The shock would probably kill you
Sometimes this stuff is beyond parody:
In a shocking development this evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) “triggered a rarely used procedural option informally called the “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules,” The Hill reports.
“The Democratic leader had become fed up with Republican demands for votes on motions to suspend the rules after the Senate had voted to end a filibuster.”
Roll Call reports a “visibly upset” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “said Reid was fundamentally turning the Senate into the House and was setting the precedent that the minority wouldn’t have a voice after 60 votes are invoked.”
Deliberately sabotaging the economy for political gain, that gets a shrug. But some minor parliamentary move to get a jobs bill through the Senate, that is shocking.
October 7, 2011 12:35 am
Posted in: Lindsey Graham's Fee Fees
31 Comments
Come on baby, won’t you show some class
And donate at our new Elizabeth Warren ActBlue page.
Update. Even eemom drew a blank on the title reference.
October 6, 2011 11:30 pm
Posted in: C.R.E.A.M., Politics, Readership Capture
20 Comments
A Stray Jobs Anecdote
Emailing back and forth with a college (and current) friend, this little anecdote of an encounter with Steve Jobs came up. It dates back to the ‘80s when my friend was working for Lotus:
I had the pleasure to meet and speak with Steve Jobs in 1988 when he came to Lotus to persuade us to port our software to his new company’s operating system – NextStep. Of course, he provided us with an inspirational demo of his expensive, quirky, black, cube-shaped computer with the enormous monitor (even though it crashed during the demo!) I recall being unimpressed because it still had a black and white screen, although of extremely high resolution.We did port some of our software to Next (123 and Improv come to mind). Jobs was a very demanding – some would say uncompromising – partner, constantly urging us to improve aspects of our software. But his demands made it better. He sent flowers to each team when they were done. NextStep turned out to be a great operating system – light years ahead of Windows. Jobs had made it an exceptional operating system. NextStep eventually became Mac OS X after Jobs returned to Apple.
Nothing extraordinary there, except as a pretty straightforward echo of everything I’ve heard about working for someone who is both visionary and capable of recruiting others to that vision.
I’ve never encountered any account that said Jobs was easy to work for.
But I’ve similarly not read or heard that he was impossible either. Rather, if you’re looking for what made him insanely great, it seems to me to lodge in this intersection of talents: the ability to construct and defend an artist’s take on a problem—the one that pounds the work until it is right, as defined by some almost Platonic idea of “right”—whilst also possessing that charisma that could recruit the talent and energy to drive an utterly collaborative process of creation.
Singular vision combined with a mastery of group endeavor? I’ve seen people try; every time I’ve made a documentary I’ve sought this combination myself. It’s terrifically difficult on even that kind of small scale. To do what Jobs did—while learning from the times he didn’t do it all that well—and to do it at such a high level for so long…that’s why we’re all so aware of someone special gone.
I’ve got one more thing to say about all this—but I’ll have to save that for the weekend. See y’all then.
Image: Adolph von Menzel The Iron Rolling Mill (Modern Cyclopes), 1872-1875 (I’ve used this before, I think on my own place. Still like it.)
October 6, 2011 10:47 pm
Posted in: Absent Friends
39 Comments
Open Thread: Thursday Garden Chat
From commentor Marvel:
The summer garden’s finally starting to wind down out back: picked the last of our corn & cauliflower this AM and have only about a quarter as many tomatoes out there as we started with. No rest for the wicked, though: the apples will want picking, cooking and canning by the end of the week. THEN we’ll rest. We must!
These are just three pix I took the other morning (9/27).
Picked: Some days I pretty much know how my morning will go….
Prepped: It’s an easy-going way to spend a quiet morning. Jack’s out back digging up the spent corn plants—they were a mighty lovely bunch. We’ll grow corn again next year, u-bet.Read the rest of this post »
October 6, 2011 10:08 pm
Posted in: Black Thumb, Open Thread
5 Comments
Open Thread
Figgered we could use one.
October 6, 2011 9:46 pm
Posted in: Open Thread
93 Comments
Cat Rescue Bleg – Peekskill, NY Area
From commentor Tony S:
I have a cat situation I need to deal with… a beautiful Tiger Tomcat has taken up residence on our front porch.
We’d love to take him in, but we have four dogs. One tolerate cats, one sees them as potential appetizers, one loves to stand and woof at them for hours once he’s treed them, and one sees them as a great opportunity to do some sprint runs.
Here are some images of the feline we’re calling “Tiger Tom.”
We know the animal control officer and will be calling him, but we’d rather not send the kitty to prison or death simply because he’s squatting on our porch.
