Wednesday, June 30, 2010
ohfercrapsake...
nation in decline
Someone smack this elite member of the Ruling Class with a haddock, please.
"I keep wanting to ask you about the famous case of Edward v. Jacob, or The Vampire v. The Werewolf,” [Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)] said
So… Al Franken is the smart Senator from MN…
As Kagan said in later testimony, a judge plays for neither team, but acts independently. She practices what she preaches, because she refused to commit to either Team Edward or Team Jacob.
MSM: *sluuuurp*
John le Carre to the White Courtesy Telephone, Please
erm… whaaa?
What’s the last MSM story about arrested spies you remember? I don’t remember a one.
The suspected Russian spy ring rolled up by the F.B.I. this week had everything it needed for world-class espionage: excellent training, cutting-edge gadgetry, deep knowledge of American culture and meticulously constructed cover stories.
Dammit! Spies!!
The only things missing in more than a decade of operation were actual secrets to send home to Moscow.
ok - bad spies.
in all those years they were never caught sending classified information back to Moscow, American officials said.
oh. Never caught...
...they were instructed not to seek government jobs, because spy bosses in Moscow thought their cover stories would not stand up under a serious background investigation. So they were assigned to feed to Moscow what amounted to briefing papers on economics issues, American government players and diplomatic and military affairs.
Which they got from where?! Teh IntarToobs?
...Before a visit to Moscow by President Obama last year, Ms. Murphy and her ostensible husband, Mr. Murphy, were instructed to size up American intentions from their home in Montclair, N.J. “Try to outline their views and most important Obama’s goals which he expects to achieve during summit in July and how does his team plan to do it (arguments, provisions, means of persuasion to ‘lure’ [Russia] into cooperation in US interests),” the spy bosses in Moscow asked, according to the charging papers.
That’s one sleepy sleeper. Here—put yer feet up. Have a cooookie.
The FBI snooped [in 2001] in on the [safety deposit box, where the “Canadian” couple kept pictures of Ms. Foley in her prime] to discover one negative was stamped with the name of a Soviet film company.
Here’s the Mata Hari:
Anna Chapman has been called the femme fatale of a spy case with Cold War-style intrigue — a striking redhead and self-styled entrepreneur who dabbled in real estate and mused on her Facebook page, “if you can dream, you can become it.” ...
suspect Anna Chapman, a demure divorced 28-year-old who said she founded an online real estate company worth $2 million. ...Chapman grew up in the Soviet Union’s former Stalingrad in a well-connected family. ...father worked in the Russian Embassy
*
Her mother, who lives in western Moscow, said she is convinced of her daughter’s innocence.
Wait. They found her MOTHER?!?!? After a week?!?
“These actions are unfounded," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We don’t understand the reasons which prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to make a public statement in the spirit of Cold War-era spy stories."
ok—that’s just what they would say—in a Cold War-era spy story.
In Russia, there were reports that the arrests were an attempt by “hawks” in the U.S. government to sabotage Obama’s overtures to Medvedev.
Yeah --- there’s lotsa folks who want to go to war with Russia. Makes perfect sense.
Ex-President Bill Clinton, who happened to be in Moscow to speak to an investment conference, met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, onetime the fearsome head of the KGB.
“I understand that back home police are putting people in prison,” Putin said, drawing a laugh from Clinton.
“I’m counting on the fact that the positive trend seen in the relationship will not be harmed by these events,” Putin said.
I’m sure you are…
Wow. Now that’s timing. Slick Willy visiting Pooty-Poot: Teh iWon hangin at the burger joint with Medvedev… *BAM* Busted spy ring. Gives rise to some questions, duddin’t it?
Why now?
Why so public?
Generally: WTH?!?
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Presidentin' is Hard
for some more than others...
The reviews of Obama’s performance have been disappointing. He has seemed uncomfortable in the role of leading other nations, and often seems to suggest there is nothing special about America’s role in the world. The global community was puzzled over the pictures of Obama bowing to some of the world’s leaders and surprised by his gratuitous criticisms of and apologies for America’s foreign policy under the previous administration of George W. Bush. One Middle East authority, Fouad Ajami, pointed out that Obama seems unaware that it is bad form and even a great moral lapse to speak ill of one’s own tribe while in the lands of others.
They are no longer dazzled by his rock star personality
and there is a sense that there is something amateurish and even incompetent about how Obama is managing U.S. power. For example, Obama has asserted that America is not at war with the Muslim world. The problem is that parts of the Muslim world are at war with America and the West.
