Time to cut Corporate America's nuts off.
No More Golden Parachutes. Save America. Hang a CEO til he's dead, dead, dead.
Damn the luck. We knew it was coming, and we told em. Too bad all those investors didn't have the balls to hang with those double inverse funds.
Fuck em and feed em fishheads. How's that W sticker working out for ya, Jackass?
"And they never saw the hammer til they hit themselves in the face with it. Twice."
God Bless Wall Street. God Bless Capitalism. God Bless shiny stuff and Blessings from God.
God Save America from Republicans.
But you know what those good ole boys helping themselves to America's wealth say:
GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES.
I do believe it's time to Help the Republican party to the exit.
and why is it so fucking hard to accomplish such a necessity to sanity?
This is Why
Sep 29, 2008
No Bailout
Sep 27, 2008
Sep 25, 2008
Better seen than Heard, at least to the McCain campaign
Some thought that David Letterman went a little too far last night in his excoriation of McCain. I personally think Ol' Dave is completely fed up with the Republican party, even "war hero" McCain and went as far as he possibly could in his show to demonstrate just how incompetent this Republican ticket is.
The Vid is at Crooks and Liars. I'll link it later, got to get the girls to school.
UPDATE: The always excellent SadButTrue has the vid and more
I thought it was brilliant, especially the way he framed it. Dave is a master at dealing with the Mainstream semi-buffoon average American audience.
I didn't think Letterman was being sexist, but I could be wrong. I believe Letterman was playing a subtle double point from a different direction- that it's McCain who is being sexist, by not allowing Palin to stand in for him while he goes off to, uh, save Washington- And by the same token, Palin, is not considered "ready" by McCain himself to even run her own portion of the campaign.
The Republican party itself is delegating Palin to a simple symbolic position- that of a Pretty tough woman, in fact the perfect woman for Republicans. One that is seen more than she is heard.
And dealing with the 90% McCain following here in West Texas, I have to tell you- that's all these people want. They Love their Caribou Barbie. They don't need anything more than that simple image. They don't want to know anything more than that. The more she talks about Policy the less they'll like her, Which, incidentally- is exactly the same story with McCain. They've already made their minds up- Republican party over America. They will put focus on Muslim-Black-High Taxes! and ignore everything else on purpose. America, the stupid, is more apparent now than ever before.
Racism trumps Sexism in this case, I'm afraid, or do you think that the Republican party would have put a black man on their ticket to Combat Hillary if she had beat out Obama?
Sitting in the middle of Racist Republican Redneckistan, I don't think so.
Sep 22, 2008
Thought vs. Instinct
(found at Edge, from Gawker.com)
WHAT WE NEED MORE OF IS SCIENCE
SCIENTISTS EXPLAIN WHY PEOPLE VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS
Every election season, commentators trot out the old statistics about how more education makes people more likely to support Democrats, more studies are published on how liberal Daily Show viewers are so well-informed, and various smart people try to explain why anyone would ever vote for a Republican, against their "self-interest." This month has seen three alarming and remarkable scientific investigations into Americans' inexplicable habit of voting for George Bush and John McCain. Which means: trend! Hooray! Let's take a look at what America's top scienticians say about fucking idiot flyover losers and their stupid voting: ...
...Conservatives Have An Entirely Different Moral Code
This should bring you down, a little bit. Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist, wrote a lengthy anthropological investigation into why people vote for Republicans. It's not the Thomas Frank "they are distracted by bullshit" explanation, though it is related: they have different cultural standards of ethics and morality! Liberals and college students define morality as "how we treat each other," conservatives attach more significance to "supporting essential institutions, and living in a sanctified and noble way." Liberals recognize fairness and care as important moral virtues, conservatives add to that loyalty, respect for authority, and duty. The educated moral relativism worldview is fundamentally incompatible with the way like 50% of America thinks, and stereotypes about out-of-touch elitist coastal democrats are basically correct. Sigh.
So What Have We Learned?
Conservatives respond instinctually, not rationally, to scary images, "facts," and institutions. Whether this is innate and biological or cultural seems still up in the air. Democrats can't win with logical arguments or even appeals to the innate rightness of concepts like "diversity" and "tolerance," because those aren't considered essentially good and important by the voters they're trying to appeal to. This does suggest that an appeal to old New Deal institutional concepts like the Welfare State might actually be effective, if they're wrapped in the flag and a sense of duty. Also scientists still consider the majority of Americans to be like a fascinating exotic backwards tribe and the fucking country is doomed.
