Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Poodle Crap From the Blair Witch

Cowardly closet Catholic Tony Blair was apparently taking communion in secret,
Blair said he kept his belief long under wraps for fear of being dismissed as "a nutter."
Not a nutter, just a weak sister. We're so glad his "faith" kept him from joining the United Snakes in its campaign to murder as many Iraqis as...oh, never mind. How does it continue to slip our minds that a profession of religious faith from a world "leader" is despicable self-serving hypocrisy, every time? And especially when it comes from those who claim their "faith" is a "religion of peace," as they all do, while calling for holy war, whether jihad or Crusade. Religion is an instrument of social control, nothing more, nothing less. And it sure worked on Tony. Looks as if the Pope, in his non-stop war on the Ay-rabs & Moooslims, found himself a nice little poodle/sheep.
Blair had begun to pick at the subject haltingly over the last year, announcing his conversion to Catholicism (after years of secretly attending Mass as prime minister) in December. But only now is he discussing it fully and openly, and acknowledging the degree to which his religious faith informed his years leading America's closest ally.
Closest ally in death & destruction, that is.
Blair's aides have long said that his policies on intervention in Iraq, Kosovo and Sierra Leone were motivated not by practicalities or even, in the case of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, fear of weapons of mass destruction so much as a profound sense that they were the "right" thing to do.
Yep, it's the same old George W. Bush "gut feeling." Would it be possible, just once, to have a "leader," somewhere, who made a fucking decision based on truth & reality, not "gut feelings" & political expediency? Is that so much to ask? Remember the Enlightenment? No? Figures.

Homicide: Life on the Street

Highlights from the world of being broke & homeless: Finding a (non-menthol) cigarette butt big enough to get a few hits from. When the men's room in our outdoor house is not locked @ night, & we can sleep behind a locked door, instead of under playground equipment. Lowlights: Everything the fuck else. Biggest Dilemma: Can we keep our rage in check for the two or three yrs. it will take to get Social Security? At which time we'll be able to buy lots of guns!!

No Comment

From the Los Angeles Times:
For the record April 30, 2008 Jeremiah Wright: Jonah Goldberg's column on Tuesday identified journalist Joe Klein as a writer for Newsweek. He works for Time magazine.

Other Controversies

The Mainstream/ Corporate Media has been slightly called on the carpet for hiring retired baby killers (Many of them, as generals, were too chickenshit even to kill babies themselves, letting their proxies do their work for them, though some of them may have offed a "gook" or two if they served in 'Nam. Or, like the cowardly war criminal McCain, they may have notched their metaphorical gun by bombing people from the safety of aircraft miles away.) and Gen. Barry McCaffrey, not only a professional baby-killer but a former "drug czar" (Any one who would take that job is an asshole & an idiot, as it is the drug laws that cause more drug "problems" than the drugs themselves.). Hiring these brain-dead, brain-washed clowns to perpetuate & reinforce the lies of the current administration (Some of these fucks, or their equivalents, may have been defending Clinton & his Balkan adventurism, but it's more likely this element were opposed to anything Clintonian.) as far as the current "long war" & any others they feel like starting. Corporate NBC Universal/GE ("We Bring Good Nukes to Life!!") stooge Brian Williams has attempted to defend himself. Key quotes:
I've worked with two men since I've had this job -- both retired, heavily-decorated U.S. Army four-star Generals -- Wayne Downing and Barry McCaffrey. As I'm sure is obvious to even a casual viewer, I quickly entered into a close friendship with both men.
And:
I made four trips to Iraq with Wayne. We were together, in close quarters, for over two months at the start of the war and survived at least one harrowing adventure.
"It's not what you know, it's who you know." Them ol' macho buddies, having harrowing adventures together. Per Williams, if these whores made a bit of a whine about the Pentagon fuck-ups that nobody could possibly deny existed, they therefore weren't Pentagon propagandists. News flash, Bri: Soldiers, sailors, airmen & Marines fucking love to complain, especially about the kind of bureaucratic bullshit that so often occurs in a hierarchy. Most of the complaining is about the ignorant incompetence of fuckheads like Downing & McCaffrey, who either forgot what's it's like on the ground, or never served, or were too political to care. And ret'd. gens. like Downing & McCaffrey love to whine about the civilians in the Pentagon who don't know how to kill babies like the generals do. But did any of these "passionate patriots," as Williams refers to them, question the larger assumptions behind the "long war?" We think not. Here's one reason why, brought to our attention by a commenter on Mr. Williams' web log. Thank you, Karen C. of Auburn Georgia! And The Nation, which was on this quite some time ago, but the story was, of course, ignored until the NYT picked up on it five yrs. later. Note: The NYT story is a long one (7,592 words!!) & asshole & NASCAR fan Williams wasn't man enough to provide a link to the NYT article. You're not a real web logger like we are, you fucking droopy-eyed ass-licker.
McCaffrey and his NBC colleague Col. Wayne Downing, who reports nightly from Kuwait, are both on the advisory board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a Washington-based lobbying group formed last October to bolster public support for a war. Its stated mission is to "engage in educational advocacy efforts to mobilize US and international support for policies aimed at ending the aggression of Saddam Hussein," and among its targets are the US and European media. The group is chaired by Bruce Jackson, former vice president of defense giant Lockheed Martin (manufacturer of the F-117 Nighthawk, the F-16 Fighting Falcon and other aircraft in use in Iraq), and includes such neocon luminaries as former Defense Policy Board chair Richard Perle. Downing has also served as an unpaid lobbyist and adviser to the Iraqi National Congress, an Administration-backed (and bankrolled) opposition group that stands to profit from regime change in Iraq. NBC News has yet to disclose those or other involvements that give McCaffrey a vested interest in Operation Iraqi Freedom. McCaffrey, who commanded an infantry division in the Gulf War, is now on the board of Mitretek, Veritas Capital and two Veritas companies, Raytheon Aerospace and Integrated Defense Technologies--all of which have multimillion-dollar government defense contracts. Despite that, IDT is floundering--its stock price has fallen by half since March 2002--a situation that one stock analyst says war could remedy. Since IDT is a specialist in tank upgrades, the company stands to benefit significantly from a massive ground war. McCaffrey has recently emerged as the most outspoken military critic of Rumsfeld's approach to the war, but his primary complaint is that "armor and artillery don't count" enough. In McCaffrey's recent MSNBC commentary, he exclaimed enthusiastically, "Thank God for the Abrams tank and... the Bradley fighting vehicle," and added for good measure that the "war isn't over until we've got a tank sitting on top of Saddam's bunker." In March alone, IDT received more than $14 million worth of contracts relating to Abrams and Bradley machinery parts and support hardware.
Is it any fucking wonder that Just Another Blog™ is consumed w/ rage on a 24-hr. basis? When you factor in our personal existence, well, let's just say that an explosion is inevitable, & imminent. Stand clear!!

Opening Volley of Vitriol

America the Exceptional: Born from genocide, nurtured by chattel slavery, & continuing to this day to solve its problems through violence & bullying. As we type this from the Westwood Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (overlooking the mini-cemetery where Marilyn Monroe & Frank Zappa molder while awaiting the rapture) we are surrounded by Mormon "missionaries," in their white shirts, dark neckties & name tags. Did you know that the Mormon "church" actually suggests how many piercings ladies should have (In their earlobes, of course!! You weren't thinking...gasp!!) & tells men whether or not to wear beards, etc.? Oddly enough, beards were cool in the 19th century, less popular as the outside ("gentile") world gave up on them. In other words, Mormons are the shallowest conformist dupes imaginable. (Hey, multi-billion dollar church, give your fucking lie-spreaders their own laptops, so they won't be using resources that are needed by people who work for a living or are w/o a living!!) And here's a lovely story about the real Mormons, not those whose desire for power & acceptability caused them to sell out many of the distinctive tenets of their oh-so-American religion (You know, pro-slavery, racist, etc. They still hate & fear women, that most common element of all religions: "Get your biscuits in the oven & your buns in the bed, we need a quiverfull!!") but those who still practice it more or less as Joseph Smith made it up from whole cloth.

State authorities raided a ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a renegade Mormon sect, on April 3. More than 450 children are in state foster facilities from the raid.

