I laughed so hard, I cried
I saw episode 3 the other night and lost my cookies when Paul Lieberstein, better known as Toby from The Office, played a climate scientist and de facto head of the EPA. He was being interviewed by Will McAvoy about a newly released report and his answers were just so dry, so straight-faced as he shared some extremely scary facts about the end of the world. The situation is, in a word: hopeless. Imagine this news delivered by Toby. Well, you don't have to imagine it. Watch it at this link (I couldn't embed it for whatever reason). And here is the transcript:
WILL McAVOY: Mr. Westbrook, you've spent most of your professional career as a climate scientist in the public sector.
RICHARD WESTBROOK: Yes, 10 years as a supervisory management analyst in the Office of Environmental Information. And before that, I was a program specialist in the EPA's Resource Management Division.
McAVOY: And you have a PhD in climate science from Stanford.
WESTBROOK: Yes, and another in chemistry with a masters in biology.
McAVOY: Okay. Tell us about the findings in the report that was just released.
WESTBROOK: The latest measurements taken at Mauna Loa in Hawaii indicate a CO2 level of 400 parts per million.
McAVOY: Just so we know what we're talking about, if you were a doctor and we were the patient, what's your prognosis? 1000 years? 2000 years?
WESTBROOK: A person has already been born who will die due to catastrophic failure of the planet.
McAVOY: Okay, can you expand on that?
WESTBROOK: Sure. The last time there was this much CO2 in the air, the oceans were 80 feet higher than they are now. Two things you should know Half the world's population lives within 120 miles of an ocean.
McAVOY: And the other?
WESTBROOK: Humans can't breathe under water.
McAVOY: You're saying the situation's dire?
WESTBROOK: Not exactly. Your house is burning to the ground, the situation's dire. Your house has already burned to the ground, the situation's over.
McAVOY: So what can we do to reverse this?
WESTBROOK: There's a lot we could do.
McAVOY: Good.
WESTBROOK: If it were 20 years ago or even 10 years ago. But now No.
McAVOY: Can you make an analogy that might help us understand?
WESTBROOK: Sure. It's as if you're sitting in your car in your garage with the engine running and the door closed and you've slipped into unconsciousness. And that's it.
McAVOY: What if someone comes and opens the door?
WESTBROOK: You're already dead.
McAVOY: What if the person got there in time?
WESTBROOK: You'd be saved.
McAVOY: Okay. So now what's the CO2 equivalent of the getting there on time?
WESTBROOK: Shutting off the car 20 years ago.
McAVOY: You sound like you're saying it's hopeless.
WESTBROOK: Yeah.
McAVOY: Is that the administration's position or yours?
WESTBROOK: There isn't a position on this any more than there's a position on the temperature at which water boils.
McAVOY: The administration...clean coal, nuclear power, raising fuel economy standards and building a more efficient electrical grid.
WESTBROOK: Yes.
McAVOY: And?
WESTBROOK: That would have been great.
McAVOY: Let's see if we can't find a better spin. People are starting their weekends. The report says we can release without the effects being calamitous.
WESTBROOK: It says we can only release 565 gigatons.
McAVOY: So, what if we only release 564?
WESTBROOK: Well, then we would have a reasonable shot at some form of dystopian, post-apocalyptic life. But the carbon dioxide in the oil that we've already leased is 2,795 gigatons. So...
McAVOY: What would all this look like?
WESTBROOK: Well, mass migrations, food and water shortages, spread of deadly disease, endless wildfires. Way too many to keep under control. Storms that have the power to level cities, blacken out the sky, and create permanent darkness.
McAVOY: Are you gonna get in trouble for saying this publicly?
WESTBROOK: Who cares?
McAVOY: Mr. Westbrook, we want to inform people, but we don't want to alarm them. Can you give us a reason to be optimistic?
WESTBROOK: Well, that's the thing, Will. Americans are optimistic by nature. And if we face this problem head on, if we listen to our best scientists, and act decisively and passionately, I still don't see any way we can survive.
McAVOY: Okay, Richard Westbrook, Deputy Assistant Administrator of the EPA. Thank you for joining us.
WESTBROOK: Thanks for having me.
McAVOY: This is News Night. We'll be back right after this.
Bernie Sanders destroys CNN's GOP talking points
Some nice moments:
At 1:25 - Bernie Sanders: "Threaten compromise. Is that what you said? For six years we are trying to get the Republicans to support anything."
That lady just said that acting might cause the Republicans to not support Obama on anything... da hell?
At 1:58 - Bernie Sanders: "To say that we are going to break the wonderful harmony and working relationship that we have had for six years, that did not exist."
At 2:28 - Chris Cuomo: "Well they heard something Senator because they just voted in the Republicans in a very big way."
That is an interesting way to dress it up. Cuomo is pushing the GOP talking point that they have a mandate to do whatever the hell they want. No they don't. This was the lowest voter turnout since the twenties. A large percentage of a small percentage of Americans elected the Republicans. Further, as Senator Sanders was pointing out, both the polls and the referenda show an overwhelming embrace of viewpoints contrary to those of the Republican party. There is no mandate.
Why voting matters.
Bill Maher has been on my shitlist lately, but he was right on the money with his
New Rules segment
regarding the effect of the individual's vote. I have made my comments on the apathy of the American voters
during this most recent election. In short, I'm disgusted. In less short, every vote counts in a world where,
you know, math exists. Like Bill talked about, the Florida's governor's race was decided by 66,000 votes and
now 700,000 Floridians won't get health insurance. That is the effect of not voting.