Aug 1, 2008
Anthrax Scientist Suicide/Death
Anthrax Scientist found dead - standard AP story
The Sun-Sentinel has a comprehensive roundup
So, I guess that's that, eh? He was just a lone scientist who didn't mind killing his fellow Americans in order to help terrorize the nation. The fact that he released the spores directed at Democratic party members on 9-11 and during a large anti-war protest was just a coinky-dink. Nothing to see here folks, just a crazy scientist. Move along...
Oh, you want to look into this a tad bit further than the mainstream media before it returns to stalking Angelina Jolies' adoptive children? Shame on you- well Here you go . (link fixed)
Amazing how many Americans that these die-hard Republicans are willing to sacrifice in the name of their skewed patriotism.
and in related Govt-Asshole-plots: Cheney's ploys to start war with Iran
UPDATE: Crooks and Liars is a little behind the curve, but they got here eventually.
Hey, they don't want to go all 9-11 Truther on us. What?! The government lie? Surely you jest...
UPDATE 2: An Insider speaks out about Ivins
Jul 31, 2008
Troops murdered while President does nothing
THIS IS HOW THE BUSH GOVERNMENT TREATS OUR TROOPS-
PFC Lavena Johnson was raped,beaten, set-on-fire and army calls it suicide
American soldiers raped and killed and then their deaths covered up by the Military they are serving.
It makes me sick and ashamed. How many coverups can YOU Stomach?
Private contractors are getting away with murder in Iraq. But it's not just Iraqis getting raped and murdered- its regular American citizens who are working in Iraq and NOW its a U.S. Soldier.
Do you think a U.S. Soldier deserves better than this shit?
Our current Government doesn't.
Whatever you do, whoever you vote for- Don't let your kids join the military while a two-faced Republican is in the office of the President - saying Support the troops on tv, then cutting benefits, stop-lossing troops, and allowing Corporate pirates, mercs, and scumbags kill, rape, and rob anyone they feel like, INCLUDING our troops.
Today, 1 million emails will zip around about Obama not supporting our troops, meanwhile, this shit is going on and everyone turns a blind eye, all under Republican rule.
How much more fucked up will America get before we get these nutball Republicans out of the whitehouse and our government?
Jul 21, 2008
Jul 14, 2008
Prayer chains
Daughter, crying herself to sleep, again
empty voicemail messages to her missing mother
Andrea's singing plays in the background as they struggle into dreams,
Dreams that I hope will turn out good.
Rage turns to disgust and then to emptiness.
I stroke her hair softly and Lauren holds her hand as her body shudders in tears.
Nothing can replace a parent who disappears without explaining why to their children.
I can see the scars on my daughters heart, forming and reforming. I try to stop them, but I can't.
Someone else might not understand.
I do.
Got my own scarred heart to prove it.
I'd do anything to prevent it happening to my daughters. My wife would too.
Their mom is.... broken.
And everytime she gets close to repairing herself, she throws herself back off a new cliff to shatter herself anew.
Everyone's got a hobby. Hers is seeing just how close to self-destruction she can get without ever going over the edge completely. Of course, meanwhile, this involves lots of drugs, angst, and self-absorbtion.
I'd kill the bitch myself if I thought it would help.
It wouldn't.
But it would sure be nice to visit some form of retribution on the person who causes my children- HER CHILDREN- a constant stream of pain.
Times like this brings a man to prayer-
I have lots of prayers. Some humble, some hopeful.
Never vain, never selfish. I've got NO belief in a god that aids the shallow.
And I've not much more faith in any prayer of hope.
I've got a prayer of wrath, though.
Only a fool would desire it.
But when you hurt someone's children, the deep, torturous way that she has, it does something awful to a person's soul.
So, my one prayer, the one I don't believe in but desperately desire -is this-
I pray for hell.
I pray for a hell to exist-
a Hell that WILL give some Old testament justice to the parents who abandon their children.
If hell exists, believe me, I'll burn as well, I'm sure - for a thousand simple travesties and a million outright sins. I'd take my eternal damnation in a minute, though- just to know Andrea would be there too- burning for what she did to our kids.
I have lots of prayers.
Some humble, some hopeful.
But seeing those tears in Amy's eyes when she cries for her mother- there's only one prayer in my bible.
All she has to do is make one call to a little girl. But, as with most of the world's miserable bastards, even the simplest gesture is too much.. .
Fan Club Blues
SHIT TALKING CUNTS NEVER DIE, Unfortunately.
Mega-Cock-Sucker
MegaBrad can kiss my megafucking ass with his stupid twitchy fake-ass patriotism and his piss yellow Flag underwear while he lectures me on what the fuck it means to be American while he pimps his racist, homophobic, little dick, self-esteem issue ass bullshit. Come to Texas you twinkle toed little bullshit artist. Come to West Fucking Texas.
