This Is Just Funny

Another pair of skunks in a pissing match.

By NORMA LOVE and HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press – Fri Apr 1, 7:20 pm ET

CONCORD, N.H. – The Republican leader of the New Hampshire House on Friday called Roman Catholic Bishop John McCormack a "pedophile pimp" who should have been led from the Statehouse in handcuffs after speaking at a rally criticizing a state budget proposal.

McCormack was among about a dozen speakers at Thursday's rally to protest deep cuts to social services included in the House's $10.2 billion budget. Rep. D.J. Bettencourt of Salem took issue Friday, writing on his Facebook page that McCormack had no business urging lawmakers to protect the vulnerable, given his role in the clergy sex abuse scandal in the last decade.

Before being named bishop of Manchester in 1998, McCormack served as a top aide to Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston, where the Catholic sex abuse scandal began and where he was in charge of investigating sexual misconduct allegations.

In 2002, McCormack averted unprecedented criminal charges against the New Hampshire diocese by agreeing that it had harmed children by moving abusive priests from parish to parish.

"Would the Bishop like to discuss his history of protecting the 'vulnerable?'" Bettencourt wrote. "This man is a pedophile pimp who should have been led away from the State House in handcuffs with a rain coat over his head in disgrace. He has absolutely no moral credibility to lecture anyone."

A spokesman for the diocese said Bettencourt's comments were false, defamatory and detracted from the real issue — the state's obligation to care for the poor.

"Bishop McCormack's message to the people of New Hampshire yesterday was the simple message of the gospels: The church and our broader society have a fundamental obligation to care for the poor," Kevin Donovan said.

Fans of the Constitution & The Founders will of course support our call for a return to dueling as way for gentlemen (Or these two shit-heels.) to settle their differences.

Will Tea Party Constitution-Lovers Allow This To Stand?

As previously noted in this blank empty space, L.A. County's D.A. was on this vicious criminal's case; now the L.A. City Attorney wants publicity too.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office is trying a new legal maneuver to try to stamp out graffiti — it’s charging 10 graffiti writers with violating unfair competition laws because they’re selling works on the strength of reputations built on vandalism.

Assistant City Attorney Anne Tremblay says these graffiti writers — all associated with the MTA tagging crew — have an unfair advantage over legitimate artists because they gained notoriety through crime.

But Peter Bibring of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California says artwork, like book or movie deals, is protected under the First Amendment’s right to free expression, even when it involves criminals.

Cristian Gheorghiu (gay-or-Ghee-u), [Directly lifted from the well-edited pages of TheDC. Ha. — Ed.] one of the defendants, says authorities are going overboard and are trying to limit his ability to make a legitimate living.

Come on, 'Baggers, screech about The Holy Constitution & government regulation hurting the little guy!!

Rock-Rock-Rock&Roll Sat.

PAISLEY DODDSAssociated Press
"The (U.K.) terror threat is currently at severe but if we know of a specific plot likely to occur it could be raised to critical," a British security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his job. He declined to discuss specific threats.

All of Britain's security agencies will be comparing intelligence in the run-up to the wedding: the MI6 with its foreign intelligence, the MI5 for domestic security and the GCHQ, the country's eavesdropping agency.

Some protesters used Twitter and other social media sites over the weekend to promise more mayhem on the day of the wedding. Anti-monarchists also said they plan to have a presence near the Abbey next month.

"You're looking at a different type of threat," Broadhurst said, calling the threat to the royal wedding, "a threat to democracy."

Your Next President?

Gail Collins, The NYT:

“By now my name is big enough and equated with the gold standard to the extent that I don’t have to say too much about it,” wrote Trump in one of his books, before going on to say a lot more about it. He is extremely sensitive to any gibes about his business record, which has been up and down over the years.

During one down period, I referred to him in print as a “financially embattled thousandaire” and he sent me a copy of the column with my picture circled and “The Face of a Dog!” written over it.

