra Klein's take:

Imagine telling a Democrat in the days after the 2004 election that the 2006 election would end Republican control of Congress, the 2008 election would return a Democrat to the White House, and by the 2010 election, Democrats would have passed a bill extending health-care coverage to 94 percent of Americans, securing trillions of dollars in subsidies for low-income Americans (the bill's $900 billion cost is calculated over 10 years, but the subsidies continue indefinitely into the future), and imposing a raft of new regulations on private insurers. It is, without doubt or competition, the single largest social policy advance since the Great Society.

In my lifetime, we've only had one Democratic president before Barack Obama and that was Jimmy Carter. I really couldn't tell you what the hell Clinton was. So, considering the ever-growing track record of presidential warmongering and reckless deficit spending by Reagan, the Bushes, et al, this actually really is a surprise. It isn't the perfect outcome by a long shot, but really, given the odds, let's take what we've got and build a foundation out of it.

"What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight.That's what they ought to pray."

- Republican Hero Tom Coburn (OK), hoping Senator Byrd died before voting to stop Republican obstructionism on health care

As if I needed another reason. When Republicans are literally praying for people to die so that laws they don't like can not get passed, you absolutely guarantee that I'm never voting a Republican, not even for dog catcher. Screw every single one of them.

All the Republicans have done is obstruct. They have gone to the filibuster on 70 percent of every bill in this past year. At their worst, Democrats have used it 27 times over a whole session of Congress. Read up on it here.

More on this problem of childish Republican obstinance here.

Seriously, angry infants who want people who don't agree with them to die. Such odious bastards.

I've had this link laying around for months and forgot to post it (mostly because our firewall blocked every kind of video for awhile). I was thinking of it again when reading that the city of Detroit has something like 50% unemployment.

I mean, I like Kid Rock, I think he's a musical genius, but there's no way in hell he's going to fix that.

Yes. I know the decade doesn't really end until next year. You know that too. But the media doesn't work like that. According to Talibangelicals, People magazine readers, and other morons, we apparently had a year zero way back when.

So, the "end of decade" articles are up. I've ignored most of them but seeing as this one ranks the best baseball players of the decade, I figured I'd link it.

Incidentally, here's a chance to rank your own Top 25. Incidentally, Jeter is ranked WAY too high. People forget that he is directly responsible for the Yankees losing the 2001 Series based on his shitty defense.

Just saying.

Also, not that I minded that a bit.

This article was good for a few chuckles this morning. Give it a look-see and remember the horror on the roads.

I missed the show but plan to catch it somehow.

I was surprised to be listening to Howard Zinn on the radio yesterday. He was doing an interview on Here and Now promoting a project he has called "The People Speak". Apparently The History Channel aired this on Sunday info here.

More on the project here.

This leads me to start questioning how we are going to teach Gabriel about history and society at large. Obviously it is something to watch given all the bigoted, racist, and sexist crap the so-called Christians keep trying to cram into history books. They apparently think this is Christ-like behavior. I think it's borderline evil and I really don't want that crap filling my kid's head if I can help it. I'd rather he hear real words from real people and that's where folks like Howard Zinn come in.

Want to know why is REALLY starting a "War on Christmas"? It is the conservative and their pals in the Big Oil offices who are harming our traditional views.

If the holiday season included the concept of snow and Santa Claus to you, you'd be interested in hearing that our poles are melting faster than ever and that, thanks to climate change causing emissions, reindeer are dying off. Basically, the population of certain caribou have fallen to like 1/7th of their numbers since the 1950s.

Here's more on the caribou species in question.

Back in September, the International Fund for Animal Welfare asked the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to put these creatures on the endangered species list.

Today being the last day they could do so, the Service failed to act. I heard about this yesterday on Here and Now.

So, you know, when all the reindeer have gone, be show to plant a solid kick in the tailbone of your nearest Rethug Talibangelical climate change denier when you have to tell your kid that Rudolf is extinct.