The agency later released more information on its Web site, stating that: "Medical exams and reports by the children indicate that at least 41 children have had broken bones in the past. We do not have X-rays or complete medical information on many children so it is too early to draw any conclusions based on this information, but it is cause for concern and something we’ll continue to examine." "Based on interviews with the children and journal entries found at the ranch, we are continuing to look into the possible sexual abuse of some young boys."

As we typed above, it's really the plain old non-fundamentalist (Salt Lake City-based) Church of LDS that's the renegade sect. The FLDS (don't confuse it w/ FDS) is the one true church. And here's another good one:
FLDS spokesman Rod Parker called Cockerell's testimony "a deliberate effort to mislead the public."
As opposed to:
Cockerell also told a state legislative committee that mothers who stayed with their children in state custody launched a coordinated effort to stymie investigators, coaching their children to not answer questions.
Spare the rod & spoil the child, right Rod?
Church officials have denied that any children were abused at the ranch and say the state’s actions are a form of religious persecution. They also dispute the count of teen mothers, saying at least some are likely adults.
The true "religious persecution:"

On Monday, CPS announced that almost 60 percent of the underage girls living on the Eldorado ranch either have children or are pregnant.

Of the 53 girls between the ages of 14 and 17 who are in state custody, 31 either have given birth or were expecting, Azar said.

"If they're old enough to bleed, they're old enough to breed."

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

John McCain: Lying Asshole or Two-Faced Hothead?

Big John & the number of faces he can sport at the same time. (We're just kidding, he's actually 5' 9" or something, not big at all).
A questioner zeroed in on a topic McCain rarely addresses on the campaign trail, asking him to explain his faith in God. McCain, an Episcopalian who attends a Baptist church in Phoenix, turned to a well-worn tale of the guard he met when he was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. The man once loosened the ropes binding McCain, and later shared his Christian faith with McCain by silently sketching a cross in the prison yard with his sandal.
Whatever. We just like that he's a 'Piscopalian who goes to a Babtiss church. S'matter, Sidney, no 'Piscopalian edifices in the greater Phoenix area? Seriously, though, aren't Babtisses the leading killjoys in non-Mormon, non-Muslim Abrahamic religions? Do they not ban drinking, dancing & card-playing? (Actual "sin" banned usually depends on the individual psychopathy of whichever twisted child-molesting fuck is running the sect or denomination at the time.) Therefore, wouldn't Sidney & Cindy cut down the accusations of hypocrisy if they were to sell the beer distributorship & everything else (including the "ranch," the oceanfront property in San Diego, etc.) & oh, maybe gave the money to the charity for seniors whence Cindy stole the painkillers (dignified term for "downers")? Then McCain would have to pay his own way or suck up to a non-family corporation for plane rides, & when he called Sen. Obama an "elitist" he wouldn't be greeted w/ the howls of derisive laughter he got here at Just Another Blog™. Somehow the Main Stream (it's yellow, that stream) Media weren't quite as amused. How was that? Are they missing something? (Like a brain?)

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Monday, April 28, 2008

Straight Talk From a Hypocrite

Today Just Another Blog™ is stealing the good stuff from our friends at HuffPo. Looks like Johnny Boy's been caught in a contradiction again. (That's polite folk talk for "lies through his teeth like two motherfuckers every day of his life.") Seriously, earlier we heard Sidney claiming Sen. Obama was not a man of the people, but an elitist. This while Sen. McSame flies on his wife's company's corporate jet, which he had promised he wouldn't. He's also condemned the practice of taking rides on corp. jets by other Sens. How many faces can he fit on that swollen noggin of his? Our first HuffTheft, from Sam Stein:
In fact, when asked specifically if he thought the U.S. military should set up shop in Iraq along the lines of what has been established in post-WWII Germany or Japan -- something McCain has repeatedly advocated during the campaign -- the senator offered nothing short of a categorical "no."
No, really? Sen. McSame.

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Friday, April 25, 2008

Breaking Pop Culture News: Amy (Allegedly) Head-Butts Dude Who Was Hailing Her a Taxi

As we go to press, we see this just over the wire. Yes, our little Amy is (allegedly) at it again.
A man was quoted in tabloid newspapers as saying he was hit by Winehouse when he got in her way while she was playing pool at a bar in the Camden neighborhood and then head-butted another who was trying to hail her a cab in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
As the Brits say, "a woman is helping police w/ their inquiries." Or w/ lessons in crowd control.

Gawd Damn America! Gawd Damn America to Hell!!

Just want to remind America that Just Another Blog (From L. A.)™ is 95% behind Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. (the exception being the "gov't. caused AIDS to get black folk" part) in his condemnation of this hypocritical shithole of a pus-dripping nation.

We believe this to be necessary, as the rabid right wing has latched onto Sen. Obama's former "pastor" (That makes members of his "flock" fucking sheep, if you can't figure that out.) & a few other perfectly sensible comments by the Senator like a rabid dog w/ a human femur dug from a shallow grave clamped between his jaws, wandering a hellishly radioactive post-apocalyptic nightmare. (There's a simile for you!) Compare this to J. Sidney McCain & his endorser John "Fatboy" Hagee, whom McCain was all over for his endorsement, appeared w/ in photos, etc. Not much outrage there., even though Pastor Hagee seems to be opposed to the Catholics & the homos, & convinced that the Jews are to slaughtered by gawd once the apocalypse starts. Dig HuffPo for more crap than you need or want on the subject. Yesterday in NoLa, McCain didn't really respond to a question about Hagee's firm belief that gawd sent the flood to N'Awlins a few days in advance of the gay parade scheduled there as "punishment."

See here & here.

In further American racial bullshit, the 50-round NY killer cops got off.

Popular Culture Update

Fans of Todd Rundgren (we're one, though after The Nazz & his first three or four solo discs he was pretty much played out in our ears, like 90% of all artists) may be interested to know about two of his offspring.

Todd Rundgren produces two ballplayers

The rock star's two sons choose baseball over music, with one playing for the Las Vegas 51s and his brother a 2004 draftee of the Kansas City Royals.
By Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer April 25, 2008
The saying that rock stars want to be professional athletes and pro athletes want to be rock stars takes on particular resonance in a famous household. In this case, the middle-aged dad is the rocker and the sons are the athletes. Meet the Rundgrens. Rex Rundgren, the son of music visionary Todd Rundgren, plays shortstop for the Las Vegas 51s, and his younger brother Randy was a 2004 draftee of the Kansas City Royals. "I never really got into music," Rex Rundgren told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I didn't really like it when I was younger, but now I have more respect for music. I like it a lot and wish I could play." Dad does have another link to baseball utopia. The 51s often play Rundgren's song, "Bang the Drum All Day." That song has burrowed its way into sports arena and ballpark musicology. And it doesn't deface the music like "Macarena."
We'll also note that we don't especially like that stupid "Bang the Drum" song, fan-wise. (As a sports fan or a music fan.) Also, didn't Todd go out w/ Bebe Buell for a while? Isn't she the mother of Liv Tyler, w/ that fish-lipped fuck from Aerosmith? Are the Runt boys her spawn as well? (We're treading dangerously into "could not possibly care any less" territory here.) And what's the deal w/ the alliterative naming? Rex & Randy Rundgren? Please.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Top Ten Bottom-Feeders

Snark Hunter Susan of Texas (Get better soon, or else!!) brought to our attention a Roy (alicublog) Edroso thang from the Village Voice about the hideous RW buggersbloggers. Definitely worth two peeps, it's the ten most putrid of the high-readership ilk.

Aujourd'hui en l'Histoire

In 1792, Capitaine Claude Joseph Rouget de Lille composed "La Marseillaise." Now we know after whom the street where we spent our first few wks. in Paris was named, a mere 39 yrs. later. Also today, in 1898, Spain declared war on the U. S. of A., after W. R. Hearst blew up the U. S. S. Maine in Havana harbor as part of a New York City newspaper circulation war.

