The Conservative Fool Of The Day is...James Inhofe!

History books tell us about U.S. senators in the early 20th century practically being owned by various industries. For instance, you'd have "railroad senators", who did rail lines' bidding. But Jim Inhofe - an Oklahoma Republican - is a modern-day "oil senator."

And he accomplishes this stupidly.

BP makes enough profit in 4 days to cover the entire cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill. So the current spillage liability cap of $75,000,000 is mere pennies to BP.

This has prompted efforts to raise or eliminate the liability limit. But Inhofe has singlehandedly blocked these efforts at least twice in recent weeks. (Gee, I can't wait until the Democrats win back control of the Senate, can you? Hey, wait a minute.)

Inhofe's excuse? Well, he says relaxing the liability cap would cost big oil companies too much the next time there's a spill.

Um, yeah, Jim. That's the whole point. Irresponsibility should have consequences.

So much for the Republicans being the party of personal responsibility, huh? I guess that doesn't include corporate responsibility. Hey, I thought corporations were people now.

(Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-spill-20100519,0,1169385.story)

Rand Paul wants to violate Fourteenth Amendment

I know that an Establishment politician like Rand Paul using racially tinged arguments doesn't comport with the media's narrative about Paul's alleged greatness, but anyway...

Paul - the Republican candidate for Senate in Kentucky - now says he wants to withhold U.S. citizenship from children born in the United States, if their parents are undocumented immigrants.

I shouldn't even have to tell you that Paul's idea blatantly violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which plainly declares, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

I'm not even going to argue about this. Paul's stance is cheap elitism, and it's unconstitutional.

Then again, if Paul got his way on this, how would it be enforced, considering that it seems like he wants to privatize the whole government and all?

It gets worse, as Paul resorts to outright race-baiting as an excuse for his position. He said the reason the law hasn't been changed to agree with his stance is that the Democrats are just trying to pander to Hispanics. Um, no, Rand. The reason the law can't be changed is that it would be unconstitutional to change it, smartypants.

Rand Paul's Senate run is shaping up to be one of the most stupidity-driven major political campaigns in modern times - placing it in a tie with most other recent GOP campaigns.

(Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/?fbid=_8BKtDLzpMu)

'Diff'rent Strokes' actor Gary Coleman dies

Another acting legend died today.

Former child star Gary Coleman - best known for playing Arnold on the sitcom 'Diff'rent Strokes' in the '70s and '80s - died today at the age of 42 following a fall in his home.

Millions of Americans who are my age fondly remember Arnold's catchphrase, "Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Willis?" It was Coleman himself who coined this phrase - as part of the creative genius he displayed at an early age.

The actor died of an intracranial hemorrhage that occurred when he fell at his Utah home.

Lawn Chair Quarterback: "Tim Channels The Bangles"

The latest ep of 'Lawn Chair Quaterback' is up, and this one pays tribute to the Bangles' "Walk Like An Egyptian" video as only a clip paying tribute to the Bangles' "Walk Like An Egyptian" video can:



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kV5F1IlujM)

Much as a line in the Bangles song seemed to channel an old Big Boy commercial that offered "free credit for spilled drinks", I'm channeling the Bangles!

Mural vandalized by right-wing activists

After a mural by Shepard Fairey was painted over in Covington, Kentucky, because a school disagreed with its antiwar message, the book-burners are taking things into their own hands right across the river in Cincinnati.

Early this week, somebody painted over a Shepard Fairey exhibit on Whetsel Avenue using beige paint and rollers. The building owner did not authorize the mural's removal (unlike in the Covington incident).

It turns out that right-wing activists had previously threatened at a neighborhood meeting to paint over the mural. The reason? They said the mural was "anti-police."

As if the Tea Party loons who support overthrowing the government aren't?

If the book-burners think of themselves as being champions of law enforcement, why do they break the damn laws themselves by vandalizing a mural? What a bunch of hypocrites.

(Source: http://www.kypost.com/content/wcposhared/story/Madisonville-Fairey-Mural-Vandalized/E8ISQ_Ib20iPKkRQiQwIpA.cspx)

Right-wing activists convicted in phone tampering scandal

Nobody with any gray matter gave a shit what right-wing activist James O'Keefe thinks, after his ACORN video was debunked as a hoax.

Now O'Keefe - along with Stan Dai, Joseph Basel, and Robert Flanagan - have been convicted in a separate incident of entering federal property under false pretenses. The charges stem from their attempt to illegally bug Sen. Mary Landrieu's phone.

O'Keefe was sentenced to 3 years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and a $1,500 fine. The other 3 sorryasses each got 2 years of probation, 75 hours of community service, and a $1,500 fine.

The fact that they won't go to prison is proof that being able to afford good lawyers will get you out of a lot of trouble. These clods should be serving years behind bars.

Of course, the media still hasn't disavowed O'Keefe, despite him being convicted.

(Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/26/AR2010052602697.html)

Vatican immunity excuse continues

You'd think this matchbook law theory would have gone out with Bush, but I guess it's hard to repair all the damage he did.

Bush's so-called Justice Department created immunity for the Vatican out of whole cloth - in response to lawsuits involving sex abuse by priests and other employees of the Catholic Church. The Bush regime ordered a state court in Texas to dismiss a suit like this, claiming the Vatican enjoyed immunity because the Pope is the Church's head of state.

This is a bogus theory. Foreign governments and heads of state are not above the law. There's even a law that says you can sue foreign regimes for terrorism - and people have won suits under this law.

Now Acting Solicitor General Neal Kumar Katyal is continuing Bush's Vatican immunity policy. Katyal submitted a brief to the Supreme Court backing Vatican immunity.

Why??? Is it because Bush started it, and nothing Bush does shall ever be questioned?

And Katyal is part of the Obama administration?

If the Vatican can't be sued because it's a country, does that mean it can be economically isolated like countries can? You can see how absurd the Bush/Katyal position is.

Vatican immunity is not a concept that exists anywhere in American law. It exists only in the minds of the Bush regime and Katyal.

(Source: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0525/obama-backs-catholic-church-immunity-claim-sexual-abuse-lawsuits)

'Sesame Street' likes traffic lights ('Sesame Street' Wednesday)

About 'Sesame Street': It cracked a roo.

Just kidding!

Seriously now. About 'Sesame Street': They just love traffic lights!

We're so lucky we have traffic lights. Damn lucky! And 'Sesame Street' agrees, as shown in this 1970 sketch:



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY4AKbAV2aw)

Did the kids who did the voiceover for this clip also do the voices for Peanuts animated specials? Some of their voices sound almost identical to Peanuts characters.

Notice also that this sketch was made before New York City introduced a yellow lens to most of its traffic lights. The city reportedly added yellow in 1952, but apparently, not all of the pre-1952 signals were replaced yet in 1970.

If a skit like this was made today, they could replace the silent movie at the end showing the results of the lack of traffic lights with a new video of just about any road in suburban Cincinnati. In local suburbs, everybody just ignores traffic lights, so it's as if we don't even have any.

Senate tramples state banking laws

The bleevogoff Senate strikes again.

A few days ago, the allegedly Democratic Senate passed a measure that would prohibit states from enacting new laws to protect consumers from big banks (even if federal laws are completely nonexistent).