Evan a bad health care bill is better than the crap we've currently got according to the numbers.

Nate Silver breaks it down in clear dollars and cents.

Josh Marshall questions the sanity of those who want their pet bill or nothing at all.

And Ezra Klein points out that even if, and maybe because, insurance companies are in the running to make a ton of money from this bill, the advantage of having rules finally put in place still counts as a benefit to all of us.

Hey, I would LOVE to ditch my current plan and put my family onto a public plan that doesn't spend my money to lobby Republicans or douchebags like Joe Lieberman or Max Baucus to do their bidding. But I can't, but I'd love to be able to see my Mom get some health insurance.

It isn't everything I want, but it is what millions of folks need.

Hmm, years of abstinence-only education and we suddenly just found out that kids know nothing about sex? Gee, I wonder why?

Face it, letting conservatives near education only results in dumb kids. That's not bias, that is fact.

Be it fake science, slanted history, censored literature, or biology, there just isn't any way you can get a decent education with Republicans around. Quit giving these illiterates the means to stunting the development of our children.

Republicans are dumb. Like monumentally stupid.

Don't believe me? They elected Michael Steele to lead them. Sure, as a Token Leader since they're racists and all, but really, read his thoughts on Greenland. Amazing.

Then again, these are the same idiots who cream their pants hoping to touch Sarah Palin. The same folks who decided that electing a religious nutjob cocaine addict wouldn't screw up America. The same folks who look to Dick Cheney AND Ted Nugent for inspiration.

Seriously, go have a kool-aid party out in Nebraska and quit trying to destroy my country and my planet.

You actual conservatives should be ashamed at yourselves for letting this happen to your party. I can't take you morons seriously anymore.

This is an old link, but a damn cool one that I've been forgetting to pass along. Well, here ya go. Everything on each "flag" are foodstuffs from the nation it signifies. Cool, huh?

Now, I've never watched Gossip Girl. Not even a second of it. I also have zero plans to do so. But every pic I've ever seen of this girl has been pretty impressive. Here's a link to an interview with her plus some pics.

Enjoy.

Nate probably isn't actually done with the subject, but here's a good article about it.

He's right of course. The public option, much as I'd have loved to move my family to it, was already neutered and restricted for use from nearly all of us. Losing it in favor of providing Medicare coverage for some old uninsured folks is probably all we're going to get this time around, but that's still a damn lot more than we've currently got.

Bush can turn us into a nation of aggressive warmongers overnight, Reagan can kill our economy and break up the family in just a couple months of trickle down economics, but it took decades of workplace violence to get a 40 hour week. It took the Great Depression to give us Social Security, it took losing dozens of college kids, JFK, RFK, and MLK Jr. to get close to starting to have racial equality in this nation. We just had a pretty bad recession and hopefully we'll get some kind of health care reform out of it.

It sucks. It really, really sucks how easy it is for men to do evil and how hard it is to just get in the ballpark of doing things right. But when your opposition is a pack of racist Talibangelical hypocrite blowhards in the employ of wealthy capitalist shitheels, sometimes you unfortunately have to take what you can get.

I gotta admit. I was pretty ambivalent about Mila Kunis during her stint on That '70s Show but she has grown into a pretty good actress and beautiful woman since. Check out an interview with her here.

More bad news that you probably already knew but didn't have the facts to prove it. Apparently, fast food joints won't buy food that routinely ends up in school lunches.

Yeah, that constant conservative screeching that causes us to underfund schools not only keeps out kids stupid and unaware of science or sex ed, but it also leading directly to them eating food less healthy than the McFatty or Six Dollar Whore Burger with Chili.

Think about that the next time a school funding bill comes up for a vote.

Jackasses.

Are you buying all that "clean natural gas" BS from the energy companies? Trying living next to a drill site.

Besides, these idiots burned untold billions of trillions of units of gas off the tops of cracking towers for decades and NOW they want to charge you for it? Screw them.