That About Which We Could Not Possibly Care Any Fucking Less

1. Poker (& all other card games). 2. Coachella (The town, the festival, who's playing at the festival, etc.).

Papas Means Potaoes in Spanish & The Patt in the Hatt

We'll do anything to avoid (we are unable to develop) new ideas, now we're reduced to commenting on letters to the L. A. Times. A Mark Papas from Los Angeles types:
Hillary Rodham Clinton's voters are the high school educated, union workers, elderly and women, and she benefits from the Democrats' party machine. Barack Obama's voters are the young or the new to the party, college educated, more affluent and minorities, and he benefits from grass-roots appeal. One raises money through wealthy individual donors, the other through large numbers of small donors.
Interesting, that the less educated, older people, women & union members are not considered "grass roots," but the more educated & affluent are. Not the point though. Assuming what is said is true, & we've heard it a lot, so it must be true (that's a joke, Goebbels fans) why is Sen. Clinton the financial favorite of "wealthy individual donors" (we have been advised that she's a darling of Wall St. corporations as well) when her electoral support is from those not as well off, while Sen. Obama's money comes from large numbers of small donors, yet his votes come from the up-scale? It would seem to us that those affluent college grads would be part of the wealthy individuals & corporate interests, while those huddled masses yearning to breathe free would be making the smaller individual gifts. Just an interesting dichotomy, really, but it makes one wonder. (Garrgh, this last paragraph makes us sound like Megan McArdle.) Also in today's Times, Patt ("The Hatt") Morrison asks the question:
Does City Hall have a drive-up suggestion window? Or the e-mail equivalent? Short of leaving a note for the mayor under the doormat at Getty House, how else can Angelenos get their leaders' attention?
It's as easy as ABC, Patt. If you want the ears of our so-called leaders, be a land developer (Didn't gawd "develop" all that land?) or a billboard co. W/ plenty of money. For campaign "donations."

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Hell in a Handbasket

It would appear as if every place in the United Snakes of America (Well, every city, who gives a shit about the places?) is pretty much going to hell. We are informed that many of the local bars in Baghdad by the Bay (not as amusing a nickname these days, sorry Herb Caen) are being closed by greedy landlords (redundant, we know). Just Another Blog™ has never been much of a barfly (There're filled w/ people, f'r gawd's sake, & the music is usually too loud & too sucky, & the booze is over-priced, so why not hang at home or the home of a friend?) but as a native San Franciscan, one's memories of that little boutique city by the bay really shouldn't be messed w/. For example, our male parental unit used to hang at this place:
Not so at the nearby House of Shields, says ex-patron Sam Singer. "Everybody used to come there," said the local public relations man, "judges and lawyers, guys just indicted or about to be convicted. We'd say, 'Meet you at the House.' "Then the bar changed hands five years ago. The bartenders left, as did regulars like Singer, who missed seeing the familiar old faces behind the bar. The defections snowballed. "I still pass there and look in the windows longingly," he said. "But yesterday's gone."
Used to p. mater o. when Pops would hang there after work, before taking the SP home down the Peninsula. And that was almost 50 yrs. past. (NB: Pater was a civil engineer, neither a criminal nor a lawyer. Wanted to make that clear.) Nicest thing about the SF bars of our youth were the neon martini glasses that many of them had on their signage. Sadly, technical difficulties prevent our supplying a photo thereof.

Werner Groebli Dead at 92

Now we know who Frick & Frack were. Huh. And who'd a thunk one of 'em was still alive? A comedy skating duo. Last reference we heard to them was by Howard Cosell. Or perhaps professional pants-wetter & former funny man Dennis Miller.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Notes From The Wild Blue Yonder

The F-117 has given up its stealthy ghost. The $45 million a shot aircraft has been replaced by the we forget how much per unit F-22 Raptor. And, the USAF is being called on the carpet by DefSec Gates. Apparently the cowards in the AF (You know, they like to drop bombs on civilians from as far away as possible, preferably in nations w/o any serious air defense capabilities.) are all scared because they're being downsized. Oddly enough, they've resisted increasing their Predator fleet, which brings the concept of video game war to a new high. The baby-killers who fly the predators from somewhere in Nevada, touching their joysticks all day long, are in no physical danger whatsoever, & get to go home & play w/ their offspring at the end of the murder shift, even as parents of those killed on the other side of the world weep over their children's bodies.

Exciting New Feature (Or Boring. Really, It's All the Same.)

Announcing an occasional feature, as we continue to accentuate the negative (i. e., deal in reality) to combat the forces of foolish hope & boring optimism. We call it: That About Which We Could Not Possibly Care Any Fucking Less & the first entry is: The National Football League Draft. Like, so what, man?

Monday, April 21, 2008

How Many Exactly? Another Great American Speaks

Some schmuck in Colorado w/ two first names is decrying the number of illiterate peasants in that state.
"I would like to have the opportunity to state at the microphone why I don't think we need 5,000 more illiterate peasants in Colorado," Bruce said. His outburst drew an audible gasp from the House.
Really, illiterate peasants are a world-wide problem, but there does seem to be a disproportionate amount of them in Colorado. Remember that Tancredo guy? Were we Rep. Bruce, we might shut up though. Who the fuck does he think is electing him? In the interests of fairness and balance, we'll agree w/ ol' Doug that resolutions are bullshit.
Republicans later removed him from the powerful State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee because he refused to co-sponsor a resolution honoring military veterans. Bruce said he believed resolutions were a waste of time because they have no legal effect.
The story doesn't indicate which benighted district Bruce represents. We know many Coloradans, especially in the Colorado Springs area, are plenty religious, but Brucie seems to have a problem w/ his religion being displayed in public. (We were just guessing, but he does indeed come from Colorado Springs. Be sure to click on "Extremist Letter" on the left side of his site, under House District 15.)
He became the first Colorado lawmaker censured by the House after he kicked a newspaper photographer for taking his picture during a prayer.
First in war, first in peace, first in kicking photogs & getting censured. An all around swell guy & wonderful human being. We predict he's going to be in the political big time very soon. Seems like an ideal Republican candidate.

Madman McCain, Flip-Flopping Fool

We've heard that J. Sidney McCain has never had any sort of psychological treatment for whatever happened to him during his extended stay at the "Hanoi Hilton," which included physical abuse, mos. or yrs. in solitary, his breaking down & confessing/admitting to the war crime of bombing civilians ("Oh, it can't be a crime, America does it & we're the good guys.") and what not. You'd not want any counseling or whatever the hell for anything like that. Just tough it out like the manly macho man you are. Some might say that J. McC.'s alleged temper stems from his experience as a POW/war criminal, though there are indications that he's been a petulant SOB since birth. Many more incidents recounted at the WaPo story.

That temper has followed him throughout his life, McCain acknowledges. He recalls in his writings how, as a toddler, he sometimes held his breath and fainted during moments of fury. As the son of a naval officer who was on his way to becoming a four-star admiral, McCain found himself frequently uprooted and enrolled in new schools, where, as an underappreciated outsider, he developed "a little bit of a chip on my shoulder," as he recalled this month.

During a campaign stop at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, the most famous graduate of the Class of 1954 opened a window on what swirled inside him during his school years. "I was always the new kid and was accustomed to proving myself quickly at each new school as someone not to be challenged lightly," he told students.

"As a young man, I would respond aggressively and sometimes irresponsibly to anyone who I perceived to have questioned my sense of honor and self-respect. Those responses often got me in a fair amount of trouble earlier in life."

Held his breath & fainted? Could one be any gayer? (Not that there's anything wrong w/ that, but being stuck in the closet is not healthy.) Just Another Blog™ hates stupid fucking assholes who babble about their "honor." And let's really parse this one: "Anyone who I perceived to have questioned my sense of honor and self-respect." How could any one question McCain's "self-respect?" We'll repeat that: "self-respect." How does one's own self-respect have anything to do w/ anyone questioning it? "Self." That's the operative word here. One's "self-respect" should be coming from w/in, not from what some other stupid teen-ager thinks of you. Did someone come up to him in the hall at Episcopal High School & say, "Sidney, I question your self-respect?" causing him to "respond aggressively and sometimes irresponsibly?" Meaning he'd smash the fucker in the face, right? And of course, how much self-respect can a fucking gigolo have anyway? A fucking gigolo who accuses his sole means of support of troweling the make-up on like a trollop? Not even to mention what a fucking flip-flopper he is. Torture? No, er, yes. Tax cuts for moneybags? Yes, then no. (Or vice versa. Who can remember?) Agent of intolerance, or someone to suck up to for an endorsement? And on & on.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Remembering Rummy

From Eurocorrespondent The Lovely Sophia, we are reminded of Donald Rumsfeld, who, sadly, is not doing time somewhere, but wandering the nation or world collecting money for speeches. The Donald Rumsfeld Soundbites of The Decade.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

P. S.:

Just read all of SoT's web log oeuvre, she good! We may be rendered superfluous here at Just Another Blog™.