Trump was one of the first people I interviewed when I came to New York as a reporter back in the ’80s when he was a developer-wunderkind who had started in the business with nothing but a smile, a dream and his father’s large holdings in real estate.

No jury would convict us.

B Is For Breakfast Blogging

Bacon not beer today. So good we nuked a third (the last) slice.

Boring. 'Bye!

Warning: Alleged Punch Line May Induce Vomiting (Now W/ Added Vomit-Inducers)

Barbour Running for President "Horrifies" His Wife

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's wife told WLOX-TV the thought of his running for president "horrifies me" because it would be "a huge sacrifice for a family to make."

Marsha Barbour's comments come after one of the Barbours' sons, Sterling, said he's a private person and he hopes his father doesn't run. Both, however, said they would support him in his decision.

We will stipulate to Mrs. Barbour being an acknowledged expert on horror. After all, she may have seen Haley Barbour w/o any clothes.

ADDED LINK & PHOTO (2215PDT 1 April 2011): CNN.

The horror.

How 'Bout Arming The WeHo Rebels?

Shoulder-fired anti-helicopter missiles would be a good start, before these fucking neo-feudalists start believing they can get away w/ this crap.

"I think about work 24 hours a day," he said. "But when you fly a helicopter, for that hour or two you can't think about anything else."

With no place for his chopper at the Beverly Boulevard headquarters of his studio, Relativity Media, he arranged to land the craft on the roof of the 10-story Sofitel a few blocks away.

By November, neighbors were enraged by the whir of helicopter landings and takeoffs.

The noise and vibrations kept waking up the newborn baby of Ali Behzad, a designer who lives in a sleek concrete dwelling a few hundred feet from the hotel. So Behzad and his wife started researching the Sofitel's permits. When they found out that the hotel's rooftop was designated for emergency landings only, they promptly complained to state and local officials.

On one level, we could look at this as more problems exclusive to honkies.

Lauren Meister, president of the West Hollywood West Residents Assn., said she's concerned that the flights could pose environmental and safety risks.

Her association represents about 1,000 households in an area bounded by Melrose Avenue to the north, Beverly to the south, La Cienega Boulevard to the east and Doheny Drive to the west.

She said she moved to the neighborhood, like many residents, for both its proximity to city life and respite from it.

The streets are lined with pretty one-story homes, shaded by palm trees and jacarandas. Many of the streets are blocked to through traffic. "You hear the crickets at night and the birds in the morning," Meister said.

Kavanaugh got his pilot's license last year. He has a collection of luxury cars and has been convicted of reckless driving and driving under the influence, court records show. Keen said Kavanaugh has full driving privileges.

Sheriff Moneybags had to get his two cents in as well.

It's not the first time a local leader has weighed in. Sheriff's Chief Cecil Rhambo wrote to the Sofitel in September to say the department did not oppose Kavanaugh's use of the hotel's helipad.

Sheriff Lee Baca has a close relationship with Kavanaugh, who has raised more than $156,000 for the Sheriff's Youth Fund, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore. In 2008, the department gave him an award for his work on behalf of the charity.

Baca, however, has no say in the matter, as Rhambo clarified in a letter to the hotel last week stating the department's lack of jurisdiction. West Hollywood residents who were bothered by the noise last fall said they oppose the Sofitel's expanded permit, no matter who might land there.

We expect government of by & for only the wealthy by 2020 at the very latest.

WOOOOOOOOO! [Belches]

Beer for breakfast is working out very well so far.

Today's sale item, US$6.99 for an honest 12 fl. oz. sixer (at Ralphs, where no prices ...) "Limited Release" Firestone "Velvet Merlin" Oatmeal Stout.

Bottoms up!

Continuing Non-Change

Nostalgia Wrap-Up: Plus Ça Change ...

Western tip of L'Île de la Cité, where this reporter used to hang w/ the hippies & smoke hash.

Credit: Julien Goldstein for The New York Times

On the isle itself.

Credit: Emmanuel Fradin for The New York Times

None of the other shots are the slightest bit interesting.