My, how very Republican of them.

This was supported largely by the same people who keep yelling that health care reform violates the Tenth Amendment. If anything violates the Tenth Amendment, it's not letting the states regulate banks.

(Source: http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/regulation/2010-05-19-financialreform19_ST_N.htm)

Kentucky may have to slash services because of GOP tantrums

Why are the Republicans even still considered a competitive party in Kentucky?

Recently, the Republican-run Kentucky Senate scuttled a proposed state budget. This almost forced vital state services to close.

The state of Kentucky almost had to be shut down because of the Republicans' tantrums!

Among the services that would have had to close were state parks, mine safety inspections, and even mine rescue teams.

Now the legislature has had to be called back into session - and services may still be closed down if a budget isn't reached by the looming deadline.

All because it has to be the Republicans' way or no way at all.

(Source: http://www.kypost.com/news/local/story/Beshear-No-Budget-Means-Services-Will-Stop/Y_25vXQTp0aJnEss56GJRA.cspx)

GOP candidate plagiarizes Obama speech

Meet Vaughn Ward, a Republican congressional candidate in Idaho.

The Sarah Palin-backed candidate has been self-destructing as if self-destructing is going out of style. Now it's been revealed that Ward plagiarized Obama's speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

Obama's speech said, "As we stand at the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices and meet the challenges that face us. If you feel the same urgency that I do, if you feel the same passion that I do, then I have no doubt the people will rise up in November and this country will reclaim its promise and out of this long political darkness, a brighter day will come."

Ward's campaign kickoff speech said, "As we stand on the crossroads of history, I know we can make the right choice and meet the challenges that lay before us. If you feel the same urgency and the same passion that I do, then I have no doubt that our voices will be heard in November. And our country will reclaim its promise and out of this darkness, a better day is on the horizon."

Busted!

Of course, Vaughn Ward is blaming his opponents for this plagiarism.

(Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37688.html)

Week 41 of POOP

No kidding, folks.

People are now complaining that Google's archive is losing posts that should be archived.

Meanwhile, Google still displays posts that were supposed to have been deleted.

How's that for a complete clusterfuck? Google loses posts that should appear, yet it shows posts that it shouldn't.

Kind of reminds me of Samuel Alito denying First Amendment protections to speech that's supposed to be covered, while saying school harassment is protected. Googleland lately seems to be the absolute polar opposite of the way it should be.

Pennsylvania AG hates anonymous criticism

Meet Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett - the Republican candidate for governor.

Corbett is such a thin-skinned crybaby that he's demanding that Twitter reveal the identities of anybody who dares to criticize him. He's even trying to use grand jury subpoenas to make Twitter spill the beans.

Yay! A GOP command state!

(Source: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20100521_Corbett_assailed_over_Twitter_subpoena.html)

DLC succeeds at sabotaging Hawaii election

Gee, thanks a billion, DLC.

Because the DLC insisted on running its own candidate in yesterday's special congressional election in Hawaii (because they considered the real Democratic candidate too liberal), the Republicans have finally managed to end their hilarious losing streak.

With the Democratic vote split, Republican weirdo Charles Djou won yesterday with only 39% of the vote.

Of course, Djou will be gone in November, when this seat in this heavily Democratic area is sure to return to the Democrats. But what yesterday's election proves is that the DLC doesn't care about the Democrats winning. Its only purpose is to "prove" that the party has to move to the right to win - even though that thesis has been debunked repeatedly. If it means sabotaging an election by running their own candidate, then that's what they do.

In fact, the DLC's Ed Case finished in third place yesterday, behind the real Democratic candidate Colleen Hanabusa. Clearly, the DLC is more about "proving" bogus theories than about running electable candidates.

Hilarious Mark Souder hypocrisy

It's comical enough that the dipshit Mark Souder had to resign his congressional seat because he had an affair with an aide. Such an embarrassment couldn't have happened to somebody more deserving.

But it's downright uproarious that Souder had been interviewed in a video about abstinence education by the very same aide who he had an affair with. The interview was about abstinence, yet it was conducted by the aide Souder had an affair with!

How hilariously hypocritical can you get? They're talking about abstinence, yet they're out screwing around!

I'm not going to embed the video here, because this blog is not a venue for repetition of Mark Souder's discredited propaganda.

Pharmacies break prescription law

There's been lots of controversy over whether pharmacists and drugstores have to fill birth control prescriptions if they object to birth control. Bills have been introduced by both sides regarding this subject.

It's pretty clear pharmacists are required to fill the prescriptions. For them to impose their personal views on patients is a form of elitism. To think they can impose their beliefs on patients is to think pharmacists' personal opinions matter more than other folks' just because of their position.

I have nothing against pharmacists. But why should somebody have the right to force their views on someone else just because they have a higher paying job?

Now the policy that has affected birth control is expanding to pseudoephedrine cold and allergy drugs - just because of the personal opinions of drugstore managers.

In Terre Haute, Indiana, police are telling pharmacists to make these over-the-counter drugs available by prescription only. This despite the fact that federal law makes these drugs over-the-counter. There's no state or local laws in that area making them prescription drugs - and if there were, federal laws would supersede them anyhow.

Naturally, at least 8 or 9 Terre Haute area drugstores are more than willing to comply - thus imposing personal beliefs on customers.

Where are people supposed to go to get the medicine they need? I'm sure Terre Haute is big enough to have other drugstores, but what if this happened in a small, isolated town where the only drugstore was run by thought guardians who don't want to sell these drugs over-the-counter?

Here's an analogy. I think psychiatric drugs are toxic, useless, and dangerous. In fact, psychiatry itself is a fraud. But if I was hired to work at a pharmacy, would I be allowed to withhold these poisons from customers? I better be able to, if drugstores are allowed to withhold Sudafed from me.

At a time when health care costs are finally being reined in, the last thing we need to do is increase health care costs by requiring a prescription just for Sudafed. War on Drugs propaganda be damned.

Pharmacies that made pseudoephedrine available by prescription only are breaking the law.

Rand Paul self-destructs right before our very eyes

Despite the media's portrayal of Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul as a guy with "libertarian" inclinations, he's proving himself to be a corporatist authoritarian. He's spent most of the past few days showcasing his weak views on civil rights while acting as an apologist for corporate irresponsibility.

Paul said he opposes the longstanding Americans with Disabilities Act. However, he showed that he doesn't even know what this law says, for he criticized the law for things it doesn't even say.

Then he said he opposes much of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While most Kentuckians are appalled by Paul's stance, his statements have helped energize raw racists.

Now Paul is whining that President Obama's criticism of BP over the ongoing oil spill is "really un-American."

Nice. If you criticize a rich oil company for polluting our water, Rand Paul attacks your patriotism. According to him, BP is the victim, and that anyone blaming BP for the spill (which BP helped cause) is just part of a "blame game."

For the record, BP isn't even an American corporation. Its initials stand for British Petroleum.

Just keep right on talking, Rand. This is how you lose elections.

Not surprisingly, Paul is now trailing in every major poll - except of course Rasmussen, where he's leading by 25%. But that's Rasmutant.

Lawn Chair Quarterback: "Facebook Fascism"

The 'Back is back!