Yet another thing to lay at Bush's feet: filthy drinking water.

I swear, remember when at least some conservatives followed along the Teddy Roosevelt vision of actually conserving our natural resources? Now they can't wait to ruin nature in the hopes of twisting God's arm to bring on the Rapture. Instead, the rest of us have to suffer with a polluted planet.

Thanks for nothing!

Well said.

This is a damn cool spread on the various Chinese ethnic groups. Below is a taste of the different folks who make up that nation.

Good advice on why you should befriend a butcher.

Wired and GeekDad in particular have had a few articles recently on getting your kids tech ready.

Check out how to teach a kid to program. A tad more advanced than what Gabriel needs to learn but still an article to keep around.

GeekDad carries a similar article. Also tips on getting your kids ready to be on the internet safely and responsibly.

I'm not saying you should watch this. I'm saying if you can stand the prospect of an actual evil person getting screwed over by his own words on national television, then I'm linking you to that interview.

But seriously, this Cohen guy is the worst of our species and exactly the reason I don't trust religion or Republicans for the most part.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Here are a couple of the rich white racists that are paying for poor white racists to form angry mobs to protest health reform, climate change laws and other things that would otherwise improve their lives.

I hope the Koch Brothers burn slowly in a hell of their own creation. And I hope the idiots that believe their bullshit burn quickly because they were too stupid to realize that helping your fellow man (and even yourself) live better, not to mention stopping Man from destroying Creation actually are the essence of Christianity, not to mention all religions.

Let's be honest, Natalie Portman has got to be THE example of a naturally beautiful woman. Nothing "too" anything, just right. And a great actress to boot. Check out more pics here. And check out her interview related to the pics as well.

Granted, it's a Thanksgiving article but with Christmas dinner just around the corner, I think this quick recipe tip list is just as relevant.

This also could be titled "Meet the Racists". Don't believe me? Read this, particularly give a listen to the story and resist the urge not to drive to Texas and punch Teabagger star Lorie Medina in the neck.

Discovery Channel: The World is Just Awesome

National Geographic Channel: If

I watched more than a few of these shows and agree that they died too soon.

That said, television keeps crap like reality shows and Seinfeld on forever so there really is no accounting for taste.

Pity.

"I can't take responsibility for the legacy of crises you bequeathed the country...."

The "worst financial crisis in generations" happened after "almost a decade, certainly eight years, of basic neglect of basic public goods, in health care, in education, in public infrastructure, in how we use energy."

Tim Geithner, say what you will about him, seems to have had enough of Republicans acting like this shit economy isn't a direct result of their stupidity.

Yes, he's a tool of big money and I truly wish someone else had his job, but he's right on this one.

Check out some of the vid of this early in this clip:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

How global warming is already affecting us and the tough choices we have to make

You know, for a business show, Marketplace really does focus on the important issues like global climate change without the usual crazy lies and BS you'd get from conservatives. Instead of focusing on crazy people like Inhofe, the show talks to the people who can best evaluate and prepare us for what is likely to come.

Check out their latest special segment here.

(W)e were forced to take those steps largely without the help of an opposition party which, unfortunately, after having presided over the decision-making that led to the crisis, decided to hand it over to others to solve.

- President Obama, calling out Republicans for creating the mess they are yelling at him for trying to fix

More please. The President gave a speech on the economy and what he hopes to do to help it along. In it, he acknowledged - finally - that Republicans have done nothing but try to obstruct anything he tries to do to fix their screwups.

Seriously, until they start playing a part in fixing the country they broke, call them out on it. They weren't going to support you anyway.

Apparently, it seems that ever since we bought Alaska for a song, we've been losing money on the deal ever since. Yep, the place is the place where federal budgets go to die.

Granted, no one would have wanted a bunch of Soviet missile stationed there in the sixties but when you just cut it down to dollars and cents, it seems Alaska has been a huge money pit for this nation.