There Will Always Be An England

Kiss Me Arse!

Ever fancied putting your foot down on Kiss Me Arse Steps or taking a ramble to Slapper's Rock but have been too embarrassed to ask the way?

Walkers searching for the best route down to Scrubby Bottoms or picking their way through The Nostrils can consult a new range of online guides to the slightly rudely named places of Britain.

Ten walking guides to some of our silliest-named beauty spots are now available to download free from the National Trust, showing the way to Booby's Bay in Cornwallhole and Windy Gap in Surrey.

According to Paul Cavill, editor of the English Place-Name Society journal, such names are very old. "Most describe the geography or land ownership, so finding out the meaning may be useful to walnkers," he said.

April Fucking Fools

To hell w/ the bother. Just pretend we gave you some "candy" that was actually soap covered in choclate, or Ex-Lax, & you are now either bent over & doubled up (doing the vom in a blind-o's cup) or are stuck on the throne (Not THROWN, dimbulb!!) evacuating.

Fucking loser, why did you take candy from a stranger?

Don't Bother Dept.

Don't bother. Sarah Palin hasn't understood "policy" at any time in her life.

Free Speech Threatened Again: Free Katherine R. Windels!!

We know who the actual thugs are: The GOP law-breakers who threatened this woman's livelihood, & who, unlike Windels, have the power to make good on their threats, at least until the recalls go through.

Note to fascist asshole D.A. of Dane County, Wisc.: Think of your family lying dead in a ditch, for example. It could happen. Or just think of your bloated salary being cut to the level you're worth, punk! (P.S.: We know where you work!)

Speaking Ill Of The Dead

From Mark Evanier, even more stuff we didn't know:

 Hank tells a few of the cleaner stories about Joe E. Ross. There are apparently not many anecdotes about Mr. Ross that do not involve (a) hookers, (b) not knowing his lines and/or (c) doing something that those around him found grossly offensive. There are many tales that combine all three.

We are now officially titillated.

"Throw" This, Stupid!

Fuck. Ing. Shit, where do they find these brain-dead teen-agers?

According to the Weather Service, a record high temperature for March 31 was set today in downtown Los Angeles with the thermometer spiking a red-hot 92 degrees. The former title holder, a year called 1966, formerly maxed out 90 degrees.

Elsewhere in the region, a high temp record was broken at Santa Maria Airport when the meter read 88. The old record of 86 degrees has been on the thrown since in 1931.

Being drunk from 12 oz. of brew on an empty stomach, we e-mailed the lame-ass typist & gave her what for.

Do you have a GED, or an LED? How about about a literate editor? Do you ever read what the hell you've just typed?

Shame on you, cretin.

At The (SE) Corner Of Beverly & Fairfax

From a whiny reactionary; no credit for losers!

More Bricks In The Bouffant Load

As of April 1st, Yahoo! no longer offers TV show listings as a feature of our TV site. If you are still interested in utilizing TV listings, please visit Zap2it

Time to start a pool on when Yahoo! entirely disappears from the web?

On a personal note, this means we have to reconfigure our home page, recover our Zap2it password, & check on other telebision listing services which may well be better than Zap2it, a Chicago Tribune operation. (As a Trib unit, it is in bankruptcy & likely to disappear momentarily, as well.)

In addition, it's a sunny 85°F out there! Will our suffering never end?

Hmmm ...

We're obviously not going to get anything done today.

Sucrose Wrap-Up

The "Wicked" version.

No He Di'nt!

Nervy little punk, isn't he?

Breitbart's Raison d'Être

Breitbart threw his Web muscle behind James O'Keefe, the young activist who posed as a pimp during an undercover sting against ACORN, and scored again this month with hidden-camera video of a National Public Radio executive trashing the Tea Party.

Breitbart defends the deception involved, saying he and O'Keefe "stick our fingers in the eye of the mainstream media," which he says perpetrates "the most ludicrous double standard known to humankind."