If anybody in the Peekskill can help ‘Tiger Tom’, please email me at AnneLaurie@verizon.net (or click on my name near the top of the right-hand column), and I can forward contact information between you and Tony.
October 6, 2011 8:03 pm
Posted in: Cat Blogging, Pet Rescue
24 Comments
Scott Brown’s body
Scott Brown’s “Thank God” quip was a major error. He won the last election by playing Sam Malone to Martha Coakley’s Diane Chambers, and that’s his best shot this time too. Sam Malone wouldn’t talk that way about 60 year-old woman, that’s for sure.
One thing that makes Massachusetts a bit different from other states is that there are large swaths (i.e. the entire South Shore) where close to 100% of the people spend close to 100% of their time listening to some form of talk radio, not just winger radio but local stuff (which tends to lean right but not as far). These swaths are also close to 100% uptight Catholics who are titillated by the nude picture angle but find Brown’s statement to be crass.
A Member’s Only jacket, picture of himself with Elvis, and blend of Old Spice, Hai Karate, and something that takes spots out may not be enough to be save him.
October 6, 2011 6:29 pm
Posted in: Politics
150 Comments
Freedom of Speech? I Do Not Think It Means What You Think it Means
[I wrote this two years ago, but given the Hank Williams, Jr. shenanigans, and the ongoing failure to understand what it is the First Amendment protects, I figured it was ripe for repostin’. -ABLxx]
You know what? I’ve had it up to HERE (::lifts arm as high as she can which, sadly, is not very high as Angry Black Lady is practically a midget—pardon me—little person::) with morons, idiots, and asshats.
Idiocy is running rampant among the American population. Forget about swine flu. The worst that swine flu can do is kill you. Idiocy, on the other hand, is a seemingly airborne virus that is spreading from person to person, turning each of those persons into a moron, each more moronic than the last. Idiocy isn’t a disease that kills. Sadly, no. It is a disease that turns a nation of formerly intelligent individuals into a multiplying mass of moronic mouth-breathers.
Now what form of idiocy is most distressing to me right now?
The idiots who throw around the term “freedom of speech” and “First Amendment” without having a clue what the fuck it is they are talking about.
Read the rest of this post »
October 6, 2011 5:04 pm
Posted in: General Stupidity, Republican Stupidity
41 Comments
Flop Sweat, Cosmopolitan Style
Plenty of ups and downs to go over the next year-and-a-little-bit, but I’d say Scott Brown is (a) a graceless lout (b) someone who has an objectification problem and© will have some work to do with women voters.
I’d also say that I keep on being stunned by —I don’t really know how to put this actually…
...just poleaxed at yet another reminder of how just badly brought up the Republican bloc seems to be these days.
I’ve never met Scott Brown’s parents, and I don’t wish to say ill of strangers about whose trouble and strife raising a family I know nothing. But my mum would have flensed me verbally with all the immaculate Oxbridge tones and wit at her disposal if I’d ever have said something like this:
Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) was interviewed on a local talk radio show Thursday morning. And he had an interesting response to a recent line from Democratic frontrunner Elizabeth Warren.At a Democratic primary debate this week, Warren was asked how she paid for college — in contrast to Brown having posed nude for Cosmopolitan.
“I kept my clothes on,” Warren replied. “I borrowed money.”This morning, one of the hosts asked Brown: “Have you officially responded to Elizabeth Warren’s comment about how she didn’t take her clothes off?”
Brown began laughing lightheartedly, and gave his reply. “Thank God,” he said, with more laughter.
“That’s what I said!” the host responded. “Hey look, can you blame a good-looking guy for, for — you know.”
H/t TPM, where you can check out the audio if you have the stomach for it.
Count me gobsmacked, but also, as an Elizabeth Warren fanboi, delighted. Opposing Martha Coakley, Brown romped over one of the worst campaigns I’ve ever experienced (as a volunteer in MA on and off since 1976). Not going be that easy this time, and the more unforced errors like the above he commits, the happier I am.
But again, there is a kind of wonder here that transcends political calculation. To (very loosely) paraphrase Ben Franklin, somebody had to work really hard to achieve that fine level of dumb.
Flanderin Hippolyte, Jeune homme nu assis sur le bord de la mer (also as (Étude de nu), 1855
October 6, 2011 4:19 pm
Posted in: Both Sides Do It!, Election 2012, Republican Stupidity
147 Comments
Thank the Drug War For This
My elderly neighbor had all of her pain medication stolen by someone who was doing some yardwork and household chores for her. But since we are idiot nation and have decided to launch a multi-decade war on drugs that has achieved nothing other than clog our prisons and ruin more lives than the drugs themselves, she can’t simply get a new prescription from her doctor. Why? Because he is terrified of the DEA and the DOJ going after him for being a pill pusher. That isn’t an unreasonable fear on his part.