Not to mention the nightmare called Sarah Palin or even Ted "Tubes" Stevens.

Yet another book to read I guess.

This one is about Bill Watterson and how he came about creating Calvin and Hobbes. True to form, the author couldn't actually speak to Watterson but that is more true to form than the alternative anyway.

I hope it is as good of a read as I am expecting.

Here's the main thread post:

If we ignore climate change and just keep burning fossil fuels, nothing bad will happen. But if gays get married or atheists get treated fairly in public, it will be the end of America. - How can people that think like that get positions of power in America?

- submitted by KingBeetle

That's a pretty good assessment of the GOP's stupidity. However, in the comments is a fantastic breakdown of what makes person worth ignoring:

- comment by echo_USER

People have differing views on economics that i can respect, hey they disagree with me but I can respect them, and their level of intelligence.

People can disagree with environmental policy, and hey, I can respect that.

As long as they make reasoned, logical arguments supported by fact.

The anti-gay marriage crowd has not a single one well reasoned argument. Lets review a few.

God made adam and eve, not adam and steve.

Congrats, you're officially "special". Get on the fucking short bus. I refuse to even speak to anyone who says something this stupid.

American has christian founders.

Um, the base populace maybe, but the majority of the founding fathers were either deist or flat out atheist. not christian. The christians who founded this nation (the base populace) also fled religious persecution, it seems odd to flee from persecution just to set up a society that persecutes others. Our constitution is setup in a way that keeps government from wielding religious influence over the public. It's right there in th first amendment.

nevermind the fact that just b/c things were a certain way means they always need to be that way. See: slavery, women's suffrage, etc..

Gays will raise gay kids and it'll be the end of man

Just like straight people only raise straight kids, right? It also would seem odd for a parent to experience the pains of being made to feel guilty for who they are their entire lives, then impose an equal and opposite evil unto their child.

Gay marriage will ruin he sanctity of marriage.

First off, i can show you pictures and court records of a 10000 marriages that have zero sanctity to them. Ignoring that, i don't see how one set of people getting married affects anyone else.

Gays are perverse and kids do not need to be exposed to it

Kids don't need to be exposed to their parents fucking period, regardless of sexuality. Just b/c you're gay doesn't mean a second goes by in which you don't have a dick in your mouth. They are normal human beings with jobs, who watch tv, and have daily chores just like their straight counterparts.

Gay marriages will raise insurance premiums

I guess we should kick blacks off too for having higher STD rates.

Gay's can't procreate so they shouldn't have families

Neither can infertile women, or the elderly, or men who shoot blanks, maybe we should ban them from being married too.

Since they can't procreate we'll be ending the human race as we know it by supporting a lifestlye that doesn't allow for reproduction

No one is forcing anyone else to be gay. Secondly gays have ALWAYS been around and our population is still increasing in size at an alarming rate. Thirdly, not that it will happen, but our population size is far too big to be sustainable on this planet, and fourth. We're talking like 1-4% of the population here. That's it. All this fuss over a tiny tiny demographic. They're not going to end the human race.

I just don't want to be exposed to that sort of stuff

And what about the gay people who are exposed the hetero stuff day in and day out

No matter how you spin it, a person against gay marriage is ALWAYS going to come back to an irrational fear or dislike of homosexuals, when asked why the basic argument reverts to "that's the way i was raised" or "that's what it says in the bible" (ignoring the fact that the bible does touch on gay men, but never says a single thing about lesbians, and only does so in the Old Testament.. in Leviticus, which all Christians ignore today anyways).

some people might tell you "i have gay friends", well my father is a sexist and he's married, so what? I've seen people utter the word "nigger" one moment then kiss some black dude's ass the next. Some might tell you that they don't have a problem with gays, but just think what they do is gross.. .like anyone is forcing them to watch what goes on behind closed doors by putting a gun to their head.