"And where did Americans get this idea that you shouldn't be expected to vote if there aren't candidates that excite you and electrify your base? It's an election, not your taint."
"And where did Americans get this idea that you shouldn't be expected to vote if there aren't candidates that excite you and electrify your base? It's an election, not your taint."
Bad-ass technique
Found this video while surfing for a barbershop. I don't live in Rotterdam so I will have to keep looking. This guy is one bad-ass barber doing a bad-ass cut. It's mesmerizing to watch this process carried out.
The Smithsonian Names Sarah Palin One Of The Top 100 Most Significant Americans
...OF ALL TIME! Kiss your credibility good-bye Smithsonian. She's a grifter; a quitter; a word-salad spinstress; and a well-paid, professional mean girl. She has no significance as a politician. She must be on the list because of her mouth. I didn't see Newt Gingrich, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh on the list so is her significance attached to her having a vagina? I didn't see Ann Coulter or Laura Ingram on the list either. They have vaginas. This is just gross.
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| Sarah Palin: selected for third base, thought she scored a touchdown. |
The Smithsonian Names Sarah Palin One Of The Top 100 Most Significant Americans, Leaves Out President Obama
by: Stephen D Foster Jr
In the following list, which of these people don’t belong?
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Franklin Roosevelt
Neil Armstrong
Martin Luther King Jr.
Frederick Douglass
Eleanor Roosevelt
Sarah Palin
Hellen Keller
Thomas Jefferson
Frank Sinatra
Michael Jackson
Mark Twain
Walt Disney
George W. Bush
Henry Ford
Jackie Robinson
Babe Ruth
Steve Jobs
Muhammad Ali
This is merely 20 of the people Smithsonian Magazine included in its list of the 100 most influential Americans of all-time. ALL-TIME! That means in all of American history, even prior to the founding of our nation.
And if you immediately picked out Sarah Palin as one the people on this list who stick out like a sore thumb, congratulations. You’re a sane and intelligent person.
The other person, though more deserving of the honor than Palin and yet probably doesn’t belong there either, is George W. Bush.
Smithsonian put together their list by enlisting Steven Skiena, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Computer Science at Stony Brook University, and Charles B. Ward, an engineer at Google who is an expert in ranking methodologies. The pair used “an algorithmic method of ranking historical figures, just as Google ranks web pages,” and “their concept of significance has less to do with achievement than with an individual’s strength as an Internet meme — how vividly he or she remains in our collective memory.”
But the truly outrageous thing about this list isn’t who made the cut, but who was left out.
Palin, America’s village idiot known for quitting as Governor of Alaska and engaging in drunken brawls and incoherent speeches full of factual errors such as not knowing the actual address of the White House, is on the list, while the first African-American president in American history is not.
That’s right, President Obama is not on this list even though his election as leader of the free world in 2008 is one of the most significant and unique achievements in American history.
The Smithsonian only selected ten presidents in that particular category and they left out presidents such as Lyndon Johnson, who signed Medicare, Medicaid, the Voting Rights Act, and the Civil Rights Act into law. Or Dwight Eisenhower, who was Supreme Allied Commander during World War II and who initiated the construction of our interstate system of roads that we still drive on today. Or Harry S. Truman, who ended World War II by signing off on the first and only uses of an atomic bomb in warfare against the Japanese, thus ushering in the Nuclear Age. Clearly, more presidents than just Obama were snubbed.
But Palin’s inclusion on such a list is totally offensive and the Smithsonian Institute damaged their own credibility by even thinking of placing her name among so many great Americans of historical significance. At least George W. Bush is actually a significant figure, for better or worse. After all, he was in office during 9/11 and dragged America into two costly wars. The reverberations of his time in office will be felt for decades to come. Palin, however, is just a minor footnote. Even Tina Fey would be better qualified to be on the list considering her fantastic impersonation of Palin is partly to thank for why Palin and McCain lost in 2008. That portrayal affected a historical election.
So while one could argue for Bush being on the list, including Palin on such a list is unforgivable, and even more so considering the Smithsonian failed to include President Obama, a person who is far more significant in our history than Palin could ever hope to be.
Did you know that Moses founded the USA?
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| source |
For such a big state, you believe in a tiny god. Must you lie (I thought that was against god) and inject him everywhere he had nothing to do with?
Texas Approves Textbooks With Moses As Honorary Founding Father
The Texas State Board of Education approved several dozen social studies textbooks after a contentious battle over their treatment of subjects including climate change, the role of slavery in the Civil War, Islam, and biblical influence in America’s founding. One major publisher, however, withdrew a book from consideration, saying that it was unable to meet all the standards set by the school board.
The Texas Freedom Network, which live-blogged today’s vote, said that some problematic material had been removed from the proposed textbooks, including climate denial and “offensive cartoons comparing beneficiaries of affirmative action to space aliens,” but that references to Moses as an influence on the Constitution and the Old Testament as the root of democracy remained. But TFN notes that publishers posted a number of last-minute changes to the textbooks yesterday, leaving board members and observers without time to figure out exactly what was in the approved texts:
The Texas Education Agency posted scores of pages of publisher comments and textbook revisions after the last public hearing on Tuesday. Miller said scholars did not have an opportunity to review and comment on the numerous changes publishers have submitted since the last public hearing on Tuesday. Some of those changes appeared to have been negotiated with state board members behind closed doors.
During a months-long process, publishers made a number of improvements to their textbooks. Those improvements included removing inaccurate information promoting climate change denialism; deleting offensive cartoons comparing beneficiaries of affirmative action to space aliens; making clearer that slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War; and revising passages that had promoted unfair negative stereotypes of Muslims. Scholars and the general public had ample opportunity to review and comment on those revisions.