More New Bogroll Action

Susan of Texas (from whom we stole the Xian wife-spanking item that's been responsible for about a third of the hits here at Just Another Blog™) has also dipped her toe in the stream of bloggery, in a "g" stylee. The Hunting of the Snark should sum it all up.

Millionaire McCain: Not An Elitist Or Anything

Below: Where's his American flag lapel pin? Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Big John McCain released some tax shit yesterday, but nothing from Mrs. Big John McCain's financial whatnot. Hot poop from MSNBC (too much info, even).
In her role as Chairman of Hensley & Company, a privately-held business founded by her parents, Mrs. McCain's main areas of responsibility focus on strategic planning and corporate vision. Having served the greater Phoenix area since 1955, Hensley & Company is widely respected as an exemplary corporate citizen, and makes significant charitable contributions of its own.
Nation's third largest beer distributor: "privately-held business."

Corporate Bullshit: "strategic planning and corporate vision." What the fuck does a "cunt" who trowels on the make-up like a "trollop" know from "strategic planning and corporate vision?"

Not mentioned by MSNBC, but by the L. A. Times:
The McCains own four homes across the nation and employ a staff of at least four that in 2007 cost about $273,000, half of which was listed on the senator's tax return. McCain and his wife's properties, all held mortgage-free, include their creek-side ranch outside Sedona, Ariz. In 2006, they purchased a $4.7-million condo in Phoenix; and in 2004, she bought a $2.6-million beachfront property near the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego County, according to property records.
Key term? "Mortgage-free." No siree, Bob, no elitism there, just a man & woman of the people. Why, we'll bet that if you had the proverbial beer w/ the two, they'd only charge you cost.

Housekeeping (Oh, That's Funny Coming From a Homeless Person)

Due to bullshit beyond our control, our Internet access has been cut down, so all three of you viewers/readers had best learn some patience, & really enjoy what little activity you'll be getting.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Threat or Warning?

Just a note: The editorial staff here is sick & tired of being powerless, & of having others exercise power over us. Consider yourselves warned, if not actually threatened.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Annals of Homelessness

The so-called Black Widows were convicted yesterday, w/ more counts against one of them still being weighed by the jury. We find it just wonderful that the LAPD, the City & the County of Los Angeles, & the "people" of the State of California are so concerned w/ the plight of the homeless. As soon as the homeless people are dead & there's potential insurance fraud involved, that is. When homeless people are alive & really suffering, well, it's a slightly different story. And the victim's families seem quite concerned as well.
In prepared statements, relatives of the victims praised Wednesday's outcome. "Their plots were pure evil," Stella Vados, the murdered man's daughter, said of Golay and Rutterschmidt. "We have no pity for these women."
Question, Stella. Where the fuck were you when your father was homeless? (We'll grant that we have no ides of the family "dynamic" here, or of the substance abuse or other mental problems the late Mr. Vados may have suffered from, but he was able to take board & room from the murder mamas for over two yrs. Couldn't you have provided the same for your own father, Stella?) Glad you were able to "prepare" a statement, though.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Japanese Pussy Noise

Go on, click it. You know you want to. Even if you know it's really a feline, not a ... And it's a shame it's such a cheap theremin. Are the felines in question Scottish Folds, or do the Japo-Japanese have a version of their own?

New to the Bogroll

Fabulous Sadly, No & other such sites commenter "g" has dipped her tootsie into the blogstream, perhaps because she's empty-nesting it (actual time on the hands) check her out at Doves Today. And she's local, so she goes in the Locals Only Bogroll! Her "blog description" is: "Things to Celebrate," so it may be quite a palate cleanser after a visit to Bile Central here. And we're throwing The Kenosha Kid onto the non-local roll. Not actually sure how we missed him before. P. S.: He's not really from Kenosha. It's a Pynchon reference. He's another smart-ass like what you're reading now. And all over McSame. Go, Kid, go!!

Election Notes From All Over

A fascist billionaire media mogul (not Murdoch, Italy's Berlusconi) wins. So does the Maoist party in Nepal, though expectations had been that they'd come in third.
Below: The East Is Red
Make up your minds, people!!

Wishin' & Hopin'

Sadly, we may have to wait a few yrs. for the complete destruction of everything. But anticipation is high here at the editorial offices of Just Another Blog™ (a/k/a the Santa Monica Public Library). After all, suckers, we've nothing to lose, & plenty of enjoyment to gain from seeing your death & suffering.

Damnable Popery w/ the Former Chief Inquisitor of The Holy Church

That general ickiness & desire to tighten your puckery parts (on the part of men & altar boys, at least) may be due to Pope Hitler-Jugend (a/k/a: Ratzinger, a/k/a: Pope Benedict XVI) being in the country. Here are a couple of photos of his patriarchal holiness, one when he still dressed like a man:
or at least a Hitler Youth,
and an imaginative composition from monkeydotnet:
Well known suck-up George W. Bush ran out to Andrews AFB to kiss the former Nazi's ring. (Dig the red pimp loafers. Those Italians can make some shoes, can't they?) His popiness blathered platitudes on the flight over about pedophile priests, yrs. late & $millions short. Here's a clue, Benny: Stop enforcing celibacy on yr. "sacred ministry," then religiously indoctrinated gay guys won't think that the church's "It's OK to be gay, but don't do anything gay" policy is gawd's way of calling them to the priesthood. Of course then the number of priests, already declining, would really hit bottom. (Pun actually not intended, but it's a good one, huh? Seriously, we were going to go w/ "dry up," but suddenly "hit bottom" came from the keyboard. Just Another Blog™ cannot take responsibility for its subconscious.) It's not easy being pope.

Monday, April 14, 2008

McCrony & The Old Boys Network

From the Times of L. A., our favorite parts from the first of two parts on "The Post-POW Yrs." of Senator John Sidney McSame. (If Sens. Clinton & Obama are too busy sniping at each other to take on McCain, we guess it falls on our already-burdened shoulders. Figures. By the way, is Johnny the first presidential nominee w/ a "Mc" name? The possibilities for juvenile joking are endless.) All colorful bold-face emphases ours, & ours alone.
With a ferocious determination to fly again and a tough physical therapy regimen, he got his wings back and not long after was awarded command of the Navy's largest aviation squadron, VA-174, at Cecil Field in Florida. Blue-chip connections in the Nixon administration helped. [...] He first angled for a position at the prestigious National War College, but the Navy balked because he was only a lieutenant commander. So McCain gained entry by appealing directly to John Warner, then secretary of the Navy and a close friend of McCain's father, an admiral commanding Pacific forces during the Vietnam War. "John wasn't the only one who got some consideration," said Warner, now a Republican senator from Virginia. It was Pentagon policy to assist returning POWs in reestablishing their careers. [...] When Ross Fischer, an instructor pilot, helped talk down an injured student pilot to a safe landing, McCain said: "I owe you one." Years later, when Fischer was leaving the Navy and searching for a pilot job, he received a call from McCain, then the Navy's liaison officer in the Senate. "Continental Airlines will call you in a few hours with a job offer," McCain told him. He had arranged the job through Continental's lobbyist, Fischer surmised. [...] Flight hours, a key measure of operations, declined by 27% from 1975 to 1977. And the squadron trained fewer pilots, dropping from 117 to 98 over the same period, according to annual histories of VA-174. McCain's tenure as commander ran from July 1, 1976, to July 28, 1977. A statement issued by McCain's office said any decrease in performance during his command "is explained by factors unrelated to the senator's performance as the commanding officer of that squadron."
Excuse us, but isn't the CO ultimately responsible for everything? Are we going to get this kind of cop-out if McBush is cheated into office?
The squadron history for 1976, also kept at the naval center, mentions a number of programs, milestones and official communications but does not note McCain's spare parts program. A Meritorious Service Medal later awarded to McCain does cite the unit's morale, training and his spare parts effort. It was signed by longtime McCain family friend Adm. Isaac C. Kidd Jr., who had worked under McCain's father in politically sensitive matters.
Nice to have friends in high places, isn't it? Personally, we at Just Another Blog™ hate suck-ups like this, probably because our mental problems prevent us from being a suck-up. (What kind of fucking awful society considers not being a suck-up brown-noser a mental problem, we ask.) Last & least:
"It speaks for itself," McCain said in a recent interview. "You implement the principles of leadership."
What in the name of whatever does "implement the principles of leadership" mean? You, uh, lead? That's mighty far from any "straight talk" we've ever heard. Sounds like MBA-speak, & we don't need any more of that double talk anywhere on our benighted planet, & especially not in the Whitey House.