Really. Were it so glaringly obvious wouldn't it be easier to point out the double standardness of it all, & let the market/audience/focus group decide, one way or the other? (After which, the journalists will be strung up or have their pay & union benefits doubled, depending.)

Apparently not. He'd rather do it the hard way. Not the honest way, just the hard way. Double standards, bad. Lying, deception, bogus editing & the dildo boat, all good. Finger in the eye? Relax, loony libs. Merely a metaphor.

Wait, did we type "finger?" We did. As in Andy's magic finger.

A thousand marchers into the protest, the sour looks aimed at the hotel's clientele began to wear on us. The marchers' defiant smugness started to make an enemy of me.

"Oh, no," I thought. The antiwar movement that I saw growing only days after Sept. 11, 2001, was at it again. I thought: Even with a new president - and one who mostly shares their point of view - the I-love-a-protest-parade political left couldn't help itself. It likes ruining nice sunny days. Protesting is what these people do. Sneering at their fellow citizens is their chief skill. Projecting arrogance is their birthright.

So with the antiwar sign, the T-shirt and the thousand-strong parade right under our noses, I began to seethe. These anti-warriors were trying to destroy the peaceful seaside vibe and our pleasant Jose Cuervo buzz.

Imagine the horror as the smug marchers smugly smugged at him, not smug at all on the second story of "Shutters [...] a pricey joint."

But when one dude raised his fist like runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos did at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, I could not hold myself back. I jumped from my seat and bolted to the center of the balcony, where the American flag waved furiously in a now-harsh wind. Positioned next to Old Glory, I countered the young punk and reached out my right arm directing my middle finger in his direction.

As soon as my finger was raised, a phalanx of photographers began snapping away at the white middle-aged man wearing a white LaCoste shirt next to the old red, white and blue. Cognizant of the power of imagery, I owned the moment and refused to back down. The fist wielder immediately dropped his arm. I clearly had won and envisioned photos of the anti-antiwar protester making the front pages of the Los Angeles Times.

And if not for the phalanx of photogs, his little confessional would never have crossed his mind, let alone the pages of The Washington Times.

It's almost as if Andrew hasn't quite grown up yet, isn't it? As if he were a frat-boy in ++extended adolescence, doing a doughnut on the neighbor's lawn & knocking over their mailbox because they called the police that one night his parents were out of town & he cranked his dad's stereo to 11. He'll show 'em!

Maintaining The Maritime Picture

Straight outta Stuttgart:

STUTTGART, Germany - A September 2008 photo of the headquarters of U.S. Africa Command on Kelley Barracks. Kelley Barracks, on the outskirts of Stuttgart, was originally built for the German military in the late 1930s. (Photo by Vince Crawley, U.S. Africa Command)

US Navy P-3C, USAF A-10 and USS Barry Engage Libyan Vessels

Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn Public Affairs

USS MOUNT WHITNEY, In Port,Mar 29, 2011 — A U.S. Navy P-3C Maritime Patrol aircraft, a U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft and guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) engaged Libyan Coast Guard vessel Vittoria and two smaller crafts [sic] after confirmed reports that Vittoria and accompanying craft were firing indiscriminately at merchant vessels in the port of Misratah, Libya, during the evening March 28, 2011.

The P-3C fired at Vittoria with AGM-65F Maverick missiles after multiple explosions were observed in the vicinity of the port rendering the 12-meter patrol vessel ineffective and forcing it to be beached.

Two small crafts [sic] were fired upon by an A-10 using its 30mm GAU-8/Avenger Gatling cannon, destroying one and forcing the other to be abandoned.

Barry provided situational awareness for the aircraft by managing the airspace and maintaining the maritime picture.

The P-3C, A-10 and Barry are currently supporting operations for Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn.

Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn is the U.S. Africa Command task force established to provide operational and tactical command and control of U.S. military forces supporting the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973. UNSCR 1973 authorizes all necessary measures to protect civilians in Libya under threat of attack by Qadhafi regime forces.