However, the new textbooks also include passages that suggest Moses influenced the writing of the Constitution and that the roots of democracy can be found in the Old Testament. Scholars from across the country have said such claims are inaccurate and mislead students about the historical record.
The textbooks were approved despite a last-minute attempt by Truth in Texas Textbooks, a group with ties to the anti-Muslim organization ACT! for America, to remove accurate information about Islam, reduce coverage of civil rights (which it found to promote unsavory “racial politics”), and insert information about Young Earth Creationism sourced to the conservative website Conservapedia. [TFN’s summary of Truth In Texas Textbooks’ complains is in this pdf.]
The Texas Tribune adds that the group’s last-minute request also included downplaying the environmental impact of coal mining and noting in a chapter about colonization that Native Americans already discriminated against and oppressed each other:
The Truth in Texas Textbooks Coalition, all but unheard from for months while new social studies textbooks and instructional materials were being vetted, submitted a 469-page report in late October identifying more than 1,500 “factual errors, omission of facts, half-truths and agenda biases” in proposed materials.
Among its objections: A passage on coal mining should say it has “minimal effect on the environment"; a chapter on Spanish colonization of Latin America should point out the “continuous discrimination and oppression practiced by the native American peoples on each other”; and a statement that Shariah law requires religious tolerance of non-Muslims should be removed.
...
The group was formed by retired Lt. Col. Roy White, a Tea Party activist who also leads the Bexar County Chapter of ACT! for America, an organization dedicated to fighting extremist Islam. Its founder, Brigitte Gabriel, is known for her views that Muslims in the United States pose a danger to national security.
TFN tells us that it appears that Truth in Texas Textbooks did not succeed in getting any "substantive changes" into the books.
- Originally posted at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/texas-approves-textbooks-moses-honorary-founding-father#sthash.8Et24ULp.dpuf
Polly Frances
My daughter almost died the other night.
Almost. At least, I rode that emotional roller coaster.
My wife is twenty-two weeks pregnant. She began feeling severe discomfort in her abdomen. We went to the emergency room and they started the tests. They put her on some machines and took some blood and started poking around. The doctor sent for me and the nurse collected me from the waiting room. My wife was having contractions.
I am not carrying the baby so I do not have that "built-in" bond that you have with your child for those first nine months from conception. For example, I am not proud to admit that I felt little to nothing for my son until he was born. Of course, he is the moon and the stars to me and has been every second since he came tumbling out of my wife.
I point this out because I named my daughter before I knew I was having a daughter. This act made her more real. This act had me begin to think about her narrative in a way that involved me as her father. Playing Legos. Wrestling. Teaching her to brush her teeth. I named her Polly Frances and I decided that she was going to be magic.
They said my wife was having contractions. Every minute or so, my wife was having lite contraction pains that registered about a 1 on the universal pain range chart. Clearly not serious pain, it contractions none the less. They ran tests.
Her cervix was closed, her cervix was long and the water had not broken. This is all great news and great signs that all is fine... except that she is having contractions. They sent us home.
My wife continues to have contractions which could quite possibly continue all the way through the pregnancy.
I am not carrying the baby so I do not have that "built-in" bond that you have with your child for those first nine months from conception. For example, I am not proud to admit that I felt little to nothing for my son until he was born. Of course, he is the moon and the stars to me and has been every second since he came tumbling out of my wife.
I point this out because I named my daughter before I knew I was having a daughter. This act made her more real. This act had me begin to think about her narrative in a way that involved me as her father. Playing Legos. Wrestling. Teaching her to brush her teeth. I named her Polly Frances and I decided that she was going to be magic.
They said my wife was having contractions. Every minute or so, my wife was having lite contraction pains that registered about a 1 on the universal pain range chart. Clearly not serious pain, it contractions none the less. They ran tests.
Her cervix was closed, her cervix was long and the water had not broken. This is all great news and great signs that all is fine... except that she is having contractions. They sent us home.
My wife continues to have contractions which could quite possibly continue all the way through the pregnancy.
Mean Tweets
This is probably the most efficient marriage of tech and laughter today. Jimmy Kimmel is really amazing.
Migraine
The florescent lights are buzzing... like a chainsaw. The office chatter is just above screaming. I certainly can't work and my boss is hovering.
I may vomit on my keyboard.
I have already mainlined a dose and a half of ibuprofen. I drank 64 oz. Of water, too. Just 30 minutes till I can clock out and take my pain home. I am already thinking about being in the fetal position. Its gonna be nice.
Ordinary World
I never paid much mind to Ordinary World by Duran Duran. I had heard it a hundred times or so. It was a fairly popular song in its day. And despite being a Duran Duran fan, I really didn't care all that much about that song.
It wasn't until I saw Layer Cake and heard Ordinary World set to a vicious beating scene that I really found the beauty. The song is about or sounds like loss. And then the character, Morty, exacts a brutal and accidental revenge for the loss of ten years behind bars. It all takes place in an ordinary diner and finishes with a nice cup (pot) of tea. Brilliant.
It wasn't until I saw Layer Cake and heard Ordinary World set to a vicious beating scene that I really found the beauty. The song is about or sounds like loss. And then the character, Morty, exacts a brutal and accidental revenge for the loss of ten years behind bars. It all takes place in an ordinary diner and finishes with a nice cup (pot) of tea. Brilliant.
Women, women, women...
"I will not date a man. I will not carry a purse. I will not put on make-up. I will... I will love a woman."