So, thanks to our stupid war on drugs, I get to drive this poor old woman, unmedicated for two days and in excruciating back pain, down bumpy curvy roads 20 miles away to the hospital, so we can waste an emergency room visit just so she can get some pain relief.
Stupidity defined.
October 6, 2011 4:01 pm
Posted in: The War on Your Neighbor, aka the War on Drugs
60 Comments
C’mon People, This Isn’t Hard
“After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision. By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment
Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It’s been a great run.”—Hank Williams Jr
I was getting a hair cut earlier this morning, and the tv was on CNN, and when the Hank Williams segment came on, some redneck yelled “Did you see that stuff? Whatever happened to freedom of speech?”
And, of course, remember the queen bee of conservative idiocy:
In the wake of Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s decision to end her radio show after repeatedly using a racial epithet, she’s spent quite a bit of time talking about freedom of speech. “I want to regain my First Amendment rights,” Schlessinger said, contending that special-interest groups were limiting her freedom to express herself.Sarah Palin jumped in and tweeted, “Dr.Laura: don’t retreat … reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence”isn’t American,not fair”)”
That was soon followed by a second tweet:
“Dr.Laura=even more powerful & effective w/out the shackles,so watch out Constitutional obstructionists. And b thankful 4 her voice, America!)”
Have Dr. Laura’s rights been trampled? Are her critics undercutting the Constitution?
We have an entire generation of loudmouths who have no idea what the 1st Amendment means. Hank Williams didn’t have his free speech violated in any way, shape, or form. He said what he wanted on Fox, his employers said they didn’t like that, a bunch of people called him an idiot, a bunch apparently emailed him (in all caps, I’m sure) to support, he exercised his free speech rights one more time and resigned, and now I am writing about it. Free speech and 1st amendment right all over the god damned place. Just because your boss cans you because you said something you don’t like doesn’t mean your rights were violated. Hell, go try it- go call your boss an asshole. Get back to me.
I really wish these idiots would stop waving their pocket constitutions at anyone and everyone, sit down, and read the damned thing.
October 6, 2011 2:42 pm
Posted in: Teabagger Stupidity
104 Comments
Red, White, And Pink-Slip Blues
Looks like Hank Williams Jr.’s job at Monday Night Football is long gone lonesome on a permanent basis after he compared President Obama’s Israel policy to Hitler.
On Thursday morning, ESPN said it had made the decision to bench Williams for good.“We have decided to part ways with Hank Williams, Jr,” a statement on the network’s website announced. “We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue.”
On his website, Williams claimed the decision had been his idea.
So Herman Cain will be the first person to say that Bocephus being unemployed by ESPN is his own fault, right?
If you’re dissatisfied with the economy, or unemployed, Herman Cain thinks you should take a long, hard look in the mirror.In an interview with the Wall Street Journal posted Wednesday, the up-and-coming GOP 2012 contender and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza summed up his bewilderment about recent demonstrations on Wall Street.
“Don’t blame Wall Street,” Cain said. “Don’t blame the big banks. If you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself.”
I’m sure Herm will get right on that phone call to Hank.
Maybe they should start a band or something. They’d need a name. Cow Pies? Insane Clown Pizza? Delivery and Deliverance? Death Panel For Cutie? Arcade Fired? An Offer You Can Refuse? They Might Be Employable? The Herman Cain Experience Featuring Bocephus? 9-9-9 Doors Down? C’mon, this is fun.
October 6, 2011 1:34 pm
Posted in: Popular Culture, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You, Teabagger Stupidity
86 Comments
I Liked This Movie Better When It Starred Hal Holbrook
This is just nuts. It’s un-American, surely illegal, and a real mark on the Obama Presidency. Just fucking nuts. And evil.
This really is a situation in which Obama is worse than Bush.
October 6, 2011 12:02 pm
Posted in: OBAMA IS WORSE THAN BUSH HE SOLD US OUT!!, War on Terror aka GSAVE®
493 Comments
Easy Marks
You ever hear a news report about a bunch of people who were swindled and lost their life savings in an obvious scam? I’m talking about the people who lose their life savings to a Nigerian prince who emailed them and said if you just give me our bank account info I will put millions in it for you. Every time I hear stories like that, I feel an immediate twinge of sympathy, and then a wave of “JUST HOW FUCKING STUPID ARE YOU?” That’s how I feel when reading this:
Peter Singleton and Michelle McCormick left their jobs, homes, and families to move to Iowa to campaign for Sarah Palin. Wednesday evening they found out they didn’t have a candidate.The former Alaska governor’s supporters founded a group called Organize4Palin to build a grassroots network and essentially campaign for her: go to county meetings, stump for Palin with politically connected Iowans, and form a loose campaign structure for what they saw as an inevitable Palin campaign. It turned out not to be.