Common Sense

We don't get it. If has-beens & never-weres such as "Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie," say "poopy-oopy-doody" or Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake whip out one of her nipples (the aureole covered w/ a metal thingie, we forget the technical term) for two seconds, why are the networks & telebision stations the ones who have to pay the fine? Shouldn't the actual potty-mouths & exhibitionists be the ones ponying up? Whatever happened to "personal responsibility?" Add to this that most of the complaints about such activity come from twisted blue-noses who spend their time looking for cases of "poopy-oody-doodie," & then e-mail their fellow prudes, often providing form letters to the FCC so little Mrs. Homeschooling doesn't have to do anything more than fill in her name to complain
"There are literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of unadjudicated indecency complaints sitting at the FCC," said Dan Issett, director of corporate and government affairs for the Parents Television Council, whose members filed many of those complaints after receiving alerts from the watchdog group encouraging them to object to offensive programs.
& one really must wonder where democracy went in this country. (No, we've never truly had any, but it's a good whine.) X million viewers watch a program or listen to Howard Stern or whatever, & the only people who complain to the FCC are a tiny minority of constipated party-poopers who can't even write their own complaints, but the form e-mails of these losers are treated as if they meant something. A clue for the FCC: If a program is highly rated, popular, much watched, etc., & the complaints are from less than, let's say, one percent of the viewing/listening audience, the program, by definition, in no way shape or form violates any mythical concept of "community standards." Added sense (no charge): Rather than send every tax-filer in the U. S. of A. a check for "economic stimulus" (basically a trick to make people think "Oh, look, George Bush sent me money, I'm voting for McSame then") why not hire more people to clear up this backlog at the FCC, as well as the backlog in Social Security disability appeals, & maybe some more inspectors for the FDA, & USDA so we can eat safely? Not to mention investment in our collapsing infrastructure. Real jobs are much greater economic stimulus than hand-outs that will end up in the hands of the credit card cos.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Friday 13

It's on a Sun. this month.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

No One Could Really Believe This Stupid Crap, Could They?

On the way to the library from the park we live in , we found an almost untouched hardbound copy of Ike An American Hero, by Michael Korda. (Do you think Jeezis left it for us as inspiration? Fuck him if he did.) Perusing the dust jacket, we find that Eisenhower "always remained a man whose basic values were those of his youth: honesty, courage, and basic human decency." Really? Honesty & courage, of course, are mere fascist code for "follow orders & die for your betters," who are too cowardly to fight for themselves or to defend their ill-gotten power & money. We are always reminded of the so-called "honor codes" at the service academies. Only problem is, it often seems just as dishonorable to squeal or rat on your fellow cadets or midshipmen. (Nobody likes a squealer.) So not all conform to the code, & often those who do squeal are treated like crap by their fellow future baby-killers. How "honorable." As to Ike's "basic human decency," it is at least rumoured that one of his reactions to Brown vs. Board of Education was along the lines of: "People won't want big black boys sitting next to little white girls in class." Again we ask you: Does anybody (who actually thinks) anywhere think that words like "honor," "courage" & "decency" still have any meaning? Did they ever mean anything?

Two Things From the ONION That Made Us Laugh Maniacally

This one expressed the whole truth & nothing but. And, in the case of barely controlled maniacs like our editorial staff, can lead to this sort of thing:
If I could kill myself first, to prove to you my good intentions, I would. Then I could go on this murder spree, just like I've been planning to for six and a half months, knowing full well that all your doubts and concerns were adequately answered. Unfortunately, that's not the way these things work. But I swear on the lives of the children I killed earlier this week that I will follow through on this promise. It may not sound like much, but given the situation, it's the least I can do. Think about how much better my death will make all of your family members feel—that is, presuming those family members are not there at the time, in which case I will of course have to kill them, too. At least they'll have the knowledge that some emotionless killer isn't still out there on the loose, waiting in the darkness to strike again. It may not be the closure that someone who just went through an unthinkable tragedy would want, but it should be comforting nonetheless. I sincerely hope it gives you some kind of reassurance to know you'll have died in a mass murder/suicide, and not just a mass murder. Even if it helps only a little, I'll have done my job.
We still don't understand why the ONION is thought of as a "satire" operation.

Whoops!!

We are forced to print a correction. It's never our fault, of course. (That's because we don't do anything original that has any connection to the world of actuality. Everything here not linked to something is our own half-baked opinion, unsupported by anything except mental illness or brain fever.) The error we made was linking to a Rosa Brooks column in Sam Zell's excuse for environmental depredation yesterday. There was a mistake in it, whether due to the Times, Ms. Brooks, the Center for Responsive Politics or, most likely, Rosa's assistant/aide/flunky, who doubtless gets none of the credit, little of the money, but all of the blame in cases like this. And we quote:
For the record April 12, 2008 Presidential race: Rosa Brooks' Thursday column cited Center for Responsive Politics statistics on military donations to the candidates for the first two months of 2008. The figures were for contributions from January 2007 through February 2008.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Obits

Like many people of advancing age, we check the obituaries first thing every morning, not for the usual reason of seeing whom to cross off the Xmas card (usually a depiction of an enraged naked man urinating on an Xmas tree, with the greeting "Life is short/Times are hard/Here's your fucking Christmas card!") list, but in hope that every one of you fucking stupid awful primates, w/ your ape games of dominance & submission & other bullshit social interaction, have finally died, leaving this poor planet in peace. In other words, fuck off & die, monkey scum!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Annals of Veterans Affairs

Of course you've heard right wing assholes screeching about Vietnam vets (baby-killing scum, that is) being spat upon when they returned to what they fondly referred to as "The World." Not a shred of fact to it, of course. But guess who's metaphorically spitting on the latest crop of vets. (Odd that we keep having vets, who keep getting screwed, isn't it? Almost as if the United States were a militaristic nation, that bullies the rest of the world. Well, small defenseless nations like Panama & Grenada, or paper tigers like Iraq, anyway. How 'bout gettin' the Chicoms outta Tibet? That seems at least as important as Ku-wait-a-minute, no oil in Tibet. Never mind.) Presumed Republican presidential nominee John Sidney McSame is among those shitting all over the veterans. We guess that the "Post 9/11 Veterans Act" is one of those "earmarks" to which Sen. Sidney McSame claims to be so opposed. Or some kind of gov't. giveaway that strikes at the very heart of "freedom" & "liberty." According to Gen. Wesley Clark & a guy who actually served (or got served) in Iraq,
McCain has said he hasn't had time to read the bill and isn't sure if he could support it. It's hard to believe that neither he nor anyone on his staff has had time to read such an important bill, which has been around since before he started running for president.
Oh, we don't find it so hard to believe. Per Wes & his co-author, Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org, all the other Vietnam vets in the Senate support the bill, as well as former SecNav John Warner.
[Jason] Bensley, who served in southern Iraq, Mosul and Diyala province, is in debt, trying to pay for college. "I wouldn't have the faintest idea why a member of Congress wouldn't want to support the GI Bill," he says. "Sen. McCain should know how hard it is for veterans to transition back into civilian life."
Well, no, Jason. By the time Sen. "Bomb-bomb" was going to "transition," he'd married a millionaire beer heiress & served as the U. S. Navy's liaison to the U. S. Senate. Makes the "transition" one hell of a lot easier, doesn't it? Not to mention being the son & grand-son of the first father-son combo to make four-star admiral in the USN. The Senator could have gone straight into full-time briberydefense contracting. Maybe Mr. Bensley should show some initiative & find a millionaire beer heiress for himself, instead of waiting for the gov't. to give him a hand-out. Lazy douchebag. The absolute tops in cynicism (take it from us, we are right up there on the cynicism scale) seems to be the Bush White House.
The White House has voiced concern on the bill, arguing that if returning troops are offered a good education, they will choose college over extending their service. This is as offensive as it is absurd. First, it is morally reprehensible to fix the system so that civilian life is unappealing to service members, in an attempt to force them to re-up. Education assistance is not a handout, it is a sacred promise that we have made for generations in return for service. Second, falling military recruitment numbers are just as serious as retention problems. To send the message that this nation will not help you make the most of your life will dissuade a large number of our best and brightest from choosing military service over other career options.
Frankly, we don't support the fucking troops. People so stupid that they volunteer to defend a nation that won't provide them w/ adequate educations or decent jobs, leaving them only the option of military service or starving pretty much deserve to be part of thinning the herd, if you know what we mean. And of course if these stupid people didn't enlist, warmongering assholes wouldn't have a military w/ which to bully the rest of the world. So fuck 'em, as we said. Also on the military front, we heard on the radio last night that in an ABC News report asking Americans in Iraq who their presidential choice was, almost all those shown (unscientific, of course) were for the sane Senators, Clinton or Obama. (Granted, that's pretty second-hand, and we can't find the story on the ABC News website. Maybe it's been censored already.) And in Rosa Brooks cage-liner column today, we see that Republican predominance in the ranks is not what it used to be.
The same trend has been true among military personnel, for decades a solidly Republican constituency. In 2004, 60% of active-duty military personnel who responded to a survey sent to Military Times subscribers identified themselves as Republicans. By 2007, that had dropped below 50%. (Military personnel tend to take screw-ups in Iraq pretty personally.)
Maybe those people aren't as stupid as we implied above. Obviously not, as they are making that college money by stealing gear from Uncle Sam.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Times Tuesday: Turkey-Twofer