This is hilarious because of the laundry list of "gay" things he won't do any more along with a new commitment to love women. Follow that up with a lot of dancing with men and you've got something too funny to be fake.
This is, however, one of the saddest things I have ever seen as well. This poor guy is changing who he really is in the clumsiest of ways in an obvious effort to be accepted by those close to him. I'm sure his family and friends in Christ are relieved now that he is no longer gay. I am sure that they think he'll thank them in the long run for the happiness that he will now truly experience because all that gay mess is just lies straight from Satan. I am sure that when he kills himself because he has been taught to hate himself so deeply all those God-fearing "Christians" will turn their back on him again for committing that mortal sin.
You see, they never cared about him. They cared about Jesus. Before, after and during, Jesus was the most important concern. The betterment of this guy was last, if at all, on the list. He is about to get a lot of empty hugs from empty people who only accept the facade that he is giving them. Tragic.
In a sentence...
"It is providing the ability [for] Canada to pump their oil, send it through our land down to the gulf where it will be sold everywhere else."
Guidos
I cannot get enough of these ridiculous human beings.
Is it just me or do the lips on the guy on the right look like a distended and puckering anal sphincter?
Is it just me or do the lips on the guy on the right look like a distended and puckering anal sphincter?
Divvy
Divvy is Chicago’s bike sharing program. They have stations all over the city and they are putting in more every day. I am a member and that membership was one of the smartest moves I made in 2014.
I use it to ride to work. That ends up being about 30 miles round trip. Obviously, its crazy good exercise. Plus, I'm saving on gas. And, I renewing my love for my city. Chicago really is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
I had priced out a new bike. I wanted to start riding for all the reasons I listed but damn, I had no idea it would break the bank. You are talking about $400 for the bike and probably $100 per year for the maintenance. Then there are the items that you can't price: the worry of theft, the bother of storage, the pain of downtime if broken. These things add up for a nervous, worry-wart like myself.
I could pay all of that or... $75 per year. Talk about a no-brainer.
Anyway, I'm a big fan and that's why I am posting about it.
The N-Word, in context
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| photo source: The Lavin Blog |
Yeah, right. I can only dream of talent like this. Ta-nehisi Coates is the most important black voice writing today and pretty damn important no matter the race.
In Defense of a Loaded Word
By TA-NEHISI COATES
MY father’s name is William Paul Coates. I, like my six brothers and sisters, have always addressed him as Dad. Strangers often call him Mr. Coates. His friends call him Paul. If a stranger or one of my father’s friends called him Dad, my father might have a conversation. When I was a child, relatives of my paternal grandmother would call my father Billy. Were I to ever call my father Billy, we would probably have a different conversation.
I have never called my father Billy. I understand, like most people, that words take on meaning within a context. It might be true that you refer to your spouse as Baby. But were I to take this as license to do the same, you would most likely protest. Right names depend on right relationships, a fact so basic to human speech that without it, human language might well collapse. But as with so much of what we take as human, we seem to be in need of an African-American exception.
Three weeks ago the Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito, who is white, was reported to have addressed his fellow Dolphin as a “half-nigger.” About a week later, after being ejected from a game, the Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes, who is black, tweeted that he was “done standing up for these niggas” after being ejected for defending his teammate. This came after the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper, who is white, angrily called a black security guard a “nigger” in July.
What followed was a fairly regular ritual debate over who gets to say “nigger” and who does not. On his popular show “Pardon the Interruption,” Tony Kornheiser called on the commissioners of the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball to ban their players from publicly using the word. The ESPN host Skip Bayless went further, calling “nigger” “the most despicable word in the English language — verbal evil” and wishing that it could “die the death it deserves.”
Mr. Bayless and Mr. Kornheiser are white, but many African-Americans have reached the same conclusion. On Thursday, the Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation, a group promoting diversity in coaching and in the front offices of the N.F.L., called on players to stop using “the worst and most derogatory word ever spoken in our country” in the locker rooms. In 2007 the N.A.A.C.P. organized a “funeral” in Detroit for the word “nigger.” “Good riddance. Die, n-word,” said Kwame Kilpatrick, then the mayor. “We don’t want to see you around here no more.”
But “nigger” endures — in our most popular music, in our most provocative films and on the lips of more black people (like me) than would like to admit it. Black critics, not unjustly, note the specific trauma that accompanies the word. For some the mere mention of “nigger“ conjures up memories of lynchings and bombings. But there’s more here — a deep fear of what our use of the word “nigger” communicates to white people. “If you call yourself the n-word,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, “you can’t get mad when someone treats you like that.”
This is the politics of respectability — an attempt to raise black people to a superhuman standard. In this case it means exempting black people from a basic rule of communication — that words take on meaning from context and relationship. But as in all cases of respectability politics, what we are really saying to black people is, “Be less human.” This is not a fight over civil rights; it’s an attempt to raise a double standard. It is no different from charging “ladies” with being ornamental and prim while allowing for the great wisdom of boys being boys. To prevent enabling oppression, we demand that black people be twice as good. To prevent verifying stereotypes, we pledge to never eat a slice a watermelon in front of white people.
But white racism needs no verification from black people. And a scientific poll of right-thinking humans will always conclude that watermelon is awesome. That is because its taste and texture appeal to certain attributes that humans tend to find pleasurable. Humans also tend to find community to be pleasurable, and within the boundaries of community relationships, words — often ironic and self-deprecating — are always spoken that take on other meanings when uttered by others.