This "Hippie/Commie/whatthefuck ever else your little peabrain wants to call me will take you out into the oilfields with a 30 pack and a shovel and plant your worthless fucking ass head first in a bed of fireants and shoot beer bottles off your tiny nutsack while Lee Greenwood sings God Bless America from a ipod shoved up your ass. You stupid piece of shit fake fucking Amerkan hero, you.
Get offa mah land, muthafucker.
Jun 11, 2008
Does Science make God Obsolete
Several essays on the subject, both yes and no...
http://www.templeton.org/belief/
Hat tip- Michael Shermer, from Skeptic magazine.
Jun 6, 2008
Ashamed ...
MSNBC's Jim Makalakkahi-mekkahineyho-kewzewski whines that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed isn't behaving like a beaten down marionette...
Deep Background
So, what are you saying, that the waterboarding didn't work?
Does anyone REALLY expect these guys to accept the shitty legal counsel they have been provided after 5 years without a trial?
This is a ridiculous article. Should KSM be cowering in his cell, and begging America for more of this "justice"? 5 years in solitary, torture, and no real evidence against ANY of these guys...
Hell, If you can't stand up to a kangaroo court like Gitmo, you deserve to be put to death and shuffled off this mortal coil.
Once upon a time, America WAS BETTER than the KSMs of the world- now these enemies of the state look like Rambo, stumbling stoically out of the russian shock-spring mattress-room, bloodied but yet unbowed, and still able to say "Fuck you" to his oppressors, cowardly cunts embodied by journalists like Miklaszewski, who can't seem to understand what it's like to own a pair of nuts. "How dare Khalid Sheik Mohammed still fight back?! Should we have tortured him MORE?' seems to be his underlying refrain, one shared by every dipshit, sack-less neocon Pre-emptive strike supporter in this country.
If we had any real evidence against these people, they'd be dead already. Who is the real terrorist in this equation? Fucking chickenshit, that's what this Gitmo fake trial travesty is. Another smear on America, brought to you by weaklings that would fold after three days in a holding cell themselves, but still manly enough to kill as many of the "enemy" and their children as it takes. The terrorists of the world would love to kill ALL of the "enemy", including the women and children. I look at both sides of the coin and see the same hate-filled hearts on both sides, the same futile aggression and murder in their eyes.
How low we have fallen, as the "home of the brave".
Our government is now on an even keel with 70's era-Commie U.S.S.R.
Are YOU ashamed? How can you not be?
May 29, 2008
Trust your instincts motherfucker
It’s making more money than you can spend.
I’m working on it.
Questions occurring late at night drinking…
GREG: Why are YOU so emotionally detached? Hell, I know why I am- why the hell are you? Life;s been good. No women have systematically destroyed you, like they have me.
Bubba: Why in the hell do I NOT want revenge this time? I used to be such a vengeful bastard. I ALWAYS had to win in the end. Why don’t I care this time? Cuz I know he’s already lost in the long run? Because – in this instance, pretending to lose AND still care makes me the psychological winner? My mind has such subtle turns any more, I do things before I know I am doing them. The only time I fuck things up IS WHEN MY Conscious actions get in the way of my subconscious ones.
Scary,. Eh?
Trust your instincts, motherfucker. Your level of experience in life far surpasses your ability to react. Quit kneejerking and let your inner self take over. Its far less conflicted than your outerself, that’s for fucking sure.
Wow. I have reached a new plateau of existence. Relegating my conscious thought to a subordinate role. Hmmm: Outer self says to “Inner” Self, reaching for another beer- Hope that works out for you. I’ll be here. Getting fucked up as usual.
Damn. I feel like a red-stater, just dedicating my life to God and Dubya Dubya 3. It’s a helluva release, letting someone else do the thinking. Ah, sweet Dependence, enfold me in your parental embrace. Let me latch on to that nipple and suck myself into oblivion.
It occurs to me that I am unable to get … that… drunk.
Although I can try.
What kind of complete fucking loser even WANTS to relinquish control? Well, apparently to my control freak ass, its incomprehensible, even deep into a whiskey drunk, softened by a Budweiser chaser. I must not have broken through to the “other side” yet. I am not misspelling words, yet.
Come sweet Jesus of Oblivion, Saint of Serenity, O peaceful bliss through alcohol saturated brain cells. Numb and Number. Numb and Number
Numbest.
“The distinctive flavor of this rare sippin’ whiskey results from a special “charcoal mellowing process” perfected by Jack Daniel and still in use today.”