File photo of Orion firing Maverick from DefenseTech.

A Warning To America

From, of all places, MarketWatch.

Tax the Super Rich now or face a revolution

Commentary: A ‘Super-Rich Delusion’ is leading us to ruin

One dissent: We don't see why only the "Super Rich" need a good taxing. Get the Plain Old Rich too.

Cleanliness Is Murder

Window Washer Electrocuted At OC Hospital

A window washer was electrocuted early Tuesday morning while working at a Huntington Beach Hospital, according to authorities. Firefighters say the victim was using a long extension rod on a brush that made contact with nearby power lines.

The accident happened around 6:30 a.m. at Beach Boulevard and Newman Street on the north side of the building. The man died at the scene. His name has not been released.

Stolen from.

To Each Their Own

Most horrifying thing we've seen on the Internet today (And we've been looking at it since noon!):

Gloatessa is absolutely worth following, but be careful in the culinary dep't.!

Senile Dementia Round-Up

Burt Prelutsky addresses a Rotary Club.

Next, a man stood up to tell me he had been offended by my comments about liberals. When I asked him what was so great about liberalism, he began by saying they were for social justice. Before, [sic] he could pick up a full head of steam, I said that justice is justice, whereas “social justice” is code for one set of rules for the rich, another for the poor; one set for whites, another set for minorities; one set for straight men, another for women and gays. In short, I pointed out, it’s the opposite of actual justice. Before he could even reach the door, the president announced the meeting was over.

Oh, one tiny correction we're sure his editor just missed:

Before, [sic] he could pick up a full head of steam, I said that justice is justice, whereas “social justiceconservatism” is code for one set of rules for the rich, another for the poor; one set for whites, another set for minorities; one set for straight men, another for women and gays. In short, I pointed out, it’s the opposite of actual justice.

We all know what a tough time rich, white, straight men who are not women or gays have been having lately. Why, the tax rate alone is a crushing burden.

Fine, I was wrong to assume I was addressing the choir. But, there were still two things that particularly annoyed me. One was that the conservatives in the audience were so cowed by the boorishness of their colleagues that they slunk out of the room, afraid to even offer me a polite smattering of applause. Which, I am willing to wager, was a first in Rotary history.

News for Burt: It's 2011, & the Rotary Club may no longer be a choir of old white guys sitting around bitching about "them" & "you-know-who." It might even be possible that the "conservatives" in the room (a faculty lounge at UCLA) had no interest in defending or applauding a statement that gets the entire concept of rights 180° wrong.

More Free Advertising

Tucker's TheDC offers electron-space to yet another hack pimping her very personal brand of reaction.

Karin Agness is the founder of the Network of Enlightened Women (NeW) and a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.

To wit:

The Network of enlightened Women (NeW), a national organization for conservative college women, is countering this cultural phenomenon of guys staying boys longer and this cultural emphasis on independence by encouraging men to put others first through the NeW Gentlemen’s Showcase. The Gentlemen’s Showcase is an online contest run on Facebook to find the top college gentleman, the NeW Gentleman of the Year. It is a NeW kind of March Madness, where men aren’t just competing on the basketball court. This event recognizes and honors college gentlemen, and encourages college men to exhibit the characteristics of gentlemen — such as exhibiting good manners, showing respect to others, putting others first and taking responsibility for personal actions.

The NeW Gentlemen’s Showcase is a positive way to motivate boys to grow into gentlemen and to foster mutual respect between the sexes. Brad and countless other guys would have benefited from such encouragement. Our society needs to find other creative ways to change cultural expectations and create a healthier climate for relationships and family. NeW’s initiative is one step in helping college guys move away from boyhood toward manhood, so that we will ultimately have more men and fewer Brads.

It is a crying shame that this wonderful program was not applied (perhaps firmly, w/ an adhesive substance & a stick) to our favorite frat boy, George W. Bush. What a wonderful world that would have been, w/ the good manners, the respect & "taking responsibility for personal actions." (We read that a lot, & wonder Why not just "responsibility," period? but can only figure it's code for "Anything you do behind corporate or governmental walls is OK, because.")