After the positive response to our first 'Lawn Chair Quarterback' episode - where I discussed psychiatric druggings - we're back for more this week.

This week's episode is titled "Facebook Fascism" - which is about Facebook's new policy of deleting users' accounts if they disagree with right-wing fan sites:



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0lztpaNt2M)

Peep, eep, and oggle-beep!

Census won't buy American

If the Tea Party movement gave a shit, it would be attacking "free trade" instead of crying about how rough Big Business supposedly has it.

Now it turns out that promotional materials for the U.S. census - such as hats and keychains - aren't even made in America. They're made in China.

What has the federal government come to when it won't even buy American?

A group of federal lawmakers is outraged - and now there's a bill in Congress that would keep American workers from being deserted like this. Its sponsor, Rep. Mark Schauer (D-Michigan), said that because China is blocking American companies, America should start blocking Chinese goods.

Schauer noted in an op-ed that small businesses in his district were suffering because of unfair competition from China.

But the bill might run into trouble from "free trade" ideologues. "Free trade" seems to mean that in America, every country's laws apply except American laws.

(Source: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/20/868176/-Unbelievable:-US-Census-promo-materials-made-in-China!)

Right-wingers get mural painted over

Nazi Germany was known not only for the slaughter of millions of innocent people but also for the destruction of works of art.

Just a few miles from here, in Covington, Kentucky, the brownshirts seem to be on the march again.

As part of a series of murals by renowned artist Shepard Fairey on display throughout the region, a building in Covington featured a mural depicting a child soldier holding a military-style gun.

If anything, the mural appeared to be antiwar. It did not condone violence in any way.

But a few busybodies complained about the mural - calling it "offensive" and saying it encouraged violence. Among these thought cops were school administrators. And we all know that in Kentucky, if a school says something is so, it's considered to be so - regardless of evidence to the contrary.

So - because of these right-wing complaints - the building owner painted over the mural.

The real reason the book-burners wanted the mural gone was because they didn't like the message of it. The artwork was perceived as antiwar, and they couldn't stand that.

Welcome to conservaworld - where all that the elites need to do to censor art they don't like is whine about it.

I think some nominations for the Golden Muzzle Award are in order.

It's the same...old Bert... ('Sesame Street' Wednesday)

You know what?

Bert and Ernie. That's what.

Because Ernie and Bert are so damn cool, they're helping us ring in yet another 'Sesame Street' Wednesday. In this sketch, Bert finally changes out of his turtleneck and striped sweater that he's worn on all the other days for the past 41 years. That sweater was starting to stink, you know. But when Ernie sees his ol' pal Bert decked out in a suit and tie, he can't believe Bert is Bert:



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD0CL4KJOa8)

Notice how Ernie's book lacks pages, and also peep how lopsided the lampshade is.

It's already been a Berty day, but this segment makes it all the more Bert-faced! Ernie is right: There's only one Bert!

Senator from Wal-Mart faces runoff

One more election result for tonight...

In Arkansas, DLC Sen. Blanche Lincoln has been held to well below 50% in the Democratic primary. In fact, she leads Bill Halter by only 1%.

Accordingly, Lincoln and Halter must now square off in a runoff on June 8.

Murtha's seat stays Democratic

This may be the final election result we're reporting tonight...

In Pennsylvania, a special election to replace the late Democratic Rep. John Murtha has been won by Democrat Mark Critz.

This despite the Tea Parties' boasting of a certain GOP win.

This election has also been hailed as a foreteller of November. Some observers felt that whichever party won this election would be likely to pick up seats in the fall.

Specter loses primary

Looks like the Republicans are losing in Democratic primaries too.

In Pennsylvania, Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter is the latest incumbent to go down to defeat. We can now safely call the Democratic primary for challenger Joe Sestak.

This is especially satisfying for the Democrats, because Sestak was polling better than Specter in a general election match-up. Not like Pat Toomey had much of a chance of winning in November anyway.

GOP lucks out in Campbell County

Man, the Republicans lucked out here!

The Republican primary for judge-executive in Campbell County, Kentucky (my home county!) pits a longtime incumbent against a serious challenger from the extreme right.

However, the right-wing challenger has now lost.

If he'd won, I think it would be all the more difficult for the Republicans to maintain the county's top executive position in November.

Cathy Flaig loses primary

Well, that Cathy Flaig nutroll who we keep talking about here has lost the Republican primary for judge-executive of Boone County, Kentucky. Of course, the fact that it was only 50.3% to 49.7% shows how utterly loopy 49.7% of the Boone County GOP has become.

You heard it first here: It'll be Conway versus Paul

Results are in for today's Senate primary in Kentucky. As of now, we can safely declare that Jack Conway has won the Democratic nomination, while Rand Paul has won on the GOP side.

The Republican primary wasn't expected to be close, but the Democratic side sure was. However, given the size of Conway's current lead over his closest opponent Dan Mongiardo (58% to 30%), it's safe to say he's in.

Rand Paul is such a joke that I don't see how he can win in November, but Kentucky Democrats have been known for self-destructing in recent years (as if the Republicans don't do it too).

Tea Partiers caught buying votes in Kentucky

Today's primary in Kentucky is marked by every ounce of Tea Party bullying and corruption you'd expect.

The state's election fraud hotline received 14 calls before 9:45 AM about harassment or vote buying by the Rand Paul campaign spread across several counties. Paul - who leads the Republican primary by a smashing margin in polls - has become a favorite of the authoritarian Tea Party movement.

In Laurel County, sheriff's deputies had to remove Paul's campaign workers from the polling place.

Of course, the Paul campaign is blaming the Democrats for the voter intimidation.

Why don't authorities throw the book at these clowns?

(Source: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/05/18/1269268/turnout-expected-to-vary-widely.html;
http://ht.ly/1MDpo)

Mark Souder resigns over affair!

Mark Souder is a longtime right-wing congressman from Indiana.

Well, he was. But not anymore.

Souder is responsible for the fascist law that denies student aid from anyone convicted of a minor drug offense - even while no restrictions are placed on serial bullies. He's always enjoyed strong Religious Right backing, and he supports abusive teen confinement programs.

In 2007, Souder stormed out of a Capitol cafeteria because his sandwich was grilled instead of toasted - and got the sandwich maker fired.

Now Souder is resigning because of an affair with a staffer that likely would have landed him before the House Ethics Committee if he hadn't resigned. Ironically, Souder was one of the first members of Congress to sign on to impeaching Bill Clinton over a sexual affair.

Few congresscritters deserve to be humiliated like this more than Mark Souder. I've despised Souder for years.

Bye, Mark.

Cell phone study already debunked

Corporate-backed "science" usually means starting with a conclusion and working backwards from it - instead of the other way around like real research does.

Such is true of a new report that supposedly pr00ved on TV that there is no link between cell phones and cancer.

But that's not true. Cell phones have been linked to brain cancer and similar conditions for years. (That's why a good filter is strongly recommended if you use a cell phone.)

The study that claims to find no link between cell phones and cancer is about on par with the time the Bush regime said that arsenic in drinking water was perfectly safe.

True to form, it turns out that this study was funded by the mobile phone industry. Surprise, surprise.