Two thoughts come to mind… “Rare” what’s rare about mass produced whiskey? There’s a hundred bottles of this shit in every fucking city in America right NOW.
The other contemplation is “Charcoal mellowing”. Fuck. Not only Am I drinking shit that’s been filtered through … CHARCOAL… the Tennesee jackass whose poisoning me is not ONLY bragging about doing it, he’s using it as a fucking selling point!
Woooeee. And Copenhagen uses the choicest fiberglass particles with which to shred your lip lining in order to speed the flavor into your bloodstream.
BRAVO. Balls. Gotta respect the sheer Audacity, if nothing else. And here at Bushco, we only use the finest cancer causing agents to limit your suffering. Tips are Accepted.
Good god,. We ARE as completely fucking ignorant as I always expected. Even the slavers, because in the end, their fate is the same as the slaves.
Hmm. Hope that works out for you.
Damned to Repetition
Ah, the glory of the "I told you so". Except its not so damn glorious telling these idiots "I told you so" over and over when you are up to your armpits in the blood of people who really, REALLY didn't have to be killed.
Our knowledge is impotent. Our Logic is useless. Our Morals are trumped by their blind obedience to themselves. Knowing what is going to happen while those in power chug along in oblivious, or perhaps not-so-oblivious fashion, makes it all so much more unbearable.
Do they know they are wrong? Do they know their rhetoric is a failure? I think so, and for us to point out the obvious doesn't seem to hurt them at all. Bush and Cheney just unload another wheelbarrel full of bullshit on the public and chuckle to themselves when no ones watching.
I think another thing that those of us in-the-know Realize is that these men are callous criminals who would sell out our country in a heartbeat for their own bottom line. Some men become twisted for glory. Some men become twisted for misguided nationalism. These men are twisted for the simplest and shallowest of reasons: simple greed. Simple selfish greed. And our country will continue to suffer until enough of us stop trying to REASON with them and remove them from positions of power.
the rule of fear, the fear of rule
I WANT to hate because it is an alternative to breaking down and crying. Violent thoughts banish all the FEAR, as if being able to destroy could reaffirm my position in this-life and refute my failings...
night comes and so do i.
spewing forth, containing the day, invoking the mystery once again,
No one without the other DOOM and SALVATION
fear and bravado life and death, yet no beginning and no end.
A PARADOX with an answer, most assuredly. BUT who owns the textbook to this one?
NO END no answer/s the big funny all over again. And then it is GONE. Are you laughing? I'm not... maybe i should be. And the greatest god is DOUBT. as ever it will be.
and late as i ponder i realize that the existence of any god at all is moot.
the only thing that matters is--YOUR decision.
so go with it. or dont. Just DONT do what they tell you to.
Salvation
Salvation (hat tip Hill)
during his first 100 days in office, says
'I would call my attorney general in and review every single executive order issued by George Bush and overturn those laws or executive decisions that I feel violate the constitution'
It's a start...
May 28, 2008
Dispatches from America's class war
The age of working class art is over
EXCERPTS
"Also, I never would have had the money to spend a couple of months in Europe backpacking and using my Eurorail pass like many kids from wealthier families. So while these tours involved playing a show every night and were definitely "work", they are the only way a working class redneck punk such as myself would have had a shot to see the world. And what I saw blew my freaking mind.
My band had done some tours in the states, in typical budget-rock circumstances. Sleeping on people's floors and such. We did the same thing in Europe, but what blew my mind was that the quality of the floors was vastly improved. The difference in the quality of life of the average "socialist" western European compared to the average working class American was not only obvious, but also contrary to everything I had been brainwashed to believe while growing up in the greatest country in the world. I know these sorts of observations are neither original nor surprising to most educated and rational folks, but coming from where I was I could hardly be classified as either. Also, being from Missouri, I guess ya really do have to "show me" before I'll believe it. Quite frankly, it took a few years of cognitive dissonance to even come to terms with the idea. But, I had seen it myself. Explaining it to others, well, forget about it. They don't want to hear it. Rural America doesn't really even believe that Europe exists, except as maybe where a rich cousin went on vacation."
...
"As for the small town world I left? If anything, things have gotten worse. The European Union has raised the fortunes of much of western Europe, while the decline in small town America has been even more pronounced. Of all the places I've traveled that reminded me of my home the most, I'd have to say it was -- Serbia! Hell, a small village there isn't that different in feel from a little one in Missouri or Arkansas, and they had a damn WAR there. But try to tell that to the average liberal, in Europe or the states, and they won't believe you.