A few summers ago one of my best friends invited me up to what he affectionately called his “white-trash cabin” in the Adirondacks. This was not how I described the outing to my family. Two of my Jewish acquaintances once joked that I’d “make a good Jew.” My retort was not, “Yeah, I certainly am good with money.” Gay men sometimes laughingly refer to one another as “faggots.” My wife and her friends sometimes, when having a good time, will refer to one another with the word “bitch.” I am certain that should I decide to join in, I would invite the same hard conversation that would greet me, should I ever call my father Billy.
A separate and unequal standard for black people is always wrong. And the desire to ban the word “nigger” is not anti-racism, it is finishing school. When Matt Barnes used the word “niggas” he was being inappropriate. When Richie Incognito and Riley Cooper used “nigger,” they were being violent and offensive. That we have trouble distinguishing the two evidences our discomfort with the great chasm between black and white America. If you could choose one word to represent the centuries of bondage, the decades of terrorism, the long days of mass rape, the totality of white violence that birthed the black race in America, it would be “nigger.”
But though we were born in violence, we did not die there. That such a seemingly hateful word should return as a marker of nationhood and community confounds our very notions of power. “Nigger” is different because it is attached to one of the most vibrant cultures in the Western world. And yet the culture is inextricably linked to the violence that birthed us. “Nigger” is the border, the signpost that reminds us that the old crimes don’t disappear. It tells white people that, for all their guns and all their gold, there will always be places they can never go.
Context is king in all writing - in all forms of expression. I struggle in my relationships with African-Americans and black people (there is a difference) over this very word. A couple of my friends would have absolutely no problem with me referring to them as "my nigga" as they have referred to me as that. It is a term of endearment in this context. Even though, I cannot bring myself to use the word. My white privilege is upsetting my stomach just describing this scenario.
I have other black friends who would never speak to me again if they heard the N-word leave my lips. Here, despite context, the word can drown out all other words in a sentence to some audiences. As Coates points out, "if you could choose one word to represent... the totality of white violence that birthed the black race in America, it would be “nigger.” That is the default context. It always means that until it doesn't with a series of qualifying words, actions, and relationships. It is an oppressive word. And as I am a beneficiary of white privilege, I feel a guilt despite not feeling responsible for the oppression that has been wrought.
#CosbyMeme
#cosbymeme was a spectacular failure and i wrote about it for @nypost http://t.co/ox5PEa9rVX pic.twitter.com/Ha24SDFgh9
— delia (@delia_p) November 11, 2014
Oh boy, that was dumb. Maybe Mr. Cosby has never been on the internet before.
I made the same face. #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/iyuh0okjoQ
— Sean Campbell (@Melanism) November 10, 2014
Yep. It is pretty much common knowledge now that Bill Cosby has a little problem with his past and being accused of raping 13 different women. He probably shouldn't invite folks to stick it to him...
I'm sorry but this guy won the internet today #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/N0u1Zbit0A
— lee. (@era_extrana) November 11, 2014
...because they will...
#CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/DxK41tiXqy
— Ｆａｔ Ｍａｎ ＴｕｒＫＥＹ! (@BauceSauce) November 10, 2014
...gladly...
Someone really thought #COSBYMEME was a good idea? pic.twitter.com/HBbbW2P4eX
— Justin Wood (@Justin_Wood_) November 10, 2014
...oblige.
Scuff Marks
I intend to showcase favorite movie scenes from now on. Here's my first go at it.
With No Country For Old Men on my mind, I had to include the "scuff mark" scene. The scene starts at 50 seconds but feel free to watch the whole, beautiful clip.
Scary, yes, but really hits a few senses. I really get claustrophobic when I here those boots scuff uselessly against the floor. The big, black scuffs that are drawn illustrate a good fight, but not toward stopping the strangling. And the hollow, click-clap of the boots against that tile floor was haunting. Nothing was going to save that cop.
This movie has a thousand amazing scenes. I should just embed the whole thing.
With No Country For Old Men on my mind, I had to include the "scuff mark" scene. The scene starts at 50 seconds but feel free to watch the whole, beautiful clip.
Scary, yes, but really hits a few senses. I really get claustrophobic when I here those boots scuff uselessly against the floor. The big, black scuffs that are drawn illustrate a good fight, but not toward stopping the strangling. And the hollow, click-clap of the boots against that tile floor was haunting. Nothing was going to save that cop.
This movie has a thousand amazing scenes. I should just embed the whole thing.
Payback... with kindness and humanity
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| source: Rotten Tomatoes |
This was originally posted to DailyKos back in 2007 but it has been updated to confirm all that was suspected. Good job Michael!
Michael Moore anonymously pays the medical premiums of his biggest critic
by dday
(UPDATE: The title is now more specific. And a good discussion in the comments over whether this is truly altruistic, or if Moore is using Kenefick as a political pawn. Personally I think it could be both at the same time)
Jim Kenefick is one of the several making a cottage industry out of hating Michael Moore. He runs Moorewatch.com, so his entire life (online at least) is consumed with the award-winning director.
Well, take a look at this story and see how it clearly illustrates the difference between liberals and conservatives.
Filmmaker Michael Moore has come to the rescue of his harshest critic.over...
For several years now, Jim Kenefick has been railing against the Oscar-winning director on Moorewatch.com. Recently, Kenefick wrote about the difficulty he was having paying his wife's medical bills. Fellow conservatives guided him toward a cheaper health insurer, but Kenefick said he still had trouble making payments.What conservative friends of Kenefick's were willing to do was give him some other options and say "pay the man." YOYO - You're on your own - is the guiding principle there. Not so for Moore. And he didn't seek publicity for this donation - at least not yet (it may be in the movie). The gossipers over at the NY Daily News independently confirmed that it was Moore.