A day late & quite a bit short, we wouldn't have bothered except the title seemed too good to waste (although the chance of the Times having two op-ed turkeys on any given Tues. is pretty high). Anyhoo, Tues. is, of course, Jonah Goldberg day at the cage-liner. This week? Some crap about genocide, in an apparent effort to prove his Liberal Fascism thesis, to get in a few jabs at "modernism" & the Enlightment, or just to get rid of a few hundred words that fell off his keyboard. First, he's concerned about a resolution passed by the lower house of the Russian parliament. (We guess he doesn't think any of his audience would know the word Duma.)
The United Nations defines the crime as the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." Intentionally left out of this definition are "modern" political labels for people: the poor, religious people, the middle class, etc.
Other than the obvious problem w/ the above (The difference between "religious groups" & "religious people" would be?) it seems the word
"genocide" was coined by a Polish Jew, Raphael Lemkin, who was responding to Winston Churchill's 1941 lament that "we are in the presence of a crime without a name"
has more to do w/, well, genocide, rather than plainly simple mass murder. We've had a phrase for that for a while. The whole point of genocide is that a specific group that cannot change its identification is being targeted merely because it is that group, which has often been stigmatized or scapegoated in order to establish boogey-men w/ whom to scare a populace or nation.
Under the more narrow definition that was approved, it's genocide to try to wipe out Roma (formerly known as Gypsies), but it's not necessarily genocide to liquidate, say, people without permanent addresses. You can't slaughter "Catholics," but you can wipe out "religious people" and dodge the genocide charge.
Personally, we're opposed to wiping out "people w/o permanent addresses," but all in favor of letting Catholics or plain "religious people" have it. They're all stupid & shouldn't be allowed to waste oxygen. Then he goes on to this:
[A] moral hierarchy of evil, which in effect renders mass murder a second-tier crime if it is done in the name of social progress, modernization or other Enlightenment ideals. This can lead to a dangerous way of thinking in which people who are perceived to be standing in the way of progress -- middle-class farmers opposed to collectivization, aristocrats, reactionaries -- can be more forgivably slaughtered than ethnic groups because they're allegedly part of the problem, not the solution. After all, you've got to break some eggs to make an omelet.
Speaking of dangerous ways of thinking, this moronic bastard can't think past the "Enlightenment" as anything besides an excuse for mass murder. And we should certainly point out that there are few people claiming that
In general, the Soviets and the Red Chinese elude the genocide charge -- and hence the status of ultimate villains -- despite having murdered scores of millions of people in the 20th century, in large part because their victims stood in the way of progress.
Just who in any legitimate discourse has been claiming this, Mr. Goldberg? We guess that "shock & awe" wasn't mass murder because it was directed against people who happened to live near Saddam Hussein, rather than the Iraqi people. Last & least:
Of course, the climate of anti-Semitism made the Holocaust possible, but so did Enlightenment bias, which holds that almost anything can be justified in the name of progress.
This really must be the stupidest thing he's ever written on which Just Another Blog™ has had the misfortune to waste three mins. of reading time. He gets his knickers in a knot over a resolution passed by the Duma (which, like Russia itself, is hardly the pinnacle of Enlightenment values) & then gets a blanket condemnation of the Enlightenment out of it. Perhaps a return to such pre-Enlightenment values as the Inquisition would please Mr. Goldberg. He's really the definition of a self-hating Jooo, isn't he? Qualifiers noted in Jonah's work: "somewhat," "implicitly," "in effect." As if that wasn't enough of an insult to those of us w/ two brain cells to rub together, directly underneath Goldberg's pathetic tripe in both the dead-tree & online versions of the Times was a wonderment from Max Boot, the well known chickenhawk/warmonger. (Is that redundant? Does "hawk" pretty much = "warmonger?" Whatever.) Brace yourselves, here it comes. Max paints a rosy picture, but realizing that one can't fool all of the people all of the time, he does mention a few buts (even italicizes the buts).
The security forces are growing in size (from fewer than 500,000 in 2006 to more than 600,000 today) and competence (although a few deserted in Basra, most do not run away from a fight), but they still need U.S. support, especially for higher-level functions such as command and control, air cover, logistics and intelligence collection.
Note well the "higher-level functions." Guess the "security forces" are cannon-fodder to be "supported"/directed by U. S. "support." And they don't all run away now. According to Max, withdrawal
would be not only a terrible stain on our honor (we might be indirectly responsible for genocide) but a significant strategic setback because it could destabilize the entire region. Victory -- defined as a democratic state that does not oppress its own people, provide a haven for terrorists, proliferate weapons of mass destruction or threaten its neighbors -- remains eminently achievable if we listen to the best advice of Petraeus and Crocker and resist the urge to pull our troops out too fast. If we ignore their warnings and head for the exits, we are assured of the worst military defeat in U.S. history and a major victory for Shiite and Sunni extremists who will continue to attack us in the future.

Ah yes, "honor." Nothing more honorable than attacking an essentially defenseless nation that never attacked us, but had a big-mouthed asshole in charge, who used implied threats of WMDs in a vain hope of not being attacked & holding onto power. (Bush or Hussein? You decide.) And there's that genocide word again. At least we got a definition of "victory" out of Max. Most of his long-distance baby-killing buddies can't even come up w/ one. Frankly, this country deserved to be defeated in this mess, but once again we must make clear that "we" won the war handily, but, for various reasons (incompetence & ignorance being the top two) the occupation hasn't been going too well. We can certainly bet that Iraq is much less likely to threaten its neighbor Iran now (oh wait, he means Israel, we wanted Hussein to threaten Iran during the '80s & '90s). The likelihood of any colonial construction of two principal ethnicities & one religious schism not threatening its "own" people is pretty low. The terrorists are already there. Look at Palestine & how they feel about Israel. Every Iraqi killed, wounded, raped or humiliated by American forces is going to feel the same way about us. As well as the Iraqis who endangered themselves & their families by helping Americans, who are forced to stay there because we won't let them emigrate here. As far as those WMDs, stop crying "wolf," chickenhawk.