I have never, not once heard a well reasoned arguement against gay marriage, gays, or gay families and if you could give me one, i'll respect it. Until then, everyone against it, is a fucking idiot.

The worst part is, you have people I have debated with (like my father) who, point after point gets backed into a corner.. and they'll readily admit: " My logic my be faulty, but that's the way I was raised and I know I'm right. Those people are degenerates". He'll get all red faced, he'll admit, that his every point fails in this argument, he'll admit he has no logic, but swear that he's correct in this. And frankly, that what it falls down to.

It comes down to people believing in shit, without a reason. They believe something they were taught, and questioning that is incredibly uncomfortable.. so instead, they fight it. Because change is hard for people.

Read Shirley Jackson's - The Lottery sometime. Believing in traditional things without questioning the tradition, can have disastrous outcomes, an those outcomes make people suffer.

And it's odd to me, that people smile and hold hands and clap when marriage amendments at the state level get voted down, or over-turned.. they're all happy about it. And it saddens me, because a sizable portion of our population gains happiness from other's misery. They have invaded someone else's lives with the government on their side, to bully them. And they're happy about it.

Think about that. To me that says we have much deep cultural issues than just homosexuality.

it's called religion. Only religion, nationalism, and psychiatric disorders can make someone happy that others suffer.

That should be chiseled into something somewhere.

Well said.

I forgot about this when mentioning the Eggo shortage, but apparently we might also have a pumpkin pie shortage as well. Seriously, why don't we ever have Brussels sprout shortages?

I am actually just starting this book after buying it and leaving it on the stack for a few months. Yeah, basically I'm cleaning my desk and found all kinds of stuff I still need to get around to.

So far I am liking what I'm reading. Now that Gabriel is getting old enough to actually learn stuff so. damned. quickly. we are starting to wrap our heads around how to raise him in a way we approve of. This book may help us work on refining that some more. Check out this review and see what you think.

A forgotten link, but one that I still find relevant as a historic example of how we should treat our vets and how that benefits the rest of us in real, tangible ways.

A followup interview with Andrew Sullivan on ditching the right wing.

I swear, I really don't get the Palin fan base. Why all the love for someone who constantly reminds us what a full-blown moron she is.

Seriously, this latest bit just hurts the brain.

Meanwhile, it turns out the college aged Palin ran away from Hawaii Pacific University because it had too many minorities. No, I'm not making this up. Of course, her next college was in the lily white (supremacist) land of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Meanwhile, in an unusual twist, FAUXNews is concerned about health care reform not covering abortions because, wait for it, it might lead to a rise of "more low-income babies".

Of course, I'm sure their concern is about the color of said low-income babies. Gasp!

Surprise! A Senate report has "discovered" that Donald Rumsfeld's idiotic military planning allowed bin Laden to escape Afghanistan. Seriously, why aren't any of these people doing time?

"Americans have no sense of community welfare, no willingness to be discomforted in the least for the greater good of the entire population."

- British woman lamenting our health care system to the author

Here's a reasoned and moral editorial on the need for health care reform from a former surgeon. Give it a read please.

Click here for some really cool pics from the frozen poles. Really excellent work.

Here's a good roundup article on the bizarre and blasphemous attempts by conservatives to destroy Christianity and mold it into their own hate-filled, bigoted creation.

So these guys are fine with Saudi intolerance, polygamist FLDS child diddlers, repression of basically anyone but they really, really feel that God is too tolerant of people and his words need rewritten.

Genius!

I love books. Most of you know that.

Yes, I work with technology and everyone who doesn't really know me wonders why I don't have a Kindle or something. Screw that. Give me a damn bound wad of paper to read any day of the week.

Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

There are some remarkable units of measurement on this list. Some of which I knew of, some of which I need to start using.

Come on, you really think this world doesn't need the Hyneman Scale of Mustache Density?

