Headlines - Friday April 30

 

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Free advice to every teabagger along the Gulf coast who is ranting about what the federal government should be doing to mitigate the massive environmental damage from the BP oil spill: 

 

Let state and local governments fix it. Hell, let BP fix it, for isn't that what you Ayn Randian cranks all believe, that the corporations would never ever do anything like this or, if they did, they'd fix it because "their good name is on the line"?

Every asshole now yelling about what the Feds should be doing who, not long ago, was waving a sign around at a tea-party and screaming about how "we don't want anything from the Federal government" should just shut the fuck up and go swimming off the Gulf Coast.

You're welcome.

Update: If we don't give as much money and attention to prevention (no more fucking drilling!) as to cleanup, it'll be as inexcusable as the New Orleans levees. "US President Barack Obama has said "every single available resource" of government will be deployed to help contain the Gulf Coast oil leak. Up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day may be now be leaking into the water after last week's explosion on a BP-operated rig, which then sank. Oil is expected to start washing ashore in the coming hours. The US government has designated the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as an "incident of national significance". This allows it to draw on resources from across the country to deal with the leak.  A state of emergency has been declared in the state of Louisiana, whose coastline is the most threatened by the spill. President Obama has dispatched high-level administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, to the area. He has also ordered environmental agency officials to inspect all offshore oil rigs and platforms to make sure they adhere to US safety codes. Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama said: "While BP is ultimately responsible for funding the cost of response and clean-up operations, my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal, including potentially the Department of Defence, to address the incident."

 

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Oil Spill Threatening Endangered Birds: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/4/29/861979/-Oil-Spill-Threatening-Endangered-Birds:-DK-Greenroots

 

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The National Enquirer was right about John Edwards ...

 

Tiger Woods: "I cheated 121 times, forgive me, Honey?" 

 

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Hooray! Most of the Arizona Mexicans ran back to Mexico to harvest their taco farms, and the rest of them fled to Utah and joined the Mormon Church. RedState

 

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"A new survey finds Americans continue to find it difficult to name a leader of the GOP. Only 29% of respondents named someone, while 18% said nobody and 52% were unsure."  - Political Wire, Link 

Don't you love it?

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US Military Joins Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Effort  'The Exxon Valdez is going to pale in comparison'

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Citing Katrina Myth, Obama Claimed 'Oil Rigs Today Don't Generally Cause Spills':

"I don't agree with the notion that we shouldn't do anything. It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don't cause spills. They are technologically very advanced. Even during Katrina, the spills didn't come from the oil rigs, they came from the refineries onshore."

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John Boehner: No longer welcome in Arizona

I think that outfit qualifies as "suspicious behavior".

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Now some Palestinian cleric is claiming that Allah caused the volcano in Iceland.

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Louisiana-based shrimp fishermen have filed an economics damages suit against British Petroleum, Halliburton, and the owners of the oil rig that has caused one of the greatest environmental disasters in recent memory.

Who's defending the shrimp?

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Soldiers in Afghanistan interpret Lady Gaga.

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Raping children is okay, but ...

VANCOUVER: Lesbian teacher fired from Catholic school after partner has baby.

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Were you all bummed out because the Goldman Sachs investigation was just this wimpy little civil suit from a bunch of bureaucrat nobodies at the SEC, whose only enforcement power is imposing tiny fines on impossibly rich people? Fear not! Now federal prosecutors are sniffing around this slimy cadre of villains. Soon there will be mass arrests, savage prosecutions, entire wings of federal penitentiaries given over to dozens of bankers, etc. Or not? Who knows, actually! The New York Times will only say that the feds are investigating "trading" and that it's at a "preliminary stage" and that they would face a "higher bar" than the SEC, so, meh, probably nothing will come of it. Jail cells sit empty, hungry for banker-flesh.

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Why Do We Have a Deficit? Because the Rich Don't Pay Taxes.

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My spirituality as an atheist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2nfXfTg92E&feature=player_embedded#!

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The Original Tea Party: Circa. 1959

 

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Glenn Beck has lost 1/3 of its TV audience since January.