And for the ladies, a reformed frat boy holding the door for you once in a while will be more than adequate compensation for spending most of your life dropping babies when you aren't keeping house for grocery money. Right?

While it's obvious Ms. Agness & her ilk would prefer sponging from men in exchange for DNA transmission services, & would like this way of life to be revalidated in "the culture," isn't there some rugged, exceptional & all-American individiualism (Liberty for the men-folks!) being lost here?

One of the most damaging legacies of the second wave feminist movement is that it taught a generation that independence, a life comprised solely of the individual, is one of the greatest goods. Brad has achieved independence, but has realized that he doesn’t just want independence, he wants a wife. The challenge now is finding a partner compatible with the self-centered lifestyle to which he has grown accustomed.

How the hell is John Galt going to go out & beat the Chinese at their own game when he is tied down to whiny brats & their mother?

This sort of thing does not, of course, spring fully-grown from the minds of such as Agness. There are agitators among us, making our young women hate themselves for their freedom.

Author Kay Hymowitz recently addressed the problem in Manning Up: How the Rise of Women has Turned Men into Boys.

To which the subtitle probably should be: "But We Can Stop It By Turning Women Back Into Extra-Girly Girls."

— M. Bouffant, Crusader for Men's Rights (Don't bother.)

American Family Values: Save The Children, Kill The Mother

(CBS/WBNS) LOGAN, Ohio - Family and friends of Summer Inman, the Ohio mother of three who was allegedly kidnapped by her estranged husband and his parents more than a week ago, came together on Monday night for a vigil to pray for her safety.

Pictures: Missing Ohio woman Summer Inman

Inman has been missing since last Tuesday.

We thought the family values fascists were in favor of a two-parent, opposite-sex family. Guess not.

Inman's estranged husband, William A. Inman, 26, and his parents, William A. Inman, 47, and Sandra Inman, 46 remain in the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail after their arrests last week, reports the station.

In court documents pertaining to William and Summer Inman's divorce, Summer claimed her husband "threatened to kill" her if she ever "took the children from him." She also said her husband would take her car keys, wallet and cell phone to leave her "captive" in their own home, the station reports.

She also stated in the documents that her in-laws would "gang up on me to just work things out," reports the station.

A judge granted Inman a civil protection order in November.

We aren't huge fans of the death penalty, but pre-meditated murder for hire would be one crime for which we'd happily polish the guillotine.

Pot Calls Kettle Hot

Dumbest Website on Internet Media Matters Unveils First Big FOX Hit Piece… FAILS

Hard to believe, innit?

Dog Biting Man, As We Type!

The verdict is in: The Thatcher-Reagan-Blair-Clinton model of capitalism is a failure.

Time for a violent, bloody revolution, then? Yes!!

No True Scotsman Round-Up

Sullivan tries to explain it all for you, but, you know, like:

Conservatism cannot be defined as whatever is the most extreme right-wing narrative of the moment. Time matters. Conservatism needs to be flexible enough a governing philosophy to be able to correct for conservative ideology itself. When such an ideology threatens fiscal balance, a prudent foreign policy, and a thriving middle class, it has become the enemy of real conservatism, not its friend.

Yet it is defined by its extremism.

"Correct for conservative ideology itself?" Doesn't not being able to trust your ideology make it, we dunno, crummy ideology?

Oh, now we see. There is real conservatism, which seems to consist of resenting those seen as inferior (poor &/or non-Anglo) or superior (those who can read, for example) i.e., anyone & everyone, & there is the "true conservatism" of being cheap & selfish. "No taxes for me!"

Two-Fisted Times Browsing

Update #2 (4:09 p.m.1609EDT): Readers who have surpassed the 20-article limit can also remove “?gwh=numbers” from the URL, clear their browser caches and/or switch browsers to get rid of the pop-up message and continue reading. Thanks for the tip, @yurivictor.

