Headlines - Wednesday August 17

Borowitz: Rick Perry Promises Universal Hair Care - Would Establish Cabinet-level 'Hair Club for America

 

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The Circle of Life.

 

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Koch Brothers - It's the evil thing.

 

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A hundred and fifty years ago there were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park, now there are 25. In ten years there will be none.

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Libertarian Billionaire Wants Island Nation for Libertarian Billionaires

It is possible that if we too had billions of dollars, we might set fire to a few million of it every day for fun and "good form" or however it is appropriate to celebrate exorbitant wealth these days, but eccentric Silicon Valley tycoon Peter Thiel will do everybody one better and use a little of that billionaire barbecue tinder pile to the tune of $1.25 million to fund an adorable lunatic venture proposing to build an island nation of Paultards "oil-rig style" somewhere off the coast of San Francisco/ wherever. "Will there be Internet forums?" Oh, uh, probably! The organization behind this blockbuster premise is called the Seasteading Institute, a group that devotes itself to arguing on its Wiki about what kind of man-made island would be most likely to live up to Ayn Rand's paradisiac vision of total lawlessness while trying to avoid tsunami death. No one claimed libertarian utopia was easy! READ MORE »

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With Perry, we have a chance to re-live those perfect Bush years.

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Wisco: Rep. Paul Ryan hides behind a paywall.

 

When a Congressman faces a high level of public outrage at his legislative proposals, he doesn't have to listen anymore. All he has to do is charge admission to make sure that only those who agree with him are allowed in his presence.

 

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Bachmann and Perry both have ties to Dominionism, a fringe far-right Christian movement.  Since they both believe that they have the right to impose their religion on the rest of us via legislative fiat, perhaps it's time we learned more about their rather odd, and extreme, version of "Christianity."  From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

 

Do you honestly believe that a Republican Congress, populated by men and women who cannot control their own impulses and so need a punitive religious structure to keep them on the straight (in all senses of the word) and narrow and cannot imagine not needing one, would stop an authoritarian president and the followers who regard him or her as a quasi-Messiah, from implementing such mass killings and exile of heathen by executive order if they believe they were told to do by God?

If you don't already know about Christian Reconstruction, it's time to change that.

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Why do the oil companies always have to immediately dismiss these events and try to cover up the information? Is it asking too much of our political leadership to demand accountability?

 

The flow of oil from the worst spill in UK waters in the past decade, at one of Shell's North Sea platforms, has been "greatly reduced" but not yet stopped completely, the government said on Monday.

 

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Obama finally criticizes GOP, then takes swipe at Dems.

 

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A military contractor cheated on its contract? We're shocked "A US-based military contractor has failed to provide nearly 60 per cent of the instructors needed to train Afghan police under a contract with the US government, according to an audit issued on Monday. The audit focused on the transfer of the Afghan police training programme from the US State Department to the US Defence department. The investigation, carried out jointly by both departments, criticised both institutions for a lack of co-ordination in regards to police training in Afghanistan, which is a priority for the US-led NATO coalition as it prepares to transfer security to Afghan forces. Under a $1bn, two-year contract signed between the Defence Department and DynCorps International in December 2010, the firm was required to have instructors in place within a 120-day deadline."

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"...Bachmann's cheese slipped off her cracker, too."

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How dare a mother from the projects try to pull herself up by her bootstraps and send her whelps to a school for regular children? Off with her head!

Liberals know public schools that bring children from all backgrounds together is one of the foundations of American democracy. Parents who go out of their way to ensure a good education for their children are to be celebrated and emulated, not jailed. And school officials who demand law enforcement prevent poor and non-white children from contaminating their precious suburban academy should be taken out and shot.

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The phone hacking scandal at News of the World keeps growing. Someone named Murdoch may very well end up in jail before it's all said and done. "The UK Parliament has published a bombshell of a letter from convicted News Of The World phone hacker Clive Goodman that alleges that the practice was not only "widely discussed" among senior staff and editors at the tabloid, but that then-editor Andy Coulson tried to cover-up the extent of the practice. ... Goodman's letter, published Tuesday as part of a larger document dump by Parliament, is dated March 2nd, 2007, shortly after Goodman was released from prison. The letter is an appeal to Daniel Cloke, News International's Director of Human Resources, after News International Chairman Les Hinton fired Goodman for "gross misconduct." Hinton and NOTW Managing Editor Stuart Kuttner also received the letter. ... Goodman, who was convicted along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, argues in his letter that his firing was "perverse" because the payments to Mulcaire were made with the "full knowledge and support" of other members of the NOTW staff. The names of the specific staff members -- other than Tom Crone, then the legal manager for NOTW -- have been redacted by Scotland Yard, pending their investigation. ... Goodman also calls his firing "inconsistent" because "other members of staff were carrying out the same illegal procedures." ... "This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference," he continues, "until explicit reference to it was banned by the Editor," who was then Andy Coulson. "As far as I am aware, no other member of staff has faced disciplinary action, much less dismissal.""

 

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It was bad enough when you couldn't make ends meet on a minimum-wage job. It got worse when even those jobs disappeared. Then the safety net of unemployment compensation and welfare shrunk to nothing. And finally, being poor itself became a crime.

On the 20th anniversary of her seminal study of the American working poor, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explains how much worse it's gotten for anyone who is not rich:

Liberals know a society that impoverishes its citizens and then criminalizes poverty is committing civic suicide. No economy can thrive when a significant portion of its citizenry is blocked from participating in it.

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Actual Palin/Beck reign of terror to kick off night of family fun

Good thing you did not waste your pathetic paycheck on those Donny and Marie tickets, because America's other tragic duo is heading to good ol' St. Louis this October, to sing some songs about Freedom! "Defending the Republic" promises fun for the whole family, and will feature lessons, comedy, and Sarah Palin scratching her fingernails across Glenn Beck's chalkboard. The name of this rally seems to suggest that perhaps there will also be some French people guillotining each others' heads off, but probably not because Glenn Beck does not like the French, except for the ones that are fried. How will America handle so much raw, unapologetic patriotism in one Family Arena? READ MORE »

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Step one: Say something outrageous, like, say, oh, we dunno...call the President a "tar baby" for instance. Step two: Ban protests at your offices. "The Republican U.S. Representative from Colorado who compared President Barack Obama to a "tar baby" has implemented a no-protesting rule at his Colorado Springs office. ... The Colorado Springs blog Not My Tribe noted last week that in the wake of public outrage over Lamborn's comments, his offices now have a rule against protests. ... "Private Property -- No Soliciting, No Protesting, No Loitering," a sign outside the congressman's office reads. ... "A U.S. Congressman should not be declaring his public taxpayer-funded congressional office 'private property' and shouldn't be putting a sign out telling his constituents they have no right to peaceably assemble and protest," Sirota told The Huffington Post. "That's just fundamentally un-American." ... But that rule seems to only apply to Lamborn's detractors, as supporters were able to rally outside his office Friday."

 

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REPORT: Texas Ranks Dead Last In Total Job Creation, Accounting For Labor Force Growth

 

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The "U.S. military has lost $360 million intended for combat and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan to the Taliban, criminals and local leaders," according to a report released by a task force assembled last year by Gen. David Petraeus. Most of the money has been lost to "profiteering, bribery and extortion."

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Fundamentalist Christians 'spanked' daughter to death

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Colbert tells Luntz 'climate change' is 'brilliant,' not 'manipulative'