The purpose of starting with a conclusion that's favorable to the industry is to allow cell phone companies to escape liability for users getting cancer. Lawmakers will try to use this as an excuse to pass laws shielding corporations from liability.

Week 40 of POOP

As this feature enters 40 weeks, now it's been revealed that those masters of disaster at Google have been allowing criminals to serve up malware!

Cyberthugs have been using the embattled Google Groups to distribute fake antivirus software. Google Groups users are told to follow instructions that take them to a website that downloads this virus and tells them to supply their credit card details to buy this phony program.

I wonder if this is anything like the toolbar that Google placed on my computer without telling me (and which doesn't work anyway). I'm not able to remove this 98-meg memory hog, because the button for it in the "Add/Remove Programs" folder doesn't work.

(Source: http://www.esecurityplanet.com/headlines/article.php/3882161/article.htm)

More schools abuse tax-exempt status

With a taxpayer-funded bailout for rich private schools in New Jersey looming, it's been revealed that some Catholic schools in that state have been forcing students to attend legislative meetings in favor of the bill (which might as well be a Tea Party gathering).

Um. Did you know that the IRS forbids religious bodies that have a tax-exempt status from getting involved in politics like this? Tax-exempt churches can take moral stands - but not political stances, unless they want to lose their tax-exempt status. Churches can be as political as they want, but they can't get an IRS exemption for it.

The IRS might be interested to know about what some church-run schools in the Garden State have been doing.

Texas students may be taught right-wing propaganda

To say that an American school may start teaching right-wing propaganda may seem redundant, because most have already been doing so for decades. (They've been doing it at least since I was in grade school, and you know what an old fossil I am.)

But leave it to Texas education officials to make it a whole lot worse.

Right-wing officials' ongoing micromanagement of textbook content to reflect their extremist ideology (which also affects other states, because publishers don't make separate editions for each state) are now coming to the fore again in the form of efforts by extreme-right board member Don McLeroy. (McLeroy was recently defeated in the election, but he doesn't leave office until the end of the year.)

McLeroy's proposal would require Texas schoolchildren to discuss ways to gut Social Security, Medicare, and other public benefit programs. This authoritarian lunatic would also require schools to teach against "redistribution" of wealth.

Aren't all taxes really a form of redistribution? Since these are public schools we're talking about here, this really means that Texas taxpayers are having their money redistributed for the purpose of assailing redistribution. Don McLeroy doesn't see the irony of that?

Taxes pay for McLeroy's school board seat. So if he's against redistribution, shouldn't he have to quit before his term is up? I'm not attacking taxes here. I'm just pointing out how hypocritical he's being.

No wonder I support homeschooling.

(Source: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/tx_textbooks_proposal_students_must_discuss_guttin.php?ref=fpa)

GOP commish campaigns on county time

Abusing your office almost seems to go with the territory when you're a Republican public official these days.

In Boone County, Kentucky, right-wing Commissioner Cathy Flaig raised ire last year for misusing her office to sponsor a viewing party of Glenn Beck's idiotic 'We Surround Them' - all on the taxpayers' dime.

And now - in her judge-executive campaign - she's campaigning at county offices on county time.

County staffers report that Flaig campaigned for over 2 hours at the Boone County Public Works Department and handed out campaign literature. Using county offices for this is improper, and many employees considered it intimidating and disruptive. In fact, it's illegal under KRS 121.310.

Flaig might win the primary, but I'll just eat my hat if she wins the general election. This is obviously somebody who thinks rules shouldn't apply to her.

Words of wisdom about work

A lousy job is better than no job. But a shitty job isn't.

Pass on these words of wisdom.

GOP delegates vandalize classroom

It's nice to know that the Republican Party in Maine is made up of grown men and women who are more unruly than an 8th grade class.

Maine's GOP has become small enough to fit in a single classroom. Recently, the party adopted a ridiculous platform written by Tea Party activists. Now it turns out the delegates trashed an 8th grade classroom at King Middle School in Portland where they held their caucuses.

While the GOP activists were conducting the event, they pawed through the teacher's desk and other items. They stole a poster about the labor movement that hung on the door, and they replaced it with a Republican sticker. The poster had stood for years without being damaged by middle schoolers - but it was no match for right-wing conventioneers who used the classroom just once.

The Republican delegates also opened a sealed cardboard box they found near the teacher's desk. When they discovered that it contained copies of the Constitution donated by the ACLU, they became enraged.

Later, the GOP conventioneers had the nerve to call the school to complain about "liberal" items in the classroom - which they never would have found if they hadn't gone snooping at sealed packages and desks.

Current and former students criticized the Republican vandalism. But some party leaders continue defending the theft of the poster.

If the students had done as much damage to the classroom as the Maine Republicans did, the school would have CALLED THE POLICE - even though the students' average age is only 13. If this behavior is unacceptable from middle schoolers, why is it tolerated when adults do it?

Maine Republican leaders need to be prosecuted for criminal mischief.

(Source: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/05/15/maine-gop-forced-to-apologize-after-convention-goers-vandalize-an-eighth-grade-classroom)

Ah! A YouTube show! Ew!

A newsletter, a blog, 2 books, a pirate radio station (now defunct) - and now a weekly YouTube show too?

Indeedity-doodledy, my friends! I've just beginned a new weekly 10-minute program titled 'Lawn Chair Quarterback'. I call it this because - instead of sitting back in a wimpy old armchair - I go out and do shit, and have fun all the while. The name is a reference to people bringing lawn chairs to public protests.

And I've already posted the first episode - titled "Poison":



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4x34U2r-6g)

See ya each week as far as the eagle flies!

Google thinks John Birch Society is a "news" site

If the John Birch Society hadn't been a bunch of raving Red-baiters 95% of the time, more people might have paid attention to it the few times it's been right about anything - like when it opposed the job-killing NAFTA.

The John Birchers aren't right about much. Typically, they're ranting right-wing galoots. Not in the same regard that the Tea Parties are, mind you. The Tea Partiers are generally idiots just for the purpose of driving home the essence of idiocy. Still, the John Birch Society is - by and large - as right-wing as its reputation suggests.

I use Google Alerts to receive news articles from Google News - mostly from the websites of mainstream newspapers and TV stations. It's long been known that Google News won't use left-leaning blogs. Today, however, I noticed that Google News uses the John Birch Society's website for "news" articles - lumping the John Birch Society in with CNN and your local daily paper.

Surprised? Given the right-wing bias of Google News, no. For ages, Google News has been using right-wing blogs - even while shunning left-wing blogs. Google News also gets "news" stories from right-wing think tanks and the misnamed National Right to Work Foundation, which supports union-busting. It even gets "news" articles from Michelle Malkin's stupid website.

The John Birch Society actually appears fairly moderate compared to the usual Google News offerings!

Google News carries the John Birchers, Michelle Malkin, and the "right-to-work" union-busters, but I don't think I've ever received a single article from a liberal blog from Google News.

Maine GOP making us laugh

Don't assume the Northeast is any more immune to Republican batshittery than the Sun Belt is - at least within the party itself.

The phony populism of the far-right Tea Party movement has enveloped Maine's GOP. Maine Republicans have adopted a platform that could have been written by Sarah Palin on steroids. Indeed, it was written by Tea Party activists.