Sports Updates:

Pissing Dodger Blue The former Brooklyn Bums, now known as the Los Angeles Dodgers (50 yrs. & we still haven't forgotten) had their asses handed to them last night in Arizona by the Snakes' pitcher, Doug Davis, who was two days away from surgery to remove a cancerous thyroid gland. You can't get much fucking lamer than that, can you?
Davis had no such issues despite facing what Torre, himself a cancer survivor, called "a more important game coming up." Davis gave up two runs and six hits in six innings and also had a big day at the plate, collecting two hits and driving in a run. Torre, who underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 1999, said he felt an affinity for Davis. He recalled his fears upon hearing his own diagnosis, saying, "The only connection with cancer is death in your mind when you hear it."
Our best wishes do go out to Mr. Davis. John Wayne licked the "Big C," you can too, Doug!! Bleeding Cardinal Red Also, in case the sexist "mainstream" media wasn't all over it (17th item on the L. A. Times.com sports page) our could-have-been alma mater, Stanford, was whipped by Tennessee in the NCAA Bitchball champeenship.

Madman McSame

Smell good in there, Sidney?
Besides his sucking up to delusional types like Pastors Hagee & Parsley, John Sidney McBush may have some other troubles soon, as we learn how he treats his trophy wife, Cindy, whose beer inheritance financed Johnny-boy's political career.

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.
And some hot poop on Hagee:

Hagee holds many other radical beliefs. In a 2006 address to CUFI, Hagee declared: The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West…a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ.

Speaking to the 2007 AIPAC conference, Hagee compared supporters of a two-state solution in the Middle East
to Nazis. Hagee also echoed right-wing Israeli politician Binyamin Netanyahu, telling the audience that “Iran is Germany and Ahmadinejad is the new Hitler.”
Is it a great stretch of the imagination to connect this w/ the alleged evangelical/fundamentalist infiltration of the U. S. Air Force? When we have generals who have declared that their allegiance is to "God, family & country," in that order, it would seem that anything is possible. Slim Pickens, any one? (We forget the name of his character in Dr. Strangelove.)

P. S.: This item should have appeared yesterday, but the devil-box was cut off, & we didn't manage to get to a different secret location to publish it. But it's timeless, therefore a classic, & we were able to add the bits about Hagee to it.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Unsolicited Plug

Regular readers may have noticed that this web log is no fan of corporate entities, though filled w/ sympathy, empathy & a bit of schadenfreudal pity for all those cursed to slave for stockholders (or small business owners, the gubmint, or anyone else) who do not have the freedom (as we do) of urban camping & hanging out w/ mental patients &/or in libraries & chain bookstores.

But we'd like to give a shout-out to the staff at Starbucks #05738, located @ the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. & Pontius in West Los Angeles, just a blk. W. of Sepulveda Blvd. As Your Editor staggers in there each early a. m. that he has the scratch to shell out $1.95 for a large (or "venti") coffee, hair greasy, breath possibly funky (we ain't gwine brush our teeth in a public restroom before the coffee) dragging several bags w/ us, the staff are always cheerful & respectful, even realizing there won't be any tipping involved, remember that we want a large coffee (Sometimes it awaits us!) & gave us a free croissant yesterday when their stupid point of sale computer system rang it up as $0.00.

And, they leave the cabinet in the men's room unlocked, resulting in all the toilet paper rolls an urbane urban camper could want. Thanks, guys & gals! Keep up the good work!!

Record Remains Unbroken

34 yrs. since hammerin' Hank Aaron (namesake of M. C. "Parachute Pants" Hammer) broke the Babe's homer record of 714. Saw it ourself on a 12-inch diagonal B&W tee vee. Hank went on to set the record at 755. Exactly a yr. before, Pablo ("Ain't no asshole") Picasso had died @ 91. And a mere 95 yrs. ago, the forces of repression allowed the 17th Amendment to be ratified, providing direct popular election of the U. S. Senate, rather than appointment by state legislatures. Oh, sweet democracy!!

Monday, April 7, 2008

More Mind-Altering Substances

Just Another Blog™ European correspondent Sophia forwards a YouTube™ item. We'll assume that the chaps (or "Tommies") involved at least knew what was going on, unlike we Yanks who dosed our troops w/o their knowledge. We are amused by the sod climbing the tree to "feed the birds." And we hope none of the weapons were loaded, especially the rocket launcher. P. S.: Do the decadent Euros have nought to do but look for funny stuff on YouTube™ all the live-long day? Nice work if one can get it.

Drink Up!

Below: Used to drink this stuff before we got tired of the whole drinking thing & were put on an anti-depressant that precluded boozing anyway.
Today marks the 75th anniv. of alcohol sales returning to legality in the U. S. of A., post-Volstead Act. Some whoop-de-do prevented anything but beer from being sold until the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed. We were going to make note of this anyway (heard about it in Budweiser™ adverts during ball games on the radio) but the L. A. Times ran an op-ed piece as well, w/ more detail. Except the Times thinks 1933 to 2008 is 70 yrs. Morons.

UPDATE (7 April 2008 @ 1938): We advised the Times of their computational error, & they have corrected the subhead.

UPDATE II (9 April 2008 @ 1250): Here's the first draft, which we wrote on 5 April & then forgot (a peek at our behind-the-scenes machinery):

Elbow-Bending Time

Seventy-five yrs. ago today, the prohibition of alcoholbeer was over as the bars reopened & boozesuds began flowing legally & openly again. Fortunately, this little experiment in imposing the morality of frigid old biddies on the rest of the nation had no long lasting effect, other than giving organized crime, La Cosa Nostra, the Mafia, etc., all the power they ever needed to corrupt already corruptible gov't. agents & agencies.

Seems like a fair exchange; peoples' lives are ruined, boozing, now having the cachet of being "forbidden," is made more popular than previously, & another source of income for criminals, politicians & Joe Kennedy is created. A perfect example of the "free" market & gov't. working hand-in-hand for the good of gov't. & those w/ the funds to start a bootlegging business.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Know Your Rights (Haw Haw Haw, Suckers!!)

Those of you who don't jump from library to library in an effort to keep one step ahead of the forces of repression are probably already paying the forces of repression for the privileges of reading crap like this & downloading certain films from certain states of the former Soviet Union.
The Associated Press reviewed the "Acceptable Use Policies" and "Terms of Service" of the nation's 10 largest ISPs — in all, 117 pages of contracts that leave few rights for subscribers.
It is not pretty. You have no rights, though you may get a refund.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Spooky Visual Aid

Direct from the pages of the regional wrapper of fish:

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., just after 6 p.m. on April 4, 1968. Within hours, Life magazine photographer Steve Schapiro was on that balcony and through the door of King's room.

"The physical body of Martin Luther King Jr.," writes Schapiro in a new book of his photographs, "Schapiro's Heroes," "was forever gone, leaving a few small material remains behind: a wrinkled shirt, a book, a Soul Force magazine, an old Styrofoam coffee cup. The half-drunk coffee cup gave me a moment of pause. He had left his room planning to return."

The TV was on. When King's face appeared on a newscast, Schapiro took this photograph -- history preserved. Now the two motel rooms that housed the King party, along with parts of the rest of the Lorraine Motel, have been turned into the National Civil Rights Museum. In 2006, Schapiro went back to the scene. "The wall on which the television had been mounted was ... gone, replaced with a sheet of thick clear plastic," he said. "Visitors could peer into King's room, but no one will ever get to see that eerie image that is forever imbedded in my mind."

Sorry, we've no available, digitized picture of our bald pate.

Really, It Is All About Us, But Let's Pretend Otherwise for a Few Moments

So you won't think that we think it's all about the staff here (previous item) we'll lead you to Mighty Sorry No Body Cares dot com, where we discover that Martin Luther King's
life, like those of other historical figures -- Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt -- has been simplified, scholars say, his anger blurred, his militancy rarely discussed, his disappointments and harsh critiques of government's failures glossed over.
Also in that story: info on the Memphis sanitation workers strike, & Dr. King's last hours. There were reasons that transvestite whack-job J. Edgar Hoover thought Dr. K. (not fucking war-criminal Kissinger!!) was a commie. Why, King might even have thought that there were better methods than the economic fascism that's been practiced in this country since the original Euro-genocide was committed. (We're guessing that a few Origino-Americans may have committed some genocide against other Origino-Americans before whitey showed up, but at least capitalism wasn't involved.)
King's conclusion? "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism." He didn't say this in the mainstream but to his black colleagues.
Imagine, a pissed-off guy whose anger is swept under the rug until he's murdered. Only in America, right? (And that brings it back to us, us, us!!)

