February 11, 2013

Does anyone still have the meme about corporations not paying taxes?

It starts with something like 'while your were busy worrying about that guy buying a candy bar with food stamps, American corporations got away with not paying taxes . . . blah, blah, blah', or something to that affect.

I need a comeback to a hateful right wing email being circulated by a family member.

Thanks!

February 11, 2013

Ugghhh . . . the movie 'W.' is about to start on the Sundance Channel . . .

When it was first released, I saw it and was kind of stunned that the crowd in the cinema, obviously Dems and Independents, laughed through the entire show.

I didn't think it was funny. I was alternately fuming with anger and crying because this crap actually happened.

I sort of want to watch it, but I've been fighting a migraine all day. Not sure if I can handle it right now. Where's the tequila?

February 4, 2013

Rand Paul Again Planning to Take on TSA, Airport Security Screenings

By KEVIN WILLIS, WKU Public Radio, posted Feb 1, 2013

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says he plans to refile a bill that would scale back the power of the Transportation Security Administration. The Bowling Green Republican told Politico he has two different measures ready to go—one that would privatize the TSA, and another that would create a passenger bill of rights.

Paul introduced those bills during last year’s Congress, but both measures failed to get out of the Senate Commerce Committee. Paul wants to end the TSA screening operation and force airports to hire private companies to conduct security screenings. Paul’s legislation would also allow some fliers to opt out of pat-downs, and create an expedited screening program for frequent fliers.

Sen. Paul drew national attention last year when he resisted a pat-down at the Nashville airport. That refusal caused him to miss a speech he was scheduled to make, and a video of the incident went viral on the internet.


This idiot Rand Paul is determined to take this country to a privatized aviation security system that will surely result in another 9/11-type disaster. But he seems to be more interested in making sure that the wealthy bleed this country dry of every last dollar in the name of "Capitalism", to hell with the consequences to the traveling public. Hopefully this fails again!

February 1, 2013

Ten Ridiculous Questions From Chuck Hagel’s Confirmation Hearing

by George Zornick, Jan 31, 2013 - posted on The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/blog/172572/ten-ridiculous-questions-chuck-hagels-confirmation-hearing


It was a difficult task to narrow these down, but here are ten of the most ridiculous questions posed to Hagel:

Winners, “Please Admit You Hate America” Division

Senator James Inhofe, R-OK: The question I’d like to ask you, and you can answer for the record if you like, why do you think that the Iranian foreign ministry so strongly supports your nomination to be the secretary of defense?

Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC: Do you believe that the sum total of all of your votes, refusing to sign a letter to the EU asking Hezbollah to be designated a terrorist organization, being one of two to vote [against] designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, being one of two on two occasions to vote against sanctions that this body was trying to impose on Iran, the statements you made about Palestinians and the Jewish lobby, all that together—that the image you’ve created is one of sending the worst possible message to our enemies and our friends at one of the most critical times in world history?

Winners, “Please Pledge, Here and Now, To Start A War” Division

Senator John McCain, R-AZ: Do you think that Syrians should get the weapons they need and perhaps establish a no-fly zone? [A no-fly zone would, almost without question, quickly lead to a full-scale air war with Syria.]

Senator Mark Udall, D-CO: Why should Americans trust that you will consider every option when it comes to one of the most serious national security threats facing us today, which is Iran? [There were many, many iterations of this same question.]

Winners, “Please Promise to Keep the Pork Flowing to my State” Division

Senator Joe Donnelly, D-IN: When we were together, I mentioned to you my visit to Crane Surface Warfare Systems, in Indiana. What they do is they work to create the technologies to control the spectrum, in effect try to win the battlefield before the battle starts on the ground. And so, we were wondering, what can be done, in this time of challenging budgets, that in the area of technology, in the area of spectrum, we can maintain our budget so that, as I said, before the war is ever started on the ground we have won it on the spectrum level?

Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-CT: I would like a commitment that you are committed as well to a fleet of twelve Ohio-class replacement submarines.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH: Our four public shipyards are the backbone of our naval power. But according to the Navy there’s huge backlog of the modernization and restorations projects at our shipyards.… Will you commit to ensuring that this modernization plan is produced, and will you commit to pressing the Navy, within the fiscal constraints that I appreciate, to fully fund the improvements in the long term?

Winners, “Questions We Really Wish Hagel Would Have Answered ‘Yes’ To”

Senator Mike Lee, R-UT: I understand that you have made a statement that there is no justification for Palestinian suicide bombers, but there is also no justification for Israel to “keep Palestinians caged up like animals.” Did you say it, and if so do you stand by it?

Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX: Senator Hagel, do you think it’s appropriate for the chief civilian leader for the US military forces to agree with the statement that both the ‘perception and the reality’ is that the United States is ‘the world’s bully’?”

Senator Roger Wicker, R-MS: You have corrected the term Jewish lobby. And I assume the correct term now is Israel lobby or Israeli lobby. Do you still stand by your statement that they succeed in this town because of intimidation, and that it amounts to causing us to do dumb things?

January 20, 2013

Enabling the 'auto trash by key word' function . . .

So, I finally got around to enabling the 'auto trash by key word' function today. I trashed the words 'gun' and 'guns'.

Apparently, that's not enough. I see that threads with the word 'weapon' instead of 'gun' are still visible. Damn!

What other key words should I trash to avoid the gun nuttery?

And, more importantly, when will gun threads be restricted to the RKBA forum again? Enough already!

January 2, 2013

If right-wing Republicans have their way, Paul Ryan will soon be House Speaker?

Right Wing Plotting Anti-Boehner Coup? - January 2, 2013 14:17, from Alan Colmes' Liberaland


If right-wing Republicans have their way, Paul Ryan will soon be House Speaker.

…some on the right are mobilizing to replace Boehner with a House speaker who drops Boehner’s pretense of being willing to negotiate with the White House, and who sticks more purely to extreme conservative dogma.

According to Matthew Boyle of the far-right website Breitbart News, conservative House Republicans have already laid the groundwork to do just that. Boyle reports that several members and staffers are quietly circulating a multi-step plan to oust Boehner as speaker on January 3rd. The first step of the plan would be to change House rules to elect the speaker by secret ballot instead of by a public roll-call vote; this would protect the congressmen who vote against Boehner from retribution.

The plotters are confident that such a measure would succeed, because Boehner himself has passionately argued in favor of secret ballots in the past. While opposing the Employee Free Choice Act — ironically, a favorite target of the right wing that now has Boehner in its sights — the speaker wrote a 2009 op-ed stressing that secret ballots protect against “coercion” and “intimidation.” In a document laying out the plan to oust Boehner (which can be viewed on Breitbart.com), the anonymous staffers behind the planned coup note that Boehner would be in the “impossible position of opposing secret ballot or being confronted on the Floor with his own, indicting op-ed.”

If the move to vote via secret balloting is successful, then House Republicans would be able to anonymously vote until a Republican gains the 218 votes necessary for election as speaker. According to Boyle, House Republicans are confident that Boehner would not survive a secret ballot — but that another, still-anonymous congressman, “will unite the party and take the speakership.”

http://www.alan.com/2013/01/02/right-wing-plotting-anti-boehner-coup/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+liberaland

December 14, 2012

Media: STOP repeating his name . . . STOP showing his image!!!

I don't want to hear that cowardly piece of shit's name repeated over and over again in the media. I don't want to see his photo plastered on the cover of every newspaper and on every news website. I don't want to give him any recognition for the vile, cowardly act he committed today.

I get it that people will want to know his background to try to understand how this lowly worm came to such a point in his life that he thought murdering the most innocent and defenseless among us was the right course of action.