Some of the platform is fairly vague, but a few items truly stand out for their sheer lunacy. Regarding government policy towards TV and radio, the platform opposes "localism and diversity." It says that "localism and diversity" are affronts to free speech.

How??? Since when is a station carrying local programs instead of nationally syndicated material an assault on the First Amendment? It isn't.

If anything violates the spirit of free speech, it's Congress's 1996 bailout of nationally syndicated right-wing talkers. Concentration of media voices is antithetical to democracy.

The Maine GOP platform also demands eliminating the durable "motor voter" law, because it says that it's vote fraud. How??? Republicans actually want to make it harder for qualified voters to vote?

Perhaps the funniest part? Another plank in this platform reads: "Clarify that healthcare is not a right." Um, what? Health care is a right, geniuses.

This giggle-a-thon is the platform of a supposedly major party in one of the 50 states? Really??? This is the party that seriously thinks it can win back control of both houses of Congress 6 months from now?

Another Wal-Mart lawsuit? You gotta be shitting me!

I don't know if I've covered this lawsuit yet or not, because Wal-Mart has so many legal actions against it that it's hard to keep track of them all.

In any event, Wal-Mart now has to pay at least $43,000,000 to 232,000 employees in California. This sum represents unpaid wages and vacation pay that the retail giant withheld.

Then again, that only works out to a whopping $185 per person. And that's before deducting the part their lawyers will get. No wonder Wal-Mart knows it can get away with so much.

(Source: http://www.laborradio.org/node/13503)

Book thief thinks rules shouldn't apply to her

Right-wing thought guardians borrowing books from libraries and not returning them because they don't want people to read them is old news. Florida seems to be the epicenter of such activity - like when some Nazis stole all copies of a book from a school library because the book failed to insult Cuba.

Now the Nazism gets even weirder.

Some right-wing crazy in Longwood, Florida, checked out 4 books that I've never heard of from the public library. She refused to return the volumes for 2 years, because she objected to their content.

Now she's finally returned the books - and the library has levied an $85 fine.

But get this: She says she should be exempt from the fine because she was just trying to make a point about the books' content. In other words, she considers herself a freedom fighter who engages in civil disobedience by depriving everybody else of the freedom to read the books.

Someone once told me that part of civil disobedience means suffering the punishment. I guess rules don't apply to the other side, huh?

I worked at my local library for years, and I know Kentucky has specific laws dealing with depriving libraries of books. I don't know what Florida's laws are, but stealing books in an effort to censor them ought to be a felony.

Lena Horne meets Kermit ('Sesame Street' Wednesday)

"It's not easy bein' green..."

"Bein' Green" was a song written for Kermit the Frog by that great 'Sesame Street' songwritin' legend, the late Joe Raposo.

It's a slow but uplifting song about identity and self-worth. And who better to sing it than ol' Kerms? BECAUSE KERMIT THE FROG IS COOL, DAMMIT!!!!! (And he's green.)

Around 1974, the ol' Ses made a new "Bein' Green" segment in which Lena Horne appeared and sang this song as a duet with Kermit:



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPvZR6DTbq8)

Lena Horne died Sunday at the age of 92.

Many folks who are now only 30 or younger actually became interested in Lena Horne's music because they saw that segment being rerun on 'Sesame Street'. Remember when she did commercials for the Gap? By that time, she was probably considered a hero to teenagers who saw her on 'Sesame Street' when they were preschoolers.

Terrorists firebomb medical marijuana outlets

When you see a drug warrior fan site on Facebook, remember that they're promoting terrorism like this.

Montana is one of several states that allows medical marijuana. Over the past few days, 2 medical marijuana distributors in Billings have been firebombed by War on Drugs supporters.

Both of the firebombed shops also had the words "NOT IN OUR TOWN" spraypainted on them by the terrorists. One of the firebombs was described by fire officials as a "Molotov cocktail."

Um, yes in your town. Medical marijuana is legal in Montana. So the drug warriors need to shut up, wither, and blow away.

None in the media have dared to call the firebombings terrorism - even though it is.

What's next? Are they going to blow up Walgreen's or something? That's about what this is like.

Authorities need to investigate the drug warrior groups on Facebook at once. Since they boast about having 1,000,000 fans, how much do you want to bet that the Montana firebomber is a fan of these groups?

Drug testing and me

Lots of controversy has erupted in recent weeks over Facebook's intolerance of anybody who dares to disagree with the myriad of drug warrior fan sites that have proliferated there lately. (One of these sites was promoted by my former high school.) While all of these groups fill up with racist propaganda, folks have had their accounts yanked just for disagreeing with it.

Because I've joined several Facebook groups designed to counter the War on Drugs propagandists, the drug warriors have asked me why a working guy like me - who probably had to take a drug test for work - opposes drug tests for unemployed welfare recipients.

I've given plenty of reasons to oppose it. But on a personal level, having to take a drug test has only reinforced my opposition to drug screenings of everybody else.

Truth be told, however, I've only had to take a drug test once in my whole life. It wasn't for work - despite the numerous jobs I've held. When I worked at the library, I wasn't tested. When I worked for the Department for the Interior, I wasn't tested. Believe me, if an employer made me piss in a cup, I would've either told them to shove it or complained to my union.

Because I've never gotten TANF or food stamps, I've never been tested for these either. I think the only state that's ever administered drug tests for these programs is Michigan (thanks to that dickhead John Engler), and that was ruled unconstitutional years ago.

What's the one instance in which I've taken a drug test? Can you guess?

It was when I was 16 and was illegally sent to a youth confinement center (without a trial) because I got expelled from a Catholic high school.

I shouldn't even count this, because I don't even think the guards completed the test. They made me pee in a cup, but I don't think they tested the urine. I think they just assumed we were all on drugs (even though we weren't). To them, everybody was a druggie.

What did they do with our urine? I don't know, but I find it rather suspicious that the apple juice there was very warm and salty and tasted nothing like apples.

My current policy is: I will not take a drug test. For anybody. I'll live in the woods and eat berries if I have to. But I won't take a drug test. That is something you cannot make me do.

Not for work, not for government benefits, not for anybody.

My only regret is not refusing to be tested on that one lone occasion. If they were going to shove a pipe up my urinary tract because I refused, just think of the lawsuit that'd result.

Booksellers cause another delay

Two months after I put my second book 'A Mind's Smithereens' out, I expected it to be carried by online booksellers. But their inefficiency and babyishness has created another delay.

Several years back, I lost the power to set the price of my first book 'The Fight That Never Ends' when big booksellers began requiring books to be priced the same when ordered direct from the publisher - a clear violation of antitrust and price-fixing regulations. Now retailers' pettiness has created more woe.

Right after I put out my second book in March, the bookselling industry decreed that it would no longer carry books unless the ISBN number is printed on a separate page - all by its lonesome. So now I had to add this page and reapprove the book today.

Didn't they ever see the "King Who Wasted Paper" sketch on 'Sesame Street'?

(Apparently the book retail industry's ukase doesn't apply to my first book, since it's 5 years old.)

To the bookseller industry, I say this: Thanks for wasting my time and costing me sales, assholes. I feel comforted knowing that this delay is not in the least bit my fault.