"Hey, this is absolutely true. There's an organization now called 'Draft Dick Cheney for President, 2012.' Yeah. Good luck with that. They tried to draft Dick Cheney five times during Vietnam. That didn't work."

- Jay Leno

Frankly, I love this story. It is about a Japanese fansub site that knows how much to abuse their customers and get away with it.

I've been working in IT or just technology for basically the past 13 years or so and you've got to understand that most of us view the rest of humanity as a pack of mouthbreathing dimwits. The things we say about you would make you cringe. I mean, in the main, you're dealing with simple machines and the average user can find ways to cripple an application or bust a printer than ever an entire tribe of chimps on roid rage and ecstasy couldn't if they really, really tried.

So to see a company actually embrace that antipathy just makes me smile.

Not that I am surprised but it turns out that during the Reign of Bush the Justice Department was either actively told to ignore or actively thwarted from addressing civil rights abuses. Yes, that's right, even Bush, who I probably think isn't a racist, couldn't help himself from the GOP mantra that racism doesn't exist because it isn't happening to them.

So now evidence that they truly were trying to set folks up as second- or third-class citizens.

In similar news, a Judge upheld the Voting Rights Act which protects minority groups from having their votes taken from them. The suit was filed by, you guessed it, the Republican National Committee. Sadly the judge did weaken the act somewhat, which is something we should all be on the lookout for.

Actually, I believe in karma and irony and I actually hope that the Voting Rights Act becomes weakened. You know, so maybe it becomes completely irrelevant and useless come the day that angry racist white Republicans actually need it to protect their access to the franchise. Yes, that's a dirty evil Republican thing to say but it would serve the anti-American bastards right.

I have no idea why I like this or even why the artist did them, but there are a few of these characters with beards pics in this guy's gallery. Enjoy.

Batman

Boba Fett

Black Mage

Robocop

Popeye

Yeah, I said it. Cheese AND Jerky in the same tube! The Cheeseheads have done it again. Whether *it* is a sane idea or not is up for grabs. Available in regular and peppered. More info here.

And hell, how can you go wrong with this knowledge: "NO JERKY FROM KNUCKLES, GRISSLE, OR TENDONS!" Mmmm!

As usual, Olivia Munn is smart, funny, and coarse. We wouldn't have her any other way. Following are the bits of her appearance on Lopez Tonight, plus the links for the rest of the show.

Charles Johnson, over at Little Green Footballs, has decided to call out and step away from the right wing racist hate mob currently running the GOP.

This doesn't mean he's gone liberal or that I'd agree with the guy on much of anything. But he and Andrew Sullivan, who left the conservatives when they went into ultra gay bashing mode but just realized it himself are onto something.

I don't mind a cautious voice in our politics. I don't mind a trend towards fiscal discipline. I don't even mind an overly protective voice. It moderates those who want to run full force into the future.

That said, those elements describe Bill Clinton more than any Republican candidate or actual president in recent decades. Republicans, unfairly or not, are those tied to restricting rights to, well, you name it: women, minorities, gays, Muslims. And so on.

Republicans sold all our jobs overseas and let corporations off the hook for paying ANY taxes, putting the burden on the rest of us.

Republicans make boogeymen for us to hate and fear; from Murphy Brown to gays to Muslims to "Socialist Kenyans". Never taking the blame for any failure (9/11, Katrina, Afghanistan (both times), Enron/WorldCom, the Bush Recession, and you name it really).

My father-in-law is a Republican and I can't fathom how much shit he has to ignore about his party just to get through the day. He's not into torturing people. He's not a racist, well, not anymore than one can be living on a golf course north of Houston. You know, not consciously. He can't possibly allow the hypocrisy of arguing against a trillion dollars in health care while being cool with a three trillion dollar war in Iraq.

At least I'd like to think so.

So, it is with him in mind that I read Johnson's manifesto and check out his attacks on the GOP's malfeasance in bowing at the feet and crotch of Rush Limbaugh for inspiration.