"Someone e-mailed me and asked if an 'anonymous' benefactor could offer to pay my first year's premiums - $12,000," Kenefick wrote on his site.
He was skeptical when the check arrived. "I opened a whole new account at my bank, waited for it to clear, checked twice with bank personnel to make sure it wasn't a scam, and waited a full 60 days before spending the money. At that time, I started drawing on it and paying the monthly premiums until it was gone."
We can now confirm to Kenefick that his secret benefactor is none other than the dreaded, detestable, loathsome Michael Moore.
My thoughts about Michael Moore are somewhat conflicted, but there's no doubt that he cannot be beat when it comes to these kinds of matters. A vociferous critic of his was struggling with a problem that is the subject of his next movie. What better way to show how a more rational health care system can lift people up and give them the ability to succeed that to do this? It might be used in the movie, it might not. But it doesn't matter; it's illustrative of his entire point while also being completely disarming.
But get this, Kenefick still isn't happy with Moore.
Having suspected Moore might be his secret patron, he contends that his bete noir made the gift just to publicize "Sicko," which takes aim at America's health-care system and, we've heard, touches upon Moore's covert generosity.Does this sound completely bogus to you, or does Kenefick just have Moore on the brain all the time that he would naturally assume that he was the benefactor? And should I admire Kenefick for the fact that his appreciation cannot be bought, or should I consider him maybe the most ungrateful person of all time? (and if you want the answer to that, you really have to go over to Moorewatch and read Kenefick's reaction to the Daily News story. He's completely convinced of his own righteousness on this one.)
"I knew he was using me," said Kenefick. "Moore is going to try to make me into one of his little puppets."
Kenefick wants it known that "I'm not an idiot. I know when to say yes to something, even if the string attached is obvious. What kind of moron turns down a free 12 grand?"
Either way, Moore has done it again. And there's a larger point. A society that's not constantly fretting about how to pay for medical bills is a BETTER SOCIETY, and the "magic benefactor" can easily be a single-payer system that would cost less than we pay for health care now, and provide better quality service. Moore is a genius at finding real-world ways to illustrate his point of view. This is an excellent example.
(h/t Filmick)
Your face is broken
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| source: http://www.excellence4education.com/effective_parenting_skills.html |
Did you vote?
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| h/t - Nick Anderson |
If your vote doesn't count, then how did the Republicans win? All votes count. You not voting is a vote... for the Republicans. Your apathy did this.
"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible." - Stanisław Jerzy LecI think that quote quite fitting - h/t Driftglass for dropping it. I wonder how many thousands of folks stayed home because their vote doesn't count? That disengagement adds up
One of these guys is good at what they do.
Jeesh... The resemblance between these two guys is scary.
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh was an efficient, calculating, cold, machine of a hit man. Darrell Issa is not very good at nailing the Obama Administration on any of the non-scandals he has directed his committee to investigate. He keeps the investigations going and going but they've born the prosecution of no one. But that's not necessarily the point.
If he keeps up the nonsense, the story will be alive in the media. If the story is alive in the media, they will irresponsibly report only that the investigations are happening and not that they are political witch-hunts. That would be biased despite being true. But because of the mere existence of the investigations, the public will become biased and believe that Benghazi was covered up by the Administration, for example. And that's the game: smear by insinuation.
Bad News for the Environment
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| Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr |
This fucking guy will be in charge of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
The Republican Triumph in the 2014 Midterms Is Bad News for the Environment
By Ari Ratner
The 2014 midterm election was a Republican wave — and the environment got swamped.
Republicans seized control of the Senate, winning a 52-seat majority that stands to increase after the final tally in three undecided states. Republicans hold a lead in Alaska, and are expected to win a December 6 runoff in Louisiana. Democrats hold a narrow lead in Virginia but may have to survive a recount.
Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is expected to become the new majority leader after cruising to victory over Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. Republicans won every toss-up Senate race on the map except for a surprisingly close race in New Hampshire.
In the House, the Republicans increased their majority by at least a dozen seats. They now hold the largest Republican majority since the Truman administration, securing 244 seats to 177 for Democrats.
At best, it means a Congress that is disengaged from serious environmental issues just as the US faces critical choices in how to combat climate change. At worst, it means a Congress actively opposed to the environment. Regardless, the coming Congress is likely to be less environmentally friendly than any in recent memory.
The coming Congress is likely to be less environmentally friendly than any in recent memory.
"The new Congress should waste no time in advancing a pro-energy, pro-growth agenda," Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, told reporters Wednesday. "That means approving the Keystone XL pipeline, and expanding access to natural gas and oil resources. It also means reining in unnecessary regulations that voters rejected because they threaten our energy renaissance and harm our economy."
Senator James Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who once compared the Environmental Protection Agency to the Gestapo, is likely to lead the Environment and Public Works Committee when the GOP takes control next year. Inhofe published a book in 2012 titled, "The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future," and has said previously that, "global warming can be beneficial to mankind." He has also called for congressional action to limit EPA regulations on clean water.
Republicans also emerged victorious in Governor's races across the country. Republican Rick Scott won easily in Florida over former Governor Charlie Crist. Scott's victory may hold vast implications both for 2016, where the presidential race may again come down to Florida and its 29 electoral votes.
Florida is also ground zero in the battle over climate change in the US. Without a strategy to combat rising sea levels, much of the state may eventually be underwater. Scott has previously said that he couldn't comment on his stance on climate change because he is "not a scientist."