 

 

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Is Arizona out of touch with the rest of America? Or, is it the precursor of things to come elsewhere? To the extent that racial and ethnic conflict underpins these developments in the Grand Canyon State, there is reason to be wary.

 

Demographically, there is no doubt Latinos and other immigrant minorities are America's future, and on this, Arizona stands on the front lines. Over the past two decades the state has seen its Latino population grow by 180 percent as its racial composition shifted from 72 to 58 percent white.  Keep reading here.

 

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GOD PUNISHES PHOENIX WITH AMERICA'S DIRTIEST AIR: Mexican Jesus isn't very happy with the capital of Arizona, is she? "In its annual air-quality report card, the American Lung Association put Phoenix at the top of its list of U.S. cities with the worst year-round dust pollution, as measured by levels of airborne particles that invade the lungs and bloodstream." California's cities still have the worst air overall, a result of America stealing California from Mexican California and also because of Prop. 187. And Prop. 8, too, probably. And Prop. 13, always goes back to Prop. 13. WebMD/Arizona Republic

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A bunch of Christ-dorks in Jeebusland have done it again:

The Oklahoma Legislature voted Tuesday to override the governor's vetoes of two abortion measures, one of which requires women to undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before getting an abortion.

A second measure passed into law on Tuesday prevents women who have had a disabled baby from suing a doctor for withholding information about birth defects while the child was in the womb.

In all seriousness, WTF?! Oklahoma dudes, you do not have a horse in this race, so quit trying to cripple the jockey.

You realize, of course, that 1) you are both talking down to and belittling women by ordering the doctors to explain to them (using simple, one-syllable words) what is going on inside of their own bodies. 2) Additionally, by legalizing doctors to lie to their patients you are now accessories before the fact to any number of cases. 3) The insurance companies might want to talk to you about the expense of keeping some non-viable babies (like those born without lungs or brains, and yes, it does happen) on life support (I'm assuming that the money argument might touch your GOP souls…)

If your goal is to make abortions nonexistent in your land, then state it up front. The Taliban would.

Update: Florida is following suit. The state is also trying to pass a law that would ban sex with animals. 

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Journalists must donate to anti-choice organization in order to cover Palin's speech. 

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THIS IS WHY WE NEED A BLOGGERS UNION FOR CHRIST'S SAKE: Now this is interesting, isn't it. From Maryland politics blogger Adam Pugnacco: "Five weeks ago, I received an unsolicited offer from the Washington Post. They asked if they could post my picture and biography on their website and link to every new blog post appearing here if I agreed to produce regular original content for them at their request. I turned them down. Why? Because they wanted me to work for them for nothing." There is much more, and a follow-up here. Richard Cohen, meanwhile, presumably still earns a paycheck from the Washington Post Co., America's #1 value stock. Maryland Politics Watch

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Ted Nugent writes beautiful ode to 'Herculean' Sarah Palin for TIME

Somewhat famous rock 'n' roll wingnut Ted Nugent is a contributor to the hot new TIME 100 list, which we are too scared to check out in full. (Did Meghan McCain make it, or did Didier Drogba "kick her out" of the last spot? That is a soccer joke!) While Nugent, tragically, did not make this list (again, we don't know, maybe he did!), he was awarded the prize of writing Sarah Palin's entry, which begins like so: "If Sarah Palin played a loud, grinding instrument, she would be in my band." Jesus. MORE »

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Weeping Senator Jim DeMint of the Party of No: "it's not our fault!!!"

"Just because we don't want to work with the Dems doesn't mean the President should not roll over for us," says gpuke idiot.

"The president is the one who put the kibosh on working together, and now he's just trying to use the mainstream media to confuse the American people. The fact is I think he thinks Americans are stupid, and he's going to play this out until he gets a headline in every paper that Republicans are obstructionist. The fact is, he's the one who's obstructing real bipartisanship."

Yes, because there are 41 little Obamas voting "no" repeatedly on the Senate floor the past two days.

Unbelievable.

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Rich are richer, poor are poorer: guess who has to sacrifice to pay off the debt?