Or about how he asks how evangelicals can possibly be fine with executing gays in Uganda because it was a Religious Right plan that put this in motion.

Or even how the Right can be fine with vile, racist attacks on the President such as this:

Once again, I'm glad he and others are waking up to the freakish pack of bastards they have made common cause with. I sincerely hope they can either kick the cretins out of their party or make something new and, if not something I can agree with, at least be something the rest of the country can tolerate and hopefully respect the opinions of.

If not, he's just singled himself out as a "traitor" to the mob rule that currently festers and controls his party. Best of luck to him.

This past week's Latino USA focused on the town of Siler City, NC and the growing pains it has had since becoming a terminal point for Latino immigrants.

Yes, there is racism, fairly extreme even. And also a lot of fear from the locals. This is no fairy tale, but it is life as it increasingly exists in much of the nation.

Nor just one list of geeky things to be thankful for, but yet another list as well.

Yes, Thanksgiving was last week but I'm catching up on my surfing and also going through old links as well. The items are still relevant!

Spirit Airlines is usually the first to be crass but this Tiger Woods themed promotion for cheap flights to Florida is pretty funny.

Also, more on the Chinese video:

Whether you like it or not, if you voted for President Obama last year, you are partly responsible for this strategy. That's not entirely a bad thing depending on your position on the war, but it's worth repeating that the president never spoke of drawing down our forces in the Af-Pak region during the campaign, nor did he mention such a thing during his first 10 months in office.

From this article from Bob Cesca.

Maybe this ruins some of my liberal credentials, but I figure that if you start a war, you'd better finish the damn thing or create conditions to make it look like you did what you could before bailing out. I mean, hell, it took a Democrat to get us through World War II. Not to mention World War I as well.

Hell, the simple act of electing a Republican started the Civil War. Yeah, that's unfair to Lincoln but it is an absolute fact. And barring Vietnam, I can't think of another war out there the Republicans didn't fan the flames of. And Vietnam is just another in a long series of lessons of "don't try to clean up French screwups" with all apologies to the French.

In any event, if you voted for Obama and didn't know he was going to escalate the war in Afghanistan, you, frankly, are a fucking idiot. You should have wrote in for Kucinich and then bitched and whined about it, because Barack flat out told you we were going to go back and finish that war. And I truly hope he does and without much more deaths to our forces.

I don't get all these folks who are crying that Obama isn't the peacemaker he apparently told them personally he was going to be. HE TOLD YOU WE WOULD CONTINUE THE FIGHT MORONS!

I swear, the people I align myself with. Thankfully the Rethugs are repressed gays and unrepressed bigots otherwise they'd almost be attractive. Ha! I kid.

But seriously, to take back this nation from racist religious zealots, you need a hard-headed, big-hearted, patient but fearless guy. That's what we've got. No ego-windbag Clinton, no well-meaning but pacifist Kucinich. We've got Obama. He, to date, hasn't done anything he hadn't already advertised he was going to try to do. He's got a list, you know what it is, and he's going down it. Not as fast as everyone would like, but you already KNOW how this is going to work.

So stop crying and pretending like this is shocking or something.

Remember, it could be worse. We could be under the reign of President Palin now, with Johnny Mac being poisoned, err, had "an incident" back in June or something. You think things look bleak now, life under her rule would be pure bloody anarchy.

So, read this and this with that in mind, no matter if it means you lost out on a Playboy pictorial of a heavily airbrushed moose hunter to spike her ratings during whatever scandal du jour knocked her favorable ratings down.

The success of his first year will be largely dependent on the outcome of the health care debate, but Obama may soon be able to point to his first 12 months in office and say he rescued the economy from a depression, passed the health care reform bill Americans have been waiting decades for, approved most progressive budget bill in a generation, got a Supreme Court nominee confirmed, lifted the ban on stem-cell research, passed a national service bill, passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, passed new regulations of the credit card industry, passed new regulation of the tobacco industry, achieved some key counter-terrorism successes, and helped improve the nation's standing on the world stage.