I can sometimes get pretty irritated at my European friends. It gets old constantly hearing how dumb Bush is, even if you happen to agree. And I guess it's my inner redneck coming out, but my orneriness is sometimes aroused when I hear bitching about rich, fat, and stupid Americans. Most Europeans, though they would be loathe to admit it, have their consciousness shaped and molded by the media just as much as their US counterparts. From the constant portrayal in the media, they seem to have bought the line that all Americans are loaded. I've had a hard time understanding this, it's not like I think all Mexicans are rich just because the characters on Univision soaps have nice houses. But that's what seems to have sunk in over there. If they come over to the states for a holiday, they never make it to the rural backwaters where I grew up. They don't understand being one medical problem away from bankrupt. They don't understand the reality of no social safety net whatsoever. If you look at the list of the worlds wealthiest nations, the USA ranks above Switzerland. But only a dumb redneck who couldn't find Switzerland on a map (or a liberal, Euro or American, who's never been to Niangua, Missouri) could possibly believe that the average American was better off than the average Swiss citizen.
Unlike you, I have no plans on ever going back to a small town, my hometown or anywhere else. The rampant racism, bible-thumping, and ignorance are too much for me to handle. But just as the Europeans can rankle me, I can also see where the typical American liberal rubs common folks the wrong way. To illustrate I'll go back to music, which got me started on this rant in the first place. At any American university worth its corduroy blazers and suede elbow patches you will find an ethnomusicology department. You will find intense study devoted to Javanese Gamalen or the music of the Baka Pygmies. But you will have to look very hard to find anyone who considers American indigenous music worthy of academic study. Grad students can travel to a remote village anywhere in the world to study a musical style, but you will never find one venturing out to East Bumfuck in America to see what the "natives" here listen to. Though you wouldn't know it from looking at the academic world, America has a rich musical tradition of poor folks who created interesting music. Poor white folks have actually made cultural contributions to this country, really! But throw a rock at a university music school in the states and you'll hit a dozen people writing papers on Fela Kuti before you'll find somebody who even knows who Merle Travis is. The simple fact is that the music of poor white trash isn't sexy enough to merit study, just like the poverty of poor white trash isn't a cause for hand wringing in the liberal world. Rednecks can tell that none of these rich liberal types gives two shits about them, not even as a cultural curiosity, and they vote accordingly."
...
"Working class now means you only have time enough for working. Creativity? Forget it. We've got cable. Easier to consume than it is to create, especially when you get home from a twelve hour shift. Don't even get me started on music education in this country, it's as bad as art education. Take away the time to do something creative, the space to do it in, and the education to even know such things are possible, and you get what we've got now. What passes for American culture."
A point for Conscience
Scotty McClellan finds his soul... about 6 years too late.
MSNBC
EXCERPT
McClellan admits to letting himself be deceived about the unmasking of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, which resulted in his relentless pounding by the White House press corps over the activities of Rove and of Cheney aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the matter.
"I could feel something fall out of me into the abyss as each reporter took a turn whacking me," he writes of the withering criticism he received as the story played out. "It was my reputation crumbling away, bit by bit."
The truth will reveal itself, more and more, as Bush's last days in office expire. These cunts can't lie for this dirty son of a bitch forever, and they WON'T.
It's a little fucking late, but better late than never for the millions of dumbass Americans who have been hanging on every one of Bush's lies.
They've been played for fools, and our country is suffering for it.
Damn every one of the stupid bastards who have supported this vile piece of shit for the past eight years.
Damn them all to hell.
May 14, 2008
Viruses of Thought
I think that humans are far more susceptible to ‘viruses of thought’ than may be realized.
The more that people compartmentalize their ‘allies’ and ‘enemies’, the easier it seems for the collective consciousness to breed hate and loathing for those who “are not on my side”. The less empathy that we allow ourselves as individuals, the more the virus grows in us all. The cure for the collective madness is to cultivate independent thought and care and concern for ALL of our fellow mankind. As hippy-dippy as that may sound- it makes a lot of sense on a psychological level.
How to combat this affliction? By open conversation, understanding and less going off the handle about our own beliefs. The path of peace- IS PEACE. Gandhi’s way is a lot harder than Patton’s. But in the end, it is the only way that will allow humans to evolve past the savagery and the simplistic animal butchery that has been our way of life for too long.
We are the enlightened.
Humans DO build more than we destroy, in the grand scheme. But those who make excuses for their own callous treachery to mankind bring us low daily. We have to stand tall in the face of their shallow reasonings; the petty justifications of their support for evil acts against their fellow man.
Ours IS a better way. Our only enemies are those who believe that there can never be peace because they are not at peace with themselves.