Homeland Securityin' is Hard
see also: History
...And the plain fact of the matter is, is that the border is as secure now as it’s ever been my point exactly, dammit!, but we know we can always do more. And that will always be the case. It’s a big border. It’s nineteen hundred and sixty miles across that Southwest border.
It’s some of the roughest, toughest, geographical terrain in the world rly? seen Silverton CO? or the Hindu Kush? across that border. it’s haaaaard And so the notion that you’re going to seal that border somehow is something that anybody who’s been involved in the actual doing of law enforcement, the front office work, the front line work of the law enforcement which say you’re never going to totally seal that border see also: “word salad", recognizing also that there’s a lot of trade in commerce we want going back and forth, I mean, Mexico, for 22 of our states, is our number one or two trading partner. I mean, it’s huge the amount of commerce that goes back and forth. rly? You’re implying legitimate “trade” comes thru the “roughest toughest geographical terrain in the world”?
... But the notion that you’re going to somehow seal the border, and only at that point will you discuss immigration reform, that is not an answer to the problem.
I beg to disagree. This is the problem:
This is a metaphoric image of what the open border is doing to our economy, our taxation and our *cough* Homeland SECURITY.
But I see how you would fail to comprehend. It is also analogous to stopping the oil leak gusher before you seek political advantage.
You incompetent nincompoop.
via 
Pat Riotic
Dave Stoddard has lived and worked on the border all his live. He has traveled in Mexico and has friends and family there. Dave lives near the Mexican Border in Cochise County, Arizona. He speaks, reads and writes Spanish fluently.
Mr. Stoddard spent 27 years in the Border Patrol and served in Calexico, California, Vermont, Yuma, Tucson Sector Headquarters and Naco, Arizona. He also worked in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and other locations. ...
Dear Senator Lott:
There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.
1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship. Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free education for their offspring. Their main attraction is employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What illegal aliens want are benefits of American residence without paying the price.
2. There are no jobs that Americans won’t do. Illegal aliens are doing jobs that Americans can’t take and still support their families. Illegal aliens take low wage jobs, live dozens in a single residence home, share expenses and send money to their home country. There are no jobs that Americans won’t do for a decent wage.
3. Every person who illegally entered this nation left a home. They are NOT homeless and they are NOT Americans. Some left jobs in their home countries. They come to send money to their real home as evidenced by the more than 20 billion dollars sent out of the country each year by illegal aliens. These illegal aliens knowingly and willfully entered this nation in violation of the law and therefore assumed the risk of detection and deportation. Those who brought their alien children assumed the responsibility and risk on behalf of their children.
4. Illegal aliens are NOT critical to the economy. Illegal aliens constitute less than 5% of the workforce. However, they reduce wages and benefits for lawful U.S. residents.
5. This is NOT an immigrant nation. There are 280 million native born Americans. While it is true that this nation was settled and founded by immigrants (legal immigrants), it is also true that there is not a nation on this planet that was not settled by immigrants at one time or another.
6. The United States is welcoming to legal immigrants. Illegal aliens are not immigrants by definition. The U.S. accepts more lawful immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.
7. There is no such thing as the “Hispanic vote”. Hispanics are white, brown, black and every shade in between. Hispanics are Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists, Marxists and Independents. The so-called “Hispanic vote” is a myth. Pandering to illegal aliens to get the Hispanic vote is a dead end.
8. Mexico is NOT a friend of the United States. Since 1848 Mexicans have resented the United States. During World War I Mexico allowed German Spies to operate freely in Mexico to spy on the U.S. During World War II Mexico allowed the Axis powers to spy on the U.S. from Mexico. During the Cold War Mexico allowed spies hostile to the U.S. to operate freely. The attack on the Twin Towers in 2001 was cheered and applauded all across Mexico. Today Mexican school children are taught that the U.S. stole California, Arizona, new Mexico and Texas. If you don’t believe it, check out some Mexican textbooks written for their schoolchildren.
9. Although some illegal aliens enter this country for a better life, there are 6 billion people on this planet. At least 1 billion of those live on less than one dollar a day. If wanting a better life is a valid excuse to break the law and sneak into America, then let’s allow those one billion to come to America and we’ll turn the USA into a Third World nation overnight. Besides, there are 280 million native born Americans who want a better life. I’ll bet Bill Gates and Donald Trump want a better life. When will the USA lifeboat be full? Since when is wanting a better life a good reason to trash another nation?
