Headlines - Tuesday October 18

Now that is what you call capitalism. If the banks want to screw customers, then they should expect a lot more of this.

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When you hear that a 'protest turns violent', that simply means that the protesters start acting like the police.

 

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Mississippi is about to vote on an amendment to its state constitution to bestow personhood on fertilized eggs:

It's one thing to declare that human life begins at implantation of a fertilized egg, since that's when a pregnancy actually begins. That too has its problems, because of the possibility of making miscarriage a criminal, or even capital, offense (something the state of Georgia has already considered).

The American College of Obstetricans and Gynecologists has stated unequivocally that pregnancy does not occur intil a fertilized egg is implanted, and that up to 1/3 to 1/2 of fertilized eggs never implant. These then dissolve and become part of the so-called "products of menstruation."

Of course science and medicine have absolutely no place in the misogynist dogma of the Christofascist Zombie Brigade. What's imiportant is that the evil sluts who won't keep their legs closed must be punished by bearing a child -- and those who harbor that 1/3 to 1/2 of eggs that never implant must be investigated, and perhaps criminally charged, if they have a period.

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Jill: They always whine when they see the pitchforks

 

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The government of Texas has removed references to climate change, rising sea levels and loss of wetlands from an environmental report because those references are not politically correct from the GOP point of view.
The scientists who wrote the report are demanding that their names be stricken from the report.

Politics may squash science, but only temporarily. Truth does win. In the meantime, Pick Perry is doing damage to any reputation Texas may have had for being a state where good science is done. Why would any scientist want to work in a state, and especially in a state university system, where the work done by scientists is squeezed through a political filter?

Science is fact based. Facts are observed, hypotheses and theories are developed and subjected to continuing factual analysis. If the hypotheses and the theories don't fit the facts, the hypotheses and theories are modified or discarded.

But what politicians do is take their pet theories and discard the facts that are not convenient. When politicians reach into science and apply their "we don't need no stinking facts", the effects can be very damaging.

Texas might be a nice state to live in. But it is becoming clear that only blind adherents of the Christian Taliban will be welcome.

 

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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that our Government has handed out $16 trillion to the banks.

Let me repeat that, in case you didn't hear me the first time. The GAO says that our Government HAS HANDED OUT $16 TRILLION TO THE BANKS.

That little gem appears on Page 131 of GAO Report No. GAO-11-696. A report issued two months ago. A report that somehow seems to have eluded the attention of virtually every network, every major newspaper, and every news show.

How much is $16 trillion? That is an amount equal to more than $50,000 for every man, woman and child in America. That's more than every penny that every American earns in a year. That's an amount equal to almost a third of our national net worth -- the value of every home, car, personal belonging, business, bank account, stock, bond, piece of land, book, tree, chandelier, and everything else anyone owns in America. That's an amount greater than our entire national debt, accumulated over the course of two centuries.

A $16 trillion stack of dollar bills would reach all the way to the Moon. And back.
Twice.

That's enough to pay for Saturday mail delivery. For the next 5,000 years.
All of that money went from you and me to the banks. And we got nothing. Not even a toaster.

I have been patiently waiting to see whether this disclosure would provoke some kind of reaction. Answer: nope. Everyone seems much more interested in discussing whether or not they like the cut of Perry's jib.

Whatever a jib may be.

In the next few weeks, I'm going to be writing more about this. But right now, I wanted to keep this really simple. Just give folks something to talk about when they're standing next to the coffee maker.

The Government gave $16 trillion to the banks. And nobody else is talking about it.
Think about it. Think about what that means.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

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Also, no talking on cell phones while occupying

 

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You know it's gotten to the point where they're pulling this stuff straight out of their ass.

"Look at the political base of the Democratic Party: it is single mothers who run a household. Why? Because it's so tough economically that they look to the government for help and therefore they're going to vote. So if you want to reduce the Democratic advantage, what you want to do is build two parent families, you eliminate that desire for government."  ~Rick Santorum

OK, assuming that one accepts Santorum's premise that 66,882,230 single mothers voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, here's the next question: How exactly does he propose that Republicans eliminate single mothers from the population?  How would that work? Abolish divorce?  Make premarital sex illegal?

Also, I do hope he realizes that if conservatives ever do get to fulfill their dream of overturning Roe. v. Wade, it's going to mean even more single mothers out there to vote for Democrats.

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Obama starting new war in ... Uganda! Sure, Uganda sounds good

 

 

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Is Ron Paul wearing eyebrow wigs to beef up the facial hair testosterone quotient of his libertarian sex god persona?

 

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Fuck you, One Percent! The world is tired of you

With one sign reading "Love + Solidarity From Antarctica" and another sign with the message "Occupy Wall Street you're my heroes", seven protesters stood out on a rocky ridge in Antarctica to have their picture taken.

Only slightly less chilly were the meetings held by Occupy North Dakota in the town square of Grand Forks and in the US Bank Plaza in Fargo this weekend. Hundreds of people across North Dakota took place in occupation movement protests this weekend.

Seen in Fargo this weekend was one sign, reading:

"We the 99% did not:
- Crash the stock market
- Wipe out half the 401Ks
- Take trillions of our dollars in bailouts
- Give ourselves billions in bonuses
- And pay no taxes
You the 1% broke our nation's economy.
You fix it, but not on our backs!"

And another with the memo to America's wealthiest:

"Dear 1%, we fell asleep for a while. Just woke up. Sincerely, the 99%"

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Who knew Trading Places was a documentary? 

I used to think it was a comedy...

...but then I read this post at Wonkette.

OK, the shorter version. Some Wall Street Dude gives a panhandler a buck, and the panhandler reads him the riot act. The Wall Street Dude is offended that the bum is not grateful for his largess.

Of course, the original article is from The Wall Street Journal, and like all journal puff pieces, our generous hero is required to say essentially, but I'm a good guy Here's how our Wall Street Dude says this:

An isolated incident on 55th Street? Perhaps. But in a sample of more than a dozen people I know who have collectively given money to panhandlers well over 1,000 times in New York during the past few decades, not one could recall ever being turned down, much less having their money tossed away as insufficient. The rhetoric of class warfare has now invaded spontaneous charity.

So let me get this straight, you Master of the Universe: Over several decades you and a dozen of your pals may have given $1,000 to the down-trodden bums, hobos, and pan handlers while walking back from closing million dollar deals and you feel unappreciated for your $1 generosity. And because of this, you are the victims of class warfare? From Obama?

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According to your average conservative, the "liberal" media is completely in-the-tank for the Obama Administration, aiding and abetting his reign as the socialist-in-chief.

Careful examination of media coverage would apparently put that fantasy to rest though.

The only person to receive more negative media coverage than the president is Newt Gingrich whose unparalleled patriotism compelled him to have multiple affairs.

That doesn't seem very liberal to me.