But, to all members of the media, STOP repeating his name . . . STOP showing his image!!! He does not deserve to be recognized as anything other than 'that cowardly piece of shit who murdered defenseless, innocent children!'

November 28, 2012

Congress to make history -- but for the wrong reason?

By NBC's Kyle Inskeep, posted on NBC.com on 28 nov 2012:


According to a recent Gallup poll, only 18% of Americans say they approve of the work this Congress has done -- so it's more than likely it won’t go down as one of the more popular congressional bodies.

But with only weeks to go before it concludes, the 112th Congress (2011-2012) is on track to make another type of history.

By passing just 196 bills into law so far, it is in the running to become the least productive Congress since the 1940s.

In fact, that amount is 710 fewer public laws than was produced by the 80th Congress (from 1947-48), which first earned the moniker "Do-Nothing" Congress.

The lack of legislation passed by Congress in recent years has become frustrating to many lawmakers. Outgoing Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) decided not to run for re-election because of the congressional gridlock, partisan politics, and lack of work being done on Capitol Hill.

“As I have long said, what motivates me is producing results for those who have entrusted me to be their voice and their champion, and I am filled with that same sense of responsibility today as I was on my first day in the Maine House of Representatives. I do find it frustrating, however, that an atmosphere of polarization and ‘my way or the highway’ ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions,” Snowe said in a statement announcing her retirement last February.

The U.S. House Clerk’s office keeps official records of all congressional activity dating as far back as 1947. During those 65 years and 33 different Congresses, more than 20,000 public laws have been passed.

The 104th Congress (1995-1996) currently holds the holds the record low for passing the fewest pieces of legislation since 1947 -- just 333 bills were passed into law during that two-year span.

The 107th Congress (2001-2002) is next, passing only 377 new laws during its time in Washington.

To avoid earning the distinction as the least productive Congress since 1947, 138 bills must move through the House and Senate before the end of this Congress next month.

And with just 11 scheduled voting days left before the House’s target adjournment date for the year -- and with all eyes fixed on the looming fiscal cliff -- time is running out.

The number of bills passed into law by Congress since 1947:

80th: 906
81st: 921
82nd: 594
83rd: 781
84th: 1,028
85th: 936
86th: 800
87th: 885
88th: 666
89th: 810
90th: 640
91st: 695
92nd: 607
93rd: 649
94th: 588
95th: 634
96th: 613
97th: 473
98th: 623
99th: 664
100th: 713
101st: 650
102nd: 590
103rd: 465
104th: 333
105th: 394
106th: 580
107th: 377
108th: 498
109th: 482
110th: 460
111th: 383
112th: 196 (so far)

November 12, 2012

Before everyone jumps on the bandwagon to let the confederate states secede . . .

Please realize there ARE some sane and rational people living in said states. Over 60% of those who responded to a recent poll on NOLA.com thought the idea of Louisiana seceding 'silly'; 30% said secession was a good idea:


The White House set up the section, We the People, to allow citizens to have their voices heard. If a petition gets 25,000 signatures within a month, the "White House staff will review it, ensure it's sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response."

The website Gawker notes: "As unilateral secession was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, it remains to be seen if this movement is more than a toothless temper tantrum thrown by armchair revolutionaries."

On Monday morning, the Louisiana petition had more than 13,000 signatures. If the petition gathers 25,000 signatures by December 7, the White House pledges it will be place the petition in a queue for response from the Obama administration."


Here are the vote tallies on the NOLA.com website as of today:

Yes, we would be better off - 30.64%

No, it didn't go so well last time - 5.78%

This is just silly - 63.58%

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/louisiana_other_states_petitio.html#incart_m-rpt-2

November 7, 2012

Say what you will about CNN but . . .

their election coverage is amazing. I just went to their website to check the results of the presidential race in Florida (they haven't called it yet, still processing results) . . . so much data, and in very easy to read graphics! Check out this website . . .


http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/state/FL