Thanks for the tip, Lauren Indvik.

And thanks for the extension, Wayne Eaker.

We Assume The Armor Is On Sale At The Gift Shop On The Way Out

Testing The Times

So far, no indication of a paywall. Will this link work?

What the hell, let's steal something while we're there & no one's watching. (Our Code: We'll do anything we can get away w/, & we'll take anything that's not nailed down.)

In 2008, Parliament passed a law including jail sentences of up to 12 years for producing or distributing pornography, which is defined broadly as anything — a drawing, a movie or a body movement — deemed to violate “public decency.” An online pornography filter was imposed by the government last year. At the same time, Islamist vigilante groups like the Islamic Defenders Front, or F.P.I., have taken to the streets to enforce morality, sometimes violently, as the police have stood by.

The groups are bolstered by provisions in the antipornography law that empower private citizens to act. While ostensibly about morality, the campaign is seen by many liberals and minorities as a broader push to Islamize Indonesia.

The filmmakers at Maxima are unlikely cultural warriors. With a standard fare relying heavily on ghosts, gore and teen slapstick, their films are hardly high art, said Yoen K, one of the company’s producers.

Now, a glimpse into the future, once Michele Bachmann takes her country back & privatizes morality enforcement, Indonesian-style:

The last time Maxima failed to keep its intentions under wraps, things did not go well. In late 2010, when the producers were discovered to be planning to fly Ms. Ozawa in to promote a second film that had been shot in secret, “Carriage Ghost,” the F.P.I. struck, protesting at Maxima’s offices and sending members to Jakarta’s international airport with hopes of intercepting Ms. Ozawa and sending her back to Japan by force.

Mr. Hidayat’s attempt to defuse the situation with a meeting at Maxima’s offices was a failure.

On Dec. 1, trailed by television cameras and dressed in white turbans and crisp robes, the Jakarta leadership of the F.P.I. swept into the office, past a group of hired muscle brought in by the studio for security.

Facing Mr. Hidayat across a conference table, Salim Alattas, the F.P.I.’s Jakarta chief, denounced Ms. Ozawa as a poisonous influence on the nation’s morality. Mr. Hidayat had been warned twice to not bring her to Indonesia, Mr. Alattas said. There would be no third warning.

“We come with good intentions, but if you try to sneak Miyabi in, our intentions will no longer be good,” he said.

Another F.P.I. leader, Sahab Anggawi, lost his composure: “For destroying this country, you should be thrown out! Or have both your hands cut off! Then have both your feet cut off!”

Surely just an oversight he didn't threaten pecker-chopping as well.

NOT MUCH LATER: Links from web logs, Facebook, yada alleged to continue to work. Added dullness: The Just Another Blog (From L.A.)™ editorial offices get several emails from The Times daily, & half the time (an approximation, of course) we don't even bother to see what the objective & even-handed stories inside are. So we're curious if our email subscription will give us any privileges, or if we'll be clicking to a pay-up page. If not, & the hand of greed is extended, we can tell them to fuck off, & make a significant reduction to inbox traffic. Winning again.

Leftover Filler

Later today we plan to hike the trail visible in this shot.

We have some water-front lots & a couple of bridges too, if you're interested in investment property.

Reactionary Wrap-Up

Howard Fineman explains it all for you.

No Parking: Fire Lane

It's perfectly acceptable if you're a fascist thug.

Drifting From Town To Town

More bitching to be heard about new street signage, no doubt.

Stolen from The Militant Angeleno.

 (And OMG, it's the Federal Gov't. messing things up, wouldn'cha know!) We usually know where we're going (Places we don't go include cookie-cutter suburbs & sub-divisions, so we usually can tell where in hell we are.) but there are times when one may not realize which specific shithole one is passing through.

Second, they are the first Los Angeles street signage to acknowledge the City of Los Angeles outright. Very important in this region of nearly 90 suburbs, satellite cities and unincorporated areas, of which street signage is the one of two tell-tale ways to know exactly which city you are in (calling 9-1-1 and seeing which police department shows up is the other, but The Militant doesn't recommend you do that...).