In the meantime, you can order my book from the publisher here:

http://www.lulu.com/content/8443416

Joe McCarthy comes to life in Ken Cuccinelli

Uh, Ken, can you change your name to King Pleezixdiff?

This blog is rife with stories of right-wing Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's abuse of his office and his ignorance of the law. Now it's coming to the fore again with his war against academic freedom and climate change science.

Last week, Kookinelli demanded that the University of Virginia hand over documents about climate change written by a former professor. Some of these are private e-mails dating back to 1999.

Cuccinelli accuses the university of making up climate change.

Uh, Ken? Scientists all over the world have known about climate change for decades now. Hell, even I've known about it since I was in high school over 20 years ago. What's next? Is Kooky going to force mathematicians to hand over documents that say 2 plus 2 is 4?

The embattled Attorney General gave the university until May 27 to produce all said documents.

If I was the university, I'd tell Cuccinelli to eat my Hanes. If he wants to arrest me, let him look stupid.

Kookinelli has turned the Virginia Attorney General's office into his own moated palace for imposing his agenda of coddling corporate allies while policing thoughts and personal behavior.

(Source: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/cuccinelli_tells_u.va._to_hand_over_ex-professors_documents_on_climate_chan/342016)

DLC hands Hawaii election to GOP

The Democratic Leadership Council is the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.

The DLC claims that its goal is to boost Democratic strength by running more "moderate" candidates (meaning conservatives), but now it's proven that it doesn't even care if the Democrats win. The DLC is a Big Lie.

On May 22, there's a special election in Hawaii to fill the U.S. House seat of Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie, who is running for governor. The Republican candidate is Charles Djou. Democrat Colleen Hanabusa also opted to run. But the DLC deemed Hanabusa too liberal, so they decided to run their own candidate, the far more conservative Ed Case. (Interestingly, his cousin is AOL founder Steve Case, but that's beside the point.)

So the DLC thinks it can elect a Democrat by splitting the Democratic vote (in an election with no runoff)? Sorry, but that doesn't pass the guffaw test.

Apparently, they're trying to elect Djou just so they can blame Hanabusa for not pulling out of the election. If anybody's the spoiler, it's the DLC's Ed Case.

Now the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - led by DLCers - has announced that it's pulling all its money out of this election altogether, thus conceding the election to the Republicans. And they're blaming Colleen Hanabusa for it.

How stupid. First, the DLC said the Democratic candidate was too liberal. Then they decide to run their own superspoiler and split the vote. Then they blame the original Democratic choice for not being driven out of the campaign. That's election strategy, DLC style.

Some massively unpopular Republican nutroll is about to get elected in a 70% Democratic district with only 35% of the vote!

Luckily, this seat won't be in GOP mitts for long. Everybody knows that in November, it's going to go right back the Democrats, because the laws are different for regular elections. So this sabotage by the Democratic Losership Council is all for naught.

(Source: http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2010/05/dccc-pulling-out-of-hawaii.html)

Elena Kagan nominated for Supreme Court

I just found out tomorrow that President Obama has nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court.

As with Sonia Sotomayor, the 50-year-old Kagan wasn't on the short list of progressive picks. In fact, critics say Kagan may be too conservative.

It's somewhat disappointing that Sidney Thomas wasn't picked, but I have a gut feeling the DLC actively lobbied the White House for Thomas to not be selected. This is the same DLC that's on the verge of handing a congressional election in Hawaii to the Republicans by running their own candidate because they consider the real Democratic pick too liberal, so who'd be surprised?

Week 39 of POOP

You know Google's been on its high horse too long when you start seeing posts like this.

Google's post removal tool hasn't worked since at least last summer, and people are starting to lower the boom. Last week, I saw a message in Google's sad excuse of a help forum titled, "Attention Google Support - please respond to the issues regarding deleted posts appearing in search results and failure of the Post Removal Tool. No response means the names, email addresses, and ph# of Google employees will be posted." This message said, "Game over."

The individual who made that post then provided 24 hours for Google to respond. This person cited posts from myself and others describing the broken condition of the removal tool.

Stupidly, Google never replied. However, I don't know whether this user carried out their warning to post the names of Google employees who were responsible for this mind-numbing failure.

Google was once a respected name. But now it's a monstrosity. What a dangerous, smug attitude for Google to take towards their users as they've been taking.

Sen. Bob Bennett driven from office

Just how right-wing is the Republican Party in Utah?

It's so extreme that even far-right Sen. Bob Bennett isn't enough to satisfy it.

At today's state Republican convention, the 3-term senator was rejected in the final round of balloting - while 2 nobodies were sent to square off in the June primary. When it was announced that Bennett was eliminated by candidates who are even more right-wing than he is, Tea Party cultists in the convention hall cheered.

Democratic National Committee head Tim Kaine said, "That the Tea Party would consider Bob Bennett, one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate, too liberal, just goes to show how extreme that Tea Party is."

The more naive among us might think that today's events make Bennett's Senate seat a likely Democratic pick-up, but you have to remember, this is Utah we're talking about.

(Source: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15046264)

Paddling advocate uses our picture, cries victim

In recent days, a substitute teacher in Dallas has generated nationwide scorn for his Bring Back Licks website. His website advocates the "return" of corporal punishment to American classrooms.

In order for it to "return", it had to have vanished. Texas schools still paddle daily.

After seeing his ridiculous website, I ought to start a site called Bring Back Not Using Others' Pictures Without Permission. For his website, he "borrowed" the paddle photo that's appeared on this blog, rotated it slightly, and changed the words on it.

All without my permission, of course. Copyright laws? To the other side, they're just "damn pieces of paper."

He gets sillier.

Now the hapless oaf has been fired from his job as a substitute teacher for an undisclosed disruption. But he says his firing is "retaliation" for his support of paddling.

Seriously, he thinks that. People call me paranoid for thinking Bush didn't win Iowa without the election being rigged, but I've got nothing on this delusional clod.

Former Alaska Gov. Wally Hickel dies

One of the most unusual governors in modern American history - Alaska's Walter Hickel - died yesterday at the age of 90.

Hickel - a Republican through most of his career - resigned during his first term to become Nixon's Secretary of the Interior. However, when Hickel dared to criticize the Nixon administration's outrageous treatment of student antiwar activists, Nixon fired him.

Years later, in 1990, Hickel won a second term as governor as the candidate of the Alaska Independence Party. Most of the AIP supported Alaska seceding from the United States because they deemed the federal government not right-wing enough. (They truly believed the federal government in the '90s was leftist - despite all the proof to the contrary.) However, Hickel reportedly did not support the AIP's secessionism. This led other AIP members to back a recall election against Hickel.

Although Hickel later endorsed Sarah Palin for governor, Palin's right-wing extremism and partisanship later proved to be too much for Hickel. Last year, Hickel said that he "doesn't give a damn" what Palin does from now on. Hickel had also called for the resignation of GOP Sen. Ted Stevens following Stevens's indictment.

Overseas firm ran camera program

Not long ago, Arizona became the only state with mobile cameras to catch alleged violations by motorists. This contrasted with other states, which placed cameras only at fixed locations.

Because so many innocent people were wrongly ticketed, everybody just started ignoring tickets issued under this program - which recently forced the cameras to be abolished.

A few points are in order about this program.