10. There is a labor shortage in this country. This is a lie. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American housewives, senior citizens, students, unemployed and underemployed who would gladly take jobs at a decent wage.
11. It is racist to want secure borders. What is racist about wanting secure borders and a secure America? What is racist about not wanting people to sneak into America and steal benefits we have set aside for legal aliens, senior citizens, children and other legal residents? What is it about race that entitles people to violate our laws, steal identities, and take the American Dream without paying the price?
For about four decades American politicians have refused to secure our borders and look after the welfare of middle class Americans. These politicians have been of both parties. A huge debt to American society has resulted. This debt will be satisfied and the interest will be high. There has already been riots in the streets by illegal aliens and their supporters. There will be more. You, as a politician, have a choice to offend the illegal aliens who have stolen into this country and demanded the rights afforded to U.S. citizens or to offend those of us who are stakeholders in this country. The interest will be steep either way. There will be civil unrest. There will be a reckoning. Do you have the courage to do what is right for America? Or, will you bow to the wants and needs of those who don’t even have the right to remain here?
There will be a reckoning. It will come in November of this year, again in 2008 and yet again in 2010.
We will not allow America to be stolen by third world agitators and thieves.
Amateurs!
BrTwits
According to a new survey of 3,000 women, the average woman spends nearly $25,000 on shoes over her lifetime...
...study claims that gals buy seven pairs of shoes per year, totaling 469 pairs in a lifetime… an average of $53 per pair ... $16,410 over 67 years
And then yer supposta stop?!? oh yeah; Nationalized Healthcare. nevermind.
The average woman reportedly also owns 19 pairs of shoes, which includes three heels; six pairs of flip-flops, sandals, ballet flats or wedges; three pairs of boots; two pairs of work shoes; four pairs of “foxy-style” shoes for hitting the town; and a “random” pair.
rly?
Monday, June 28, 2010
ToDaZeD CA *facepalm* -- Greek-style edition
looks a tad uncomfortable...
Unemployment was 12.4 percent in May *cough*bullshit*cough*, 2.7 percentage points higher than the national rate. Lawmakers gridlocked over how to close a $19 billion budget gap are arguing over what a Fwentch company did during the Occupation, and the fate of the state rock, while not weighing the termination of the main welfare program for 1.3 million poor families or borrowing more than $9 billion in the bond market. California, tied with Illinois for the lowest credit rating of any state, is diverting a rising portion of tax revenue to service debt ...
with a $1.8 trillion economy that’s larger than Russia’s… and a regulatory system that makes the USSR’s look simple...
In California, the state grabbed $1.7 billion in redevelopment money from local governments in May. one good thing—that money was all set to go for graft and grift anyway. oh, and “traffic calming measures” on cities’ busiest streets. yeah. morons. ...
The risk is that California ends up like Greece, with no one trusting that it can get its financial house in order…
Still, California isn’t Greece. It’s home to Silicon Valley, Hollywood and a $27 billion agriculture industry which it’s rapidly killing in favor of a 2” trash fish. as working farms are bankrupted they are snapped up by Big Ag which will burn out the land and leave it barren for 100 years. [see: Kern Co.]. “It’s unbelievable,” you can say that again says Bob Nichols, CEO of Windward Capital Management Co. in Los Angeles. “How do you screw up a place with the growth capability of California? It’s so dysfunctional.”
Bob. Put down the latte, learn to use terms like “fucking asinine” or “criminally puddinheaded” and go invest in pitchforks and torches. I hear tar and chicken futures are going up, too...
Here’s a jobs lost map:
See Slate for the animated/interactive version.
Keep in mind, most counties in CA are the size of mid-western/eastern states. Red is jobs lost: the bigger the circle, the more lost. That ginormous circle is LA county with 295,880 jobs lost since Oct 08; by far the biggest in the nation, whaddan honor!. That tiny blue circle is Tulare Co with 712 jobs gained. And yet they tell us that unemployment is 12.4%.
Pull the other one; it’s got bells on.
Somebody Got Some 'Splainin' to Do...
I doangeddit
After a year of concentrated effort, NATO forces in Afghanistan have reduced civilian casualties, caused by foreign troops, 44.4 percent. There were 7.8 percent fewer battles even involving civilians, and 52 percent fewer civilians hurt by foreign troops. The most striking reduction (82 percent) was in civilian casualties from air strikes. ...