Bald as a Something

Today is the 40th anniversary of the editor here shaving his head, in reaction to being forced by fascist parental units to get a hair cut (things were different 40 yrs. ago). The next day, many of the drooling idiots where we attended school thought we had done it as some sort of reaction to Martin Luther King, Jr. having been assassinated. No connection. And no further threats of haircut imposition when we were still under the alleged control of the parents after that. (Got rid of dandruff too.) In today's modern world, of course, every gangster, police officer & member of the military sports the "displaced person who was just dusted for lice & had all his body hair shaved" look, again confirming the age-old "the more things change, etc." axiom. So our mane remains.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Junior F(1)ascists Club

Oh, wait a minute, here's something stupid & tawdry. Max Mosley, son of Oswald Mosley, has had his fun recorded.
A British tabloid, The News of the World, reported Sunday that the 67-year-old Mosley participated in sex acts with five prostitutes in a scenario that is believed to involve Nazi role-playing.
Max is the president of FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) .

A video posted Sunday on the News of the World's Web site showed a man identified as Mosley arriving at an apartment and taking part in sex acts with women, one in a prisoner's uniform, while speaking German. The video can no longer be found on the paper's Web site. Mosley is the son of British Union of Fascists party founder Oswald Mosley, a former British politician who served in Parliament for both the Labour and Conservative parties. Oswald Mosley died in 1980.

Found Object

Left on the desktop by a previous user @ the Santa Monica Public Library.

Nada, Rien du Tout

The editorial board here at Just Another Blog™ has absolutely nothing to add to anything today. You're all on your own.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Annals of Secrecy

Below: A patch for "Minotaur," a still classified program of Lockheed's Skunk Works.
How to dig up poop on the black budget ops the Bush admin seems to love so much...

Skulls. Black cats. A naked woman riding a killer whale. Grim reapers. Snakes. Swords. Occult symbols. A wizard with a staff that shoots lightning bolts. Moons. Stars. A dragon holding the Earth in its claws.

No, this is not the fantasy world of a 12-year-old boy.

It is, according to a new book, part of the hidden reality behind the Pentagon’s classified, or “black,” budget that delivers billions of dollars to stealthy armies of high-tech warriors. The book offers a glimpse of this dark world through a revealing lens — patches — the kind worn on military uniforms.

Uh, are we sure this isn't the fantasy world of a 12-yr.-old boy? Granted, one w/ many of our tax dollars w/ which to play. And in our best 12-yr.-old. boy vein, there are some interesting patches to be viewed.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Tuesday, Trash Day

Again comes Jonah w/ this subtitle to the online version of his L. A. Times column of today:
Evolution of religious bigotry The cowardice and intolerance of slapping a Darwin fish on your car bumper.
Dead tree edition:
Christian Baiting
First there's blather about the Dutch movie stating the Quran is pretty vicious & violent. At least as bad as the Old & New Testaments, yes, possibly even worse. But Doughbob doesn't even bother to condemn the dirty Moooooslims, he whines momentarily that
European and U.N. leaders are going through the usual motions of theatrical hand-wringing, heaping all of their anger on Wilders for sowing "hatred."
Then comes what's really on his tiny mind, Jeezis fish & those "Darwin" stickers:
In America, the easiest place to find this ancient symbol is on the back of cars. Recently, however, it seems as if Jesus fish have become outnumbered by Darwin fish. No doubt you've seen these too. The fish symbol is "updated" with little feet coming off the bottom, and "IXOYE" or "Jesus" is replaced with either "Darwin" or "Evolve." I find Darwin fish offensive. First, there's the smugness. The undeniable message: Those Jesus fish people are less evolved, less sophisticated than we Darwin fishers. The hypocrisy is even more glaring. Darwin fish are often stuck next to bumper stickers promoting tolerance or admonishing random motorists that "hate is not a family value." But the whole point of the Darwin fish is intolerance; similar mockery of a cherished symbol would rightly be condemned as bigoted if aimed at blacks or women or, yes, Muslims.
First of all, you stupid fuck, what "cherished symbol" of black people or women is there to "mock?" (You want to make up some bumper stickers that say "Martin Luther Coon?" And of course no woman has ever been mocked by a conservative. Is the "Iron My Shirt!" bumper sticker order ready yet?) Secondly, do you not understand (of course you do, you can't really be as fucking dense as you pretend to be) the difference between something that one is born (a breeding group or a sex) & something that one chooses to be (a Catholic, a Moooooslim, a libertarian, a flat-earther, a UFO-believer, whatever).
It's not that secular progressives support Muslim religious fanatics, but they reserve their passion and scorn for religious Christians who are neither fanatical nor inclined to use violence.
Actually, they're just sick & tired of seeing that stupid Jeezis fish on the cars of morons, so they came up w/ an answer to it. Try unbunching your panties for a few seconds, J. G., it's just a bumper sticker. And in a nation that identifies itself to pollsters as somewhere around 85% Xtian, what exactly is the point of the Jeeezis fish anyway? It's not like the stupid story you tell of the Turkish guy you met in Istanbul, who thought he had to sneak you (a goober of Jewish extraction but not much faith) the "fish sign." And let's think again about statements like "neither fanatical or inclined to use violence." Kansas Board of Education? Eric Rudolph? Some of your little "harmless" Xtian pals are just as ready to impose their religious law over everybody in this country as any Mooooslims are in other nations. And don't think that any Jooooos would get a break, either.
The Darwin fish ostensibly symbolizes the superiority of progressive-minded science over backward-looking faith. I think this is a false juxtaposition, but I would have a lot more respect for the folks who believe it if they aimed their brave contempt for religion at those who might behead them for it.
Just as gay rights advocates condemn, for example, the executions in Iran of people for homosexual activity, but don't make as big a fuss about it as they do about various issues here in the U. S., an alleged democracy where the rights promised to all can, once in a while, actually be extended to all, so there is little point in aiming our brave contempt for obscurantist superstition of the Moooooslim ilk against any one in a country where five-time-a-day foot washers number some two per cent of the population, & are much more likely to be scared of crazed Xtians & /or Jooooos (Remember when Sikhs were killed after 11 September, 2001 merely because they wear turbans, Jonah?) than we are of them. As soon as we see as many crescent moons w/ stars as we see Calvins pissing on somebody on the rear windows of moron-mobiles, we'll find something w/ which to get back at the towelheads. In the meantime, Jonah, who started it? Whose holier-than-thou activities began this entire fish war? Huh?

Annals of Insurance Scams

Well, it's all a scam really, innit? In the case in question, it appears that private insurance cos. are gumming up the Social Security disability works for their own potential profit. Having spent much of the day dealing w/ a governmental bureaucracy, we're doing no further original work on this, but handing it to the NYT & Slate (who brought it to our attention). At least some people pull their weight around here! Slate sez:
The New York Times leads with a lawsuit that claims insurance companies are costing the Social Security system millions of dollars every year by forcing people who file disability claims with them to also apply for money from the federal program even if it's clear that they'll be denied. These insurers often force claimants to appeal the denial, thus costing more money and delaying benefits for people who really need the government program.
And adds:
Insurers who pay out long-term disability insurance want claimants to try to get Social Security benefits because it would cut down on the amount of money the private company would have to pay out every month. The problem is that the government program defines disability much more stringently than private companies and usually doesn't pay out money unless the person can't do any job at all. But everyone still has the right to apply for Social Security benefits and each case must be investigated, which is why even the ones that are obvious denials cost time and money for an already-strapped system. These costs are then multiplied when insurers force claimants to appeal a denial again and again.
We thought we had mentioned this item, covering the underfunding aspect of the backlog, when it first came to our attention, but perhaps it was in private correspondence, as we couldn't find anything in Just Another Bum™ concerning it. Today's story reveals another cause, corporate greed & malfeasance. What would Megan "Free market solutions are groovy, the gov't. always screws things up!" McArdle type about this, one must wonder. A huge backlog, caused in part by fascist corporations, & partly by gov't. underfunding, directly affecting us, the editorial we here at Just Another Bum™. Whom do we murder first?