"Miami is eventually going to be underwater if we don't do more to combat climate change," Patrick Hidalgo, the Hispanic vote director for the Obama campaign in Florida in 2008, told VICE News.
In Miami's Kendall neighborhood, the election night party for Joe Garcia, the incumbent Democrat in the 26th Congressional District, turned into a wake. Supporters were crying as he gave a concession speech to his Republican opponent, Carlos Curbelo.
Hidalgo and other Garcia supporters lamented that his loss — combined with the defeat of Charlie Crist — was a blow to the environment. "The state is going to drown, and nobody cares," an older woman who didn't want to give her name told VICE News.
The turning tide against the Democrats was evident across the entire country, where battleground races repeatedly turned up red.
"Obviously, Republicans had a good night," President Barack Obama said in a news conference Wednesday.
West Virginia's 19-term incumbent Congressman Nick Rahall lost to his Republican challenger Evan Jenkins by 11 percentage points.
In Iowa, Joni Ernst, infamous for an ad she cut highlighting her commitment to "cutting pork" that referenced her experience in pig castration, trounced her opponent Congressman Bruce Braley, winning by a margin of 8.5 percentage points.
In North Carolina, Republicans surprised incumbent Democratic Senator Kay Hagan. In a race Hagan was slightly favored to win, Republican State Representative Thom Tillis won by nearly 50,000 votes.
In Colorado, Corey Gardner upended Mark Udall 49 to 45 percent. Gardner's victory brings the critical state within Republican grasp after Democrats have held both Senate seats since 2009 and won the state in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.
In Kansas, Republican incumbent Pat Roberts defeated his Independent opponent Greg Orman by a margin of nearly 10 points in a race that was widely expected to be a cliffhanger. Elsewhere in the state, Sam Brownback — a Republican who slashed taxes in attempt to created a "real live [Conservative] experiment" — was also reelected.
The result of the seismic Congressional shift in favor of Republicans is likely to be more gridlock.
In Obama's home state of Illinois, Republican Bruce Rauner defeated incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn 51 to 46 percent.
In Maryland, Republican Larry Hogan beat Democrat Anthony Brown by nine points. While in Michigan, incumbent Republican Governor Rick Snyder (who acknowledges climate change but not whether humans are causing it) held onto his seat.
In Maine, Republican incumbent Paul LePage (who has compared the IRS to the Nazis on more than one occasion, and once mused on the benefits that global warming would hold for Maine) defeated Democratic challenger Mike Michaud by four points.
Even in Virginia, expected to be a relatively easy win for Democrats, incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Warner is clinging to a narrow lead of slightly more than 12,000 votes out of nearly 2.2 million cast. Virginia has no automatic recount process, but candidates that lose by one percent point or less are allowed to petition for one, which Warner's challenger, former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, is likely to do.
The result of the seismic Congressional shift in favor of Republicans is likely to be more gridlock. Although McConnell has said that there will be "no possibility of a government shutdown," a continued acrimonious relationship with his party and the President is a safe bet.
"Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign," Obama said. "I'm pretty sure I'll take some actions that some in Congress will not like. That's natural. That's how our democracy works."
The one project that is highly likely to see Congressional action is the Keystone XL pipeline. The President has delayed action on the massive project to increase shipments of oil from Canada to US refineries, but Republicans are likely to press for construction to move ahead.
"We anticipate a relatively quick vote on the Keystone XL pipeline and one that will present itself in front of the President's desk and one which the President will have, for the first time, to expend his actual political capital on that issue," said Scott Segal, founding partner of the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, a leading consultant on energy issues.
Green billionaire Tom Steyer and his environmentalist allies — including the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Defense Action Fund — spent over $85 million this election cycle trying to influence key races. They are now licking their wounds.
Steyer's NextGen Climate group spent $65 million in congressional and state races, frequently battling billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch and their Americans for Prosperity conservative advocacy group. Steyer came away with victories in half of the elections in which he spent money, but the losses included high-profile races in Colorado and Iowa that led to the GOP Senate majority.
Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips issued a statement claiming partial responsibility for the Senate victories.
"Tonight's results are a clear rebuke of ObamaCare and the government overreach that have come to define the Obama-Reid agenda, and a class of senators who chose to rubber stamp bad policy rather than fight for the people they represent," Phillips said.
In his remarks Wednesday, Obama tried to strike a conciliatory tone.
"I'm eager to work with the new Congress to make the next two years as productive as possible," Obama said. "I'm committed to making sure that I measure ideas not by whether they are from Democrats or Republicans, but whether they work for the American people.
While vowing to act on immigration and touting progressive victories on several ballot measures — including going "five for five" on votes to increase the minimum wage — Obama was quiet about the environment. He noted that, "our dependence on foreign oil is down, as are gas prices," but mentioned climate change only once in passing, saying, "the United States has big things to do."
Laura Dattaro and Robert S. Eshelman contributed reporting.
Ari Ratner is a Fellow at New America. Follow him on Twitter: @amratner
Post-Election Blues
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| nypost.com |
I really don't know what happened. It just doesn't make any sense that we have the lowest unemployment rate since before Barack Obama took office and the Republicans had a practically clean sweep. Despite Republican efforts, more Americans have health insurance now than ever before in history. The stock market is beyond 17K! All this and more and the Republicans won the other night.
Seemingly, this all happened because America wants Congress to do something... What? That is what keeps being said, even by Obama. America wants Congress to do something and so they elect the obstructionists. It continues to be common knowledge that the Republican purpose is to impede progress on all fronts. They think they have a mandate now. To pass legislation? No. To stop Obama. Da' hell?