Many Afghans are not happy with this policy, with foreign troops increasingly encountering angry Afghan civilians, who demand that NATO act more decisively in pursuing and killing Taliban gunman. Even if it puts Afghan civilians at risk. This is an unexpected side effect to the change in NATO rules of engagement (ROE) in Afghanistan. The ROE change was partly in response to popular (or at least media) anger at civilians killed by American smart bombs. ...
Of course, Afghan civilians are aware of who is killing most of the civilians, and that’s why the Taliban and al Qaeda are moving down in the opinion polls. But for the media, hammering foreign troops every time they kill a civilian, or are simply (often falsely) accused of doing so, led to the ROE becoming far more strict than it ever was in Iraq. Thus one Taliban victory you don’t hear much about is how they turned their use of human shields into a powerful, and very successful, propaganda weapon against NATO and U.S. troops, and an excellent way to avoid getting attacked.
I’ve always been unclear how we determine who is a “civilian” as [in contravention to the Geneva Conventions—which they did not sign anyway] the Tally-ban wars no uniform, no insignia, no flag. The only way to tell who’s a “Bad Guy” is to check his mind for ideas. About which he can lie. Technically, they’re all “civilians.”
CIA director Leon Panetta called the war in Afghanistan “a very tough fight,” and acknowledged that “there are some serious problems.” Panetta said that the Taliban “is engaged in greater violence” now than when President Obama took office, and said that they’re stronger in some ways, but weaker in others, noting that “we’re undermining their leadership.”...
“I think at most, we’re looking at maybe 50 to 100, maybe less. It’s in that vicinity.
Whaa? Did he say there’re just 100 Tally-ban guys in Afghanistan? rly? We’re spending lives of our military—not to mention $3.6bn a month—on 100 Bad Guys?
Yes; I realize that there are a lot of supporting Tally-ban/Tally-ban-esque across the border in Pakky-stain—and elsewhere. And lots of like-minded goat fu... erm, idealogs pretty much all over everywhere. [see: AZ border region—but not for long] But I’m trying to focus, here.
“I was shown the figures the other day by the comptroller of the Pentagon that said that the interest on our debt is $571 billion in 2012,” Mullen said at a breakfast hosted by The Hill. “That is, noticeably, about the size of the defense budget. It is not sustainable.”
[*cringes at “sustainable"*] Nevertheless, the man has a point.
Do ya think this will change under General Petraeus? How?! How can he possible manage it?
Is there really a point in not packing up and getting out? Sure, leave behind a warning that we can—and will—glass ya over and mine your ores if another attack originates from there. But are we really making useful progress?
Especially when the goat fu... erm, idealogs feel perfectly safe putting up a ginormous mosk at Ground Zero and calling it Cordoba?
Social Cues
If you’re so smart, why don’t you pick up your cues faster?*
From Michelle’s Mirror [where there is ever so much more delicious snarkology] comes this disquieting lovely image:
Does that make anyone else cringe? Just Me™?
...pull them out of the cellophane before they scorch...
According to the rumor mill, MO has been making efforts to look more youthful. Did she succeed? You Decide:
*cultural ref.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Silver Lining?
don’t getcher hopes up
Byrd’s illness could complicate the financial reform bill’s path to President Barack Obama’s desk. Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, one of four Republicans who voted for the original bill [yeah - big help, there, pal], has said he might vote against the version that emerged from the reconciliation of the House and Senate versions because it adds a $19 billion bank tax.
Should Brown vote no and Byrd is unable to vote, it would leave the bill one vote shy of the 60 needed to close debate and move to final passage.
Not that I wish the Old Klansman ill, I’d rather he face natural consequences for his 437 years of bad choices here before he gets around to Judgement Day. But I’m sure he could use a nice long rest up and lie in… Say, ‘til November?
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Yer Goona Get in Trouuuble!
Three cheers for the grown-ups!
Okaloosa County ... commissioners voted unanimously to give their emergency management team the power to take whatever action it deems necessary to prevent oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill from entering Choctawhatchee Bay through the East Pass.
...That means the team, led by Public Safety Director Dino Villani, can take whatever action it sees fit to protect the pass without having its plans approved by state or federal authorities.
...commissioners made their unanimous decision knowing full well they could be prosecuted for it.
“We’ve played the game. We’re done playing the game,” [Commission chairman Wayne Harris] said.
Keep an eye out for the defense fund: this regime does not like ‘backtalkers.’
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thieves in the Night
incompetent thieves, at that
Creeping Galloping Incrementalism
At 5am—after a “grueling” 20 hour session…
how often has anything useful been produced at 5am after a sleepless marathon? where have all the adults gone?!? what’s the f’n hurry?!?