Probably Not This Year

Poops out in a sap-filled last paragraph, as so many of these essentially bourgeois take-your-lickings-from-your-betters-shut-up-&-give-in typists & their pieces do, but it wouldn't be late March in these United Snakes w/o some pseudo-academic dippo cranking one out on the old ball game as metaphor for America & so on & so forth, every single fucking year since the dawn of time (the 1950s, in our case) & long before.

When you’re in purgatory, as baseball and the country are, the arrival of a new season is not a cause for celebration but rather an unsettling reminder of how little has changed, and how stuck you are. The new season is not new enough. After all the fraud and failure, why does everything look so familiar? Wall Street remains all powerful, unchastened. The New York Yankees still have baseball’s largest payroll. The drug cheat Alex Rodriguez is still hitting home runs, making $30 million a year, and dating Cameron Diaz. The divorce of the McCourts, the couple who own the Dodgers, is hardly the change we can believe in.

Some of us are angry, and shocked, and hurt by all of this. But should we be? After all, the rich and the powerful and the famous and the talented have been awful disappointments to the rest of us only since the beginning of recorded time. Might the problem be with our expectations, our belief that contests should be fair and honest and that the winners should be the deserving?

Yeah, maybe.

Committed Catholic

Recent convert Newt shows his love for his new Church. (We bolded.)

On Sunday, Gingrich was the keynote speaker at Cornerstone Church, a San Antonio megachurch headed up by Pastor John Hagee, who offered John McCain a crucial endorsement during the '08 campaign. But McCain later disavowed that support after several controversial comments Hagee had made about the origins of Hurricane Katrina and as well as other religions came to light.

Among other things, Hagee told National Public Radio in the aftermath of Katrina that New Orleans had suffered the "judgment of God" because of its "level of sin." He referred to the Catholic Church as "the great whore" and "a false cult system." The tipping point for McCain was Hagee's comment that Adolf Hitler had been fulfilling God's will by targeting Jews.

Christ on a crutch, wouldn't any responsible typist point out the pandering weasels's recent conversion to Popery & wonder about that in the context of Hagee's tired Catholic-bashing?

Speaking at Cornerstone Church on Sunday, the former House Speaker expressed worries about the nation losing its faith and becoming a "secular atheist country"--a talk that earned him a standing ovation, per the San Antonio Express News's Abe Levy.

"The heart of our faith is that this is a temporary moment on a much longer journey, and that we should spend this life preparing for a much larger life," Gingrich said. "If you live purely secularly, and you believe there is no much larger life, then all of this is very foolish."

It's pathetically obvious that logical discourse, guilt & shame have no effect on this pudding-head. He obviously converted a bit late to enjoy the benefits of Catholic education; perhaps a few sharp raps on the knuckles followed by having his fat yap thoroughly washed out w/ lye-based soap will do the trick.

Today's Biggest Load Of Shit In A Sack

Newton LeroyLow-Rent "Newt" Gingrich (pronounced /ˈnjuːt ˈɡɪŋɡrɪtʃ/; born Newton LeroyLow-Rent McPherson; June 17, 1943) is an American politician who served as the 58th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999.We promise the world that if we are ever presented w/ the opportunity to inflict some good old Catholic-style punishment on this bastard we will kick him in his 67-yr. old genitalia & then knee him in the face when he doubles over.

That's a challenge, porky Pope-fan. Are you man enough?

As Big As The Moon!

An image of Rush Limbaugh. From his own fucking site.

Which is bigger: His lard ass, his fat gut, or his bloated ego?

Monday Afternoon Breakfast

Making clear what it is.

Neener Neener, You Fucking Losers

Top GOP Contenders Become More Unpopular

Public Policy Polling finds that over the last two years the "leading quartet" of Republicans running for president have all become more unpopular. Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich have all seen their favorability spread fall by margins ranging from 15 