Sarah Palin made her decision known Wednesday releasing a statement to ABC News and telling radio host Mark Levin that she will not enter the presidential race. Wednesday evening she told Greta Van Susteren on Fox News that she “apologize(s) to those disappointed” with her decision saying that she had heard from them over the last few hours and hopes they understand “you don’t need a title to make a difference in this country.”
As the news broke that she would not run those supporters that were the most invested said they were “disappointed,” but had “no regrets.”
Clowns.
October 6, 2011 11:56 am
Posted in: Grifters Gonna Grift, hoocoodanode, Starbursts
77 Comments
Another proud day for conservatives
Dorothy Cooper is 96 but she can remember only one election when she’s been eligible to vote but hasn’t. The retired domestic worker was born in a small North Georgia town before women had the right to vote. She began casting ballots in her 20s after moving to Chattanooga for work. She missed voting for John F. Kennedy in 1960 because a move to Nashville prevented her from registering in time
So when she learned last month at a community meeting that under a new state law she’d need a photo ID to vote next year, she talked with a volunteer about how to get to a state Driver Service Center to get her free ID. But when she got there Monday with an envelope full of documents, a clerk denied her request.
That morning, Cooper slipped a rent receipt, a copy of her lease, her voter registration card and her birth certificate into a Manila envelope. Typewritten on the birth certificate was her maiden name, Dorothy Alexander “But I didn’t have my marriage certificate,” Cooper said Tuesday afternoon, and that was the reason the clerk said she was denied a free voter ID at the Cherokee Boulevard Driver Service Center.
In Nashville on Tuesday afternoon, a coalition of organizations announced an effort to repeal the law. Groups such as the ACLU of Tennessee, various chapters of the NAACP, the AFL-CIO and Tennessee Citizen Action announced a petition drive and get-out-the-vote effort.
Absentee ballots don’t require photo ID, and the new state law was crafted to allow that exception. A U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a similar Indiana statute cited the absentee ballot exception as one of the reasons the Indiana law didn’t infringe on constitutional voting rights.
Still, Cooper said she will miss the practice of going to the voting precinct located in the building next door to hers.
Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, is one of the main proponents, and even he is backpedaling. Yesterday, as liberal groups launched a petition drive against the law and the Senate held hearings into whether it’s disenfranchising voters, Ketron introduced a bill to let anyone over the age of 60 vote by absentee ballot without a photo ID. Ketron said he doesn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want a photo ID. “They make you proud,”he said.
Oh, conservatives should be very proud.
There’s a lot of shame to go around here, and every time I post on this I get questions in the comments like: “why is this allowable under federal law?”
The short answer is it’s allowable under federal law because the US Supreme Court considered the Indiana law that set the legal precedent that allows partisan Republicans in these states to attempt to disenfranchise certain voters, and the US Supreme Court blithely and cavalierly rubber-stamped that Indiana law.
The Supreme Court on Monday backed Indiana’s law requiring voters to show photo identification, despite concerns thousands of elderly, poor and minority voters could be locked out of their right to cast ballots. The 6-3 vote allows Indiana to require the identification when it holds its statewide primary next week. It also will give most state legislatures time to revise their voter laws for the November elections. This was perhaps the biggest voter rights case taken up by the justices since the 2000 dispute over Florida’s ballots, in which George W. Bush prevailed to gain the presidency.
That’s where this started. That’s what opened the flood gates and led us to today.
I don’t want to leave anyone out of today’s stunning conservative victory. An honorable mention in the big win should go to two millionaire media stars: Fox News personality/reporter Greta Van Susteren and her fellow Murdoch mouthpiece, John Fund at the Wall Street Journal. These two soulless ghouls pushed the voter fraud lie relentlessly and helped get us here. What a great day for media giants Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. They managed to push a 96-year-old woman out of her neighborhood polling place.
You go, Tennessee voting enthusiasts. Put this law to a citizen veto. Ohio just did it, and you can too.
October 6, 2011 11:46 am
Posted in: Activist Judges!, Assholes, Blatant Liars and the Lies They Tell, Don't Mourn, Organize, Election 2008, Election 2012, Enhanced Protest Techniques
40 Comments