Despite promises of an open negotiating process, many of the toughest deals were reached in private conversations among Democrats, as well as White House and Treasury officials, outside the Senate meeting room session that was being broadcast on C-SPAN.
Transparency!!
...said a teary-eyed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.)...“No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we’ve done something that has been needed for a long time..."
So you’re admitting you’re incompetent*. Thank you, at least, for that.
*yes, incompetent. It’s your job to know wtf you’re passing, isn’t it? You’re a law maker.
If a guy—who knows absolutely nothing about shoes, except how to seal ‘em from shoe shoppe—called himself a shoemaker and made a pair of shoes with three heels and spikes inside, you’d call him incompetent, wouldn’t you? If a banker sold a packet of debts without a pretty good idea that 98% of them would go belly-up, you’d call him incompetent, wouldn’t you? If a loan officer sold a loan without knowing whether the debtor was capable of—or even interested in—repaying it [despite Federal Regulations demanding he do so], you’d call him incompetent, didn’t you?
yes, incompetent.
The Script - It Does Not Change
The Vicious and Powerhungry - They Do Not Learn Care
Of Course humans are smart enough to control complex systems; Economies, Teh Environment . . .
...President Chavez’s drive to control the distribution of food...
... Chavez launched an “economic war on the bourgeoisie owners” of supermarkets, mills, rice plants and food distribution companies.
...said the failure of the state-owned PDVAL [Petroleos de Venezuela], a subsidiary of the national oil company, to distribute food imports that rotted at the shores…
...Several thousands tons of rotting meat ... “stank like 100 dead dogs.” ...
...Inflation leapt to 21 per cent in May as food prices rose 41 per cent…
Soldiers have been deployed to raid private homes for food stores.
Chavez: “Socialism is necessarily better than capitalism across the board and, that’s what we’re proving,"
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Come Hither, Bay Bee
there’s a fever—in my panth
giggling, “crazed sex poodle"
So See AD for transcript, etc.
FTR: No. I don’t really believe Algore has hidden, fevered, steamy depths. I’m pretty sure that grifter / useful tool ain’t got no depths whatsoever.
But dayum—this is too good not to pass along.
A Fantathy Unwewated to Any Human Expewienthe!
here’s your towel
Rep. Barney Frank on government regulations: “The general fear that the banking members, that we’re going to over regulate on behalf of consumers is a fantasy unrelated to any human experience. The federal government has never done that.”
So, tell me again why the banks were knowingly making loans to people and failing to ask whether or not they actually had any income? Or stopped the oil sucking boats to check on life vests? Or stopped the dredging? Or keeps out the foreign oil-gathering specialist equipment?
Tell me again who will force the banks to bail out Freddie/Fanny—again? Who is taking private property for crony private gain? Who is demanding “escrow monies” and dipping it’s ...hands in it as though it were pudding? Who is likely gonna “encourage” US all to go to bed an hour earlier putting poor Charlie Sheen out of work*?
Pull the other one --- it’s got bells on.
* I hear he has a popular evening TV show—which no one could watch if they can’t use electricity
Which is why thoooo many Amewicanth have confidenth in you, Mithter Fwank:
Rasmussen : 48% of Adults see the government today as a threat to individual rights...
--37% regard the government as a protector of rights.
--15% [asked to be directed to the snack bar]-- Republicans 74%
-- Unaffiliateds 51%
-- [even 36% of the Slow-learners Party agrees][Part Dux]
-- 52% say it is more important for the government to protect individual rights than to promote economic growth
-- 31% say promoting economic growth [is even possible for the fed gubbmint to do]
-- 17%aren’t sure which is more important[asked to be allowed to pet the bunny]-- 21% believe that government today has the consent of the governed.
[Final kicker]
Men strongly believe it is more important for the government to protect individual rights, while women are almost evenly divided on the question.
*sisterly facepalm* my palm...
WTF? part lebentygajillion
act of war?
Teh iWon will be “all over this” in ...3 ...2 ...
Venezuela will nationalize a fleet of oil rigs belonging to U.S. company Helmerich and Payne...
...Chavez has made energy nationalization the linchpin in his ‘revolution’. He has also taken over assets in telecommunications, power, steel and banking.
...A former soldier inspired by Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Chavez ...is having a hard time in his 11th year in power. Venezuela’s economy is the worst performing in Latin America this year...
Socialism—Cuz It Works SO Well.
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{/if}