America voted for marijuana, for the minimum wage increase, and for Republicans. What is the matter with all of you?
Lost a bet?
Face tattoos are always a bad idea no matter how awesome the villain from a sci-fi series of books and movies is.
Bad Idea Jeans.
French Green Beans with Bacon
I made a little step-by-step, how-to, tutorial, instructional, education video on How to cook French Green Beans with Bacon. I lurve this recipe because it is so easy, it goes with everything and it can make you seem all cultured and classy clearly without being either.
I hope you enjoyed that. I know I did. Don't forget to tell me what you think. I do this for you after all.
I hope you enjoyed that. I know I did. Don't forget to tell me what you think. I do this for you after all.
An Adult:
Are you fu*king kidding me?
Denial of food isn't adult, unless all adults are sociopaths.
The other social programs are in effect to aid society from a 'big picture' point of view. You know, like how an adult would view things.
This lady didn't pay cash for her home, so she can shut up.
I am sure this lady is against both abortion and welfare. If she could think a few moves ahead (like an adult), she would understand the benefit of birth control and it being readily available.
This lady paid about $300 to go to college in her day where it costs 500% more now. If we want productive citizens and not welfare recipients in our society, we should loan them college money. It's a loan. It's a loan. It's a loan and we give them out to billion dollar corporations all the time with amazing interest rates. Oh and we are currently making a huge profit on those loans.
We talked about food.
And cell phones... you got me on this except for the fact that the program being referenced was started under a conservative.
So... what else you got there miss smirking adult lady? I am sure she is a stock photo, but still.
Prison Nation
We are a prison nation. We lock people up more than anyone.
Wow!
I wonder if there is any connection between the skyrocketing number of people locked up and the rise of the private prison industrial complex (PIC)?
I wonder if there is any connection between the lobbying efforts of the PIC and the passing of 'zero-tolerance' and 'mandatory minimum' laws throughout the nation?
Wow!
I wonder if there is any connection between the skyrocketing number of people locked up and the rise of the private prison industrial complex (PIC)?
I wonder if there is any connection between the lobbying efforts of the PIC and the passing of 'zero-tolerance' and 'mandatory minimum' laws throughout the nation?
What about the Irish?
h/t Bunky Echo Hawk
I think the Washington Redskins are disgusting. The application of that name, Redskin, to a football team is not an honorarium. Sure, you are supposed to cheer for the Redskins, but that doesn't clean it of its derogatory nature.
I don't want to get bogged down deciding which racial slur is worse. I hate playing "oppression Olympics". Let me just write it and we'll discuss.
You wouldn't allow the Washington Niggers to be a team. There will never be the Washington Kikes.
Again, I hate discussions about which group had it worse, but I do think this is an apt observation. Redskins is a slur that offends millions of Native Americans. It perpetuates a stereotype and reduces an entire people to mascot status. It is a relic of a less-sensitive society that didn't know any better and it needs to go away.
With that, let's dispense with the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Atlanta Braves. It is time. We need to clean up our language, too. Phrases like "off the reservation" need to be retired. Until we do this, we cannot begin to step outside of our privilege and truly be societal equals.
What about the Irish? Why aren't anyone raking muck about the practically ubiquitous icon mascot of the leprechaun with his dukes up (see photo)? I think this little guy probably needs some attention as well. Are all Irish people violent little men in pointy yellow shoes? Why are they fighting? Too much to drink? It is a silly mascot whose is, again, representing an entire people.
Am I reading this wrong? No one cares about this one. Is it because the Irish are no longer seen as a group of inferiors and now the beneficiaries of white privilege? Maybe. You know, some folks like to talk about reverse racism. They like to bring up the name cracker and claim it carries the same weight as nigger. Naw, son. It doesn't. Maybe the Irish are letting this foolish representation go by because they are privileged enough for it not have any affect.
Uhg, I am loosing the steam of my rationale. Help! Discuss.
Halitosis
My wife and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary this evening. We managed to have our boy looked after by my in-laws and we went out to a lovely dinner. We don't get to do that very often. More accurately, we never get to do that.
We went to a little Mediterranean place we read a review on. The ambiance was nice - soft light and not reeking of garlic. We were seated at a lovely corner table where we could sit beside each other.
"Can I bring you guys a drink?"
A cloud of warm rot encapsulated our table. The poor gentleman serving us had halitosis... at least. This wasn't just an old piece of meat stuck in his teeth for a few days. This was a failing liver.
Big deal. So, a guy has bad breath. The reason I write about this now is because I can still smell his breath. That rude funk is still in my nose. Or on my clothes. It is around me.
I am reminded of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry and friends are haunted by the body odor 'deposited' in Jerry's car by a valet. That B.O. was a physical thing. This man's breath is a physical thing.
I feel like scrubbing my body with strong soap.
We went to a little Mediterranean place we read a review on. The ambiance was nice - soft light and not reeking of garlic. We were seated at a lovely corner table where we could sit beside each other.
"Can I bring you guys a drink?"
A cloud of warm rot encapsulated our table. The poor gentleman serving us had halitosis... at least. This wasn't just an old piece of meat stuck in his teeth for a few days. This was a failing liver.
Big deal. So, a guy has bad breath. The reason I write about this now is because I can still smell his breath. That rude funk is still in my nose. Or on my clothes. It is around me.
I am reminded of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry and friends are haunted by the body odor 'deposited' in Jerry's car by a valet. That B.O. was a physical thing. This man's breath is a physical thing.
I feel like scrubbing my body with strong soap.
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