There have been plenty of painful missed opportunities, but as first years go, this isn't bad. Imagine what Obama's record would be like if Republicans hadn't gone mad and if supermajorities weren't needed on every vote in the Senate. (Or better yet, imagine what Obama's record would be like if he entered office in 2001, with a strong economy and massive surplus.)

This is probably what it is going to come to:

Zombie Reagan Raised From Grave To Lead GOP

Shatner gets Limbaugh to finally admit what we know all Republicans in power believe: only rich people deserve health care:

Too bad there are millions of poor idiots who can't see they are screwing themselves by voting for fools who believe this and listening to elitist shitheels like Limbaugh all day long.

Primarily all I have to say about this Tiger Woods hysteria is that EVERY man should be loyal to his wife.

My boss is a huge Kobe Bryant fan and can't see why I loathe the guy. Sure, I don't like the Lakers but that has nothing to do with disliking some cretin who thinks he can buy off infidelity with a large pricey rock.

So I when I saw this this morning I had a chuckle. I hope she got her licks in and if not, I say give her another chance. Enjoy.

Judd Gregg is your typical slimebag Republican, more worried about scoring political points than in helping his constituents and Americans at large. But you already should have known that. If you didn't, here's more proof.

For the climate change deniers in your life. That said, the morons won't listen to reason so why bother?

I found this to be really indicative of how quickly technology has advanced in just my lifetime (so far! I'm not done yet!) The original is here and it covers more than just music.

I found this over at Geekologie.

I don't know why I'm linking this. Just because I can I guess. Click here for the large size.

I almost hurt myself laughing at this.

Apparently this is an ongoing thing. Check it out . You too can learn from the beard.

So wrong, but so right too.

And you thought the US had cornered the market on bigotry. Turns out we are pikers compared to the Swiss. Yeah, I know, the "we don't want war, please buy our chocolates and watches" Swiss.

They decided to ban the building of any more minarets of any new mosques in Switzerland. This isn't some kind of parlimentarian kidnapping of democracy, this is a referendum passed by the apparently goose-stepping public itself.

Apparently, like in America, religious expression in fine for the Swiss - as long as it has a cross attached to it. I mean, I am down with religion in general these days, but more for how it is being abused by terror-loving asshats of all stripes than for the message of subservient and blinded dogma it provides. Apparently the Swiss, and all Europeans writ large apparently, are going to have a debate on their xenophobia.

Remember folks, it is YOUR job to reign in the crazy bastards using your religion to start wars, kill children, oppress others who don't think, act, look or love like you. Whether you are responsible for al-Qaeda or Talibangelical speaking in the name of Muhammad or Jesus, stop the hatemongers in your ranks lest you be labelled as them as well.

Want to know why I don't do to Church anymore? It is because all I see are racist hatemongers who tell me my dog is going to hell because he's been microchipped. Fix your own house before you worry about the prayer tower going up on the house next door.

From the guys who had the beer history I just linked, here's some info on coffee.

This is beautiful. Check it out at it's source.

A couple of pictorials for you of Bar. The first is an artistic swing shoot and the other is from Victoria's Secret swimsuit shoot.

Don't say I never gave you anything.

Since I'm doing repeats on the girl category already, here are more pics of Miss Miranda Kerr:

I'm only going to show one of these pics. The rest you'll have to find here.

Yes, I linked to this gal earlier today but frankly she's just that damn stunning.

I'm not sure what it is about this lady that does it for me. She's an okay actress and I've never heard her sing. There's just something about the look of her I guess.

More pics here.

Hot supermodels can stop the brain of the average football announcer. Exhibit A here:

But seriously, this lady is just gorgeous. More pics here and all over the interwebs.

Ole kids! This is the former Miss Spain, Helen Lindes. More here.