For starts, I never advocated violence against camera operators. I've never heard of anybody who did.

I'm 100% in favor of folks photographing cameras used for traffic enforcement and other surveillance on public property. It's called countersurveillance. It helps makes the system more honest.

What may be the most important point is that the Arizona program wasn't even run by an American company. It was run by an Australian firm. So it was actually benefiting a foreign country's economy at America's expense.

I have nothing against Australia. It's the country that gave us Men At Work, one of my favorite bands. But if Arizona had to have cameras that were farmed out to a private firm, why couldn't it choose an American company?

What really amazes me is the hypocrisy of Arizona legislators who approved this program. They're so worried about immigration that they recently passed an infamous law forcing police to practice racial profiling and inspect U.S. citizens for proof of citizenship - yet they won't even hire an American firm to run its traffic cams?

I guess I just don't get how the other side works. They fear individuals who they perceive as foreign - even while favoring foreign firms over American companies.

They fought the law and the law won

If you were on the edge of your chair waiting to see just how utterly ridiculous the Republican Party can get, I think the suspense may have finally ended.

Recently, some nobody in Tennessee went to his local courthouse to file charges against President Obama, accusing him of "treason" for allegedly failing to show his birth certificate. This despite the fact that Obama has already shown his birth certificate - complete with the requisite imprinted state seal.

Needless to say, the grand jury refused to indict Obama. I can't imagine the jurors were very pleased at having to take time off work to hear such an absurd case.

When the jury made its decision, the clod who filed the charges against Obama promptly showed up at the courthouse and tried to make a "citizen's arrest" of the jury foreman. He told the foreman, "I'm placing you under arrest. You must now come with me."

Well, that didn't work either. The only person arrested was the guy who tried to make this bogus "citizen's arrest."

So, at this point, the sore loser who filed phony charges against Obama was in jail because of his courthouse antics. Some extremist in nearby Georgia heard about this - so he drove over to Tennessee with an AK-47 to try to get the man released.

That didn't go over too well either. He was arrested himself but later released. However, federal investigators later realized he intended to cause violence, so they placed him under house arrest.

Honestly, do followers of the modern GOP have something seriously wrong with them? Do they have an organic disorder that affects their judgment, or are they just intentionally ignorant?

At least the jury foreman and the police weren't intimidated by these inept bullies.

(Source: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/right-wing_extremists_take_on_local_law_enforcemen.php?ref=fpblg)

I get mail

I get mail.

Indeed I do.

I get more e-mails than even the best mathematician at Bob Jones University could count (if only he could)!

Needless to say, some of these e-mails are going to be pretty fucking stupid, because this is the Internet, after all - where the Far Right seems to coagulate.

Posts from this blog are automatically crossposted to Facebook - to showcase this blog's greatness. Just now, I got a message on Facebook assailing me for my views. It reads in part:

"You are literally one of the least sensible human beings I've ever heard. I consider myself a liberal but its radicals like you that give us a bad name. How can you think that the other group is a set of 'paid operatives' who boost numbers by 'creative fake accounts'?? Are you out of your mind? No one cares that much about this stuff to spend their time creating 500,000 new emails, passwords and pictures to just get more fans... Pull your head out of your ass. ... It shouldnt be hard to admit that people who are on welfare (a volunteer population and government funded program) shouldnt NOT abuse drugs (outlawed by the government). ..."

What is this - 1997? I mean, that gimmick about pretending to be liberal while attacking somebody's liberal views is at least as old as the Internet boom itself.

This guy calls himself liberal even as he complains about everybody else not complying with the War on Drugs, which is a prohibition campaign that's long been known as a failure. I thought of a certain local politician when I saw that.

And I never said welfare recipients should abuse drugs. I was only criticizing the idea that we should force welfare recipients to prove their own innocence, when the burden to prove guilt is supposed to fall on the government.

Plus, I'm not the only person who's pointed out that the Facebook fan site in question is populated primarily by fake accounts. In fact, I wasn't even the first person who said it.

What's next? Is the next e-mail going to say, "I'm a liberal, but I voted for Bush - twice"? Honestly, that's about what this charade is like.

Maybe the real problem is that the center of debate has moved so far to the right that these faux "liberals" don't even notice how right-wing and ridiculous they're being.

Media continues attacks on welfare recipients

After the Nazi-inspired war on the poor in the '90s, you'd think its supporters would've gotten their hatred out of their system. But who are we kidding?

With the ongoing bailouts of big banks, the right-wing media's classism appears even more hypocritical than ever.

In all honesty, most of my worry about the war on the poor isn't for my own sake. For one thing, I don't collect TANF or food stamps. I never got AFDC even before Congress ruined it. Besides, I know that folks these days have my back just in case.

I'm concerned about the war on the poor because I have ethics and character - which are missing among today's elite. In this country, elites are not supposed to hoard political power to lord it over the downtrodden. The concept of right and wrong is one of the characteristics that defines civilization.

America's poor don't have it too easy. America's poor - like the poor elsewhere - have it as rough as anyone can imagine.

Meanwhile, few in the media dare to challenge the bailouts for big banks. Apparently, these free gimmes are actually government grant programs for banks to start their own airlines, because they keep using the money to buy more corporate jets. I for one am tired of my taxes being wasted on handouts for big corporations.

Beating of homeless man to bring light sentence

Outrage of the day: If 4 men accused of the brutal beating of a homeless man in Cincinnati are convicted, the maximum sentence is only 8 years in prison.

The attack was completely unprovoked and was motivated by the assailants' desire to attack somebody just for being homeless. This was a violent hate crime.

They sent a man to the hospital with life-threatening injuries by beating him with a baseball bat, yet they're facing only 8 years at most?

Minor drug offenders often get 30 years, but if you beat up a homeless person, you only get 8? Hate crimes are supposed to carry stiffer punishments, so how can they only get 8 years?

I'm not blaming the prosecutors. I'm blaming lawmakers for making the laws so weak even while they brag about being "tough on crime." In recent years, they've passed new laws against Sudafed and backyard satellite dishes, but the laws against almost killing defenseless people because of their economic status remain lax.

Only in conservaworld can the prison state expand while real criminals are mollycoddled.

Whirlpool to ruin city's economy

The job slashers are at it again.

Whirlpool plans to close its refrigerator factory in Evansville, Indiana. This will put 1,100 workers at this plant out of work, as the jobs are shipped to Mexico.

First thing we need to do is repeal NAFTA. But since you read this blog, you knew that.

Next thing that needs to happen is for the state of Indiana to block the job cuts. Connecticut attempted to block AT&T's job cuts, so there's certainly a precedent.

What's most outrageous is that Whirlpool got $19,000,000 in economic recovery money from U.S. taxpayers. This money was supposed to be used to help America's economy. Instead they're shipping jobs out of the country.

Whirlpool accepts taxpayers' money, so the state of Indiana has every right to tell the company that it can't cut jobs. Every damn right.

The other side has no business attacking people on welfare, as long as companies are able to slash jobs just because.

Domestic terrorism is still domestic terrorism

Some din is being generated in other venues about my observation that the car bomb on Times Square was an attempt at right-wing domestic terrorism.

Guess what? Evidently it was.

The prime suspect is an American citizen. This bungled terrorism attempt is every bit as domestic as the Oklahoma City bombing or the Amtrak derailment in Arizona. Those acts had as much foreign links as the Times Square incident seems to have, because the culprits had supported politicians who backed trade with bad overseas regimes.

The Fox News/Facebook/Free Republic crowd keeps pointing out that the Times Square suspect is a Pakistani-American. But that's like if I had done something like this and the media blamed Germany or Ireland.

I absolutely believe this was homegrown right-wing terrorism. One hundred percent sure of it.

Wind ruins burger ('Sesame Street' Wednesday)

Grover is funny when he encounters the bald, blue Anything Muppet.

The bald, blue Anything Muppet is funny when he encounters Grover.

Put 'em together, and by golly, they're funny!

Everywhere the bald guy goes, he meets Grover. Grover works at an indoor restaurant, an airline, a pizza delivery place, and now at an outdoor eatery too...



(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Ap8bIvrvY)

That segment has been around since at least 1993 and aired at least as recently as 2001. Some viewers say this is their all-time favorite sketch involving the bald guy and Grover.

Does anybody else think that a side view of Grover talking resembles Pac-Man?

A decade ago, The Last Word devoted much coverage to a customer at Wendy's who I saw eating a hamburger after dropping it on the filthy floor. I'm not talking about a little kid here. This was a grown man! If that guy was in this sketch, he'd probably gather all the parts of the wind-scattered burger and wolf them right down.

Week 38 of POOP

It's finally happening!

Because Google won't fix the ongoing issues with reposting people's copyrighted posts, there's now serious rumblings of a class action lawsuit against Google.

This isn't just about Google's refusal to fix its post removal tool. This is also about the fact that snippets of posts that were supposedly deleted long ago still appear in search results - which has been going on for at least 2 years with no fix in sight.

One user said, "I believe it could be time for a class action lawsuit to be filed in a jurisdiction which isn't impaired by the so-called (and grossly misnamed) Communications Decency Act. ... IOW, in a jurisdiction in which ISPs can be held accountable for negligence."

That could be any state that has the guts to pass its own laws specifically allowing ISP's to be held accountable. Problem is, the states have been run by such wusses that they let Newt Gingrich swing his hairy cock anywhere he wanted to.

In other words, the scuzzo Telecommunications Act of 1996 strikes again - and we all end up paying the price.

Wal-Mart must pay millions in hazardous waste case

At first, I questioned the notion that a store could really produce so much hazardous waste. But Wal-Mart itself has become a hazardous waste, so why not?

Wal-Mart has to pay a settlement of $27,600,000 because it improperly dumped hazardous waste at its stores all over the state of California. The probe found serious violations at 236 Wal-Mart stores and distribution centers statewide.

The retail giant dumped pesticides, paint, and other chemicals. A boy was even found playing in a mound of poisonous fertilizer outside a Wal-Mart garden section.

It might not just be Wal-Mart. Now other store chains are also being investigated for similar allegations.

(Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/05/03/financial/f102838D25.DTL&tsp=1)

Pensacola lowering boom on BP?

With the BP oil spill almost certain to reach the beaches of Pensacola within days, Pensacola area officials are bracing for the worst.

County commissioners have already declared a state of emergency. Pensacola Beach is already probably out of luck, but officials want to protect Pensacola Bay by using 6 miles of boom to build a barrier to block the oil.

Outrageously, however, this plan must first be approved by BP.

Why??? It's not even on BP property!

Um, you know what, BP? After you pollute the gulf with one of the worst oil spills in history, you shouldn't get to decide what a city is allowed to do to protect itself from the spill. The Gulf of Mexico doesn't become BP property just because BP's oil coats so much of it.

If I was Pensacola's county commission, I'd put up the 6-mile boom whether BP liked it or not. In an emergency, you act now and deal with BP's cries later.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that a law enacted by the elder Bush limits oil companies' liability for spills to only $75,000,000 - even though damages from the BP spill have to be in the billions by now.

(Source: http://www.wtsp.com/news/state/story.aspx?storyid=131091)

Teacher investigated for disagreeing with Tea Party

The thought police in Beaverton, Oregon, think that not only students but also teachers should be kept in suspended animation when they're at home on their own time.

A middle school teacher began a website on his own time titled Crash the Tea Party. He intended to "dismantle and demolish" the fascist Tea Party movement.

Those are noble goals. But the school district launched an investigation against him and placed him on leave - even though he did not use school resources to run the website. (Meanwhile, school officials in my area use school computers to send out racist e-mails - yet they go unpunished.)

The investigation of the Oregon teacher was launched because right-wing activists complained about his opposition to the Tea Parties. The instructor said he planned to dress as Hitler to poke fun at the rallies. But the real Nazis are those who tried to get the teacher fired.

A few days ago, however, the teacher was taken off of leave - but the probe continues. Now the Nazis who supported his firing are demanding an explanation as to why he was reinstated.

Maybe it's because it's a free country perhaps? In a democratic republic, we don't take cues from a bunch of bigoted loudmouths like the Tea Parties whose aim is to deprive people of their rights.

Facebook yanks accounts of drug war critics

With Free Republic a mere skeleton of its former self, Facebook is probably where you want to go if you actually want to see people supporting the expansion of the massive failure known as the War on Drugs.

Earlier this year, Facebook quite rightly removed a drug warrior fan site because of its inflammatory, racist content. But now the right-wing nanny staters seem to have gotten to Facebook - as Facebook has begun revoking the accounts of users who dare to argue with the drug warriors.

One of the people on my friends list lost her Facebook account this morning just for disagreeing with the tyrants.

Facebook tolerates a group that supports President Obama's death, but they kick people off if they disagree with the War on Drugs?

I doubt a Facebook boycott has much realistic chance of happening, but if this keeps up, it's going to have to.

In the meantime, I plan to counter each extreme-right drug war fan site on Facebook with a dissenting site.

Times Square targeted by right-wing domestic terrorists

With all the Nazi recruiting on Facebook lately (and with Facebook yanking the accounts of anyone who opposes it), I wonder what fan site on Facebook recruited the assholes who did this?

Yesterday, police in New York City found a suspicious device in a car parked on Times Square. They had to evacuate the square to dismantle it.

Now, at a news conference this morning, the mayor said the strange car "did indeed contain an explosive device." Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the car contained 3 propane tanks, fireworks, gas cans, and clocks with batteries - literally a time bomb.

Just wait a week, and the media will forget it. Just like how they forgot that Amtrak derailment in Arizona back in the '90s, or that arson of antiwar activists' house in Virginia during the Iraq War.

Right-wingers say oil spill staged by liberals

No, I'm not making this up: The Republican Right really says this.

Just when you think they can't get any crazier, they always manage to do so.

The latest right-wing claim is that the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was actually carried out by liberals in an effort to discourage the expansion of offshore oil drilling.

Rush Limbaugh is even spreading this theory. The has-been talker blamed the spill on "environmentalist wackos" who wanted to "head off more oil drilling."

So the right-wingers actually think environmentalists snuck aboard an occupied oil rig and blew it up??? That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

The extreme right is so overrun by stupidity lately that it's a downright miracle their electoral prospects aren't worse than they are.

(Source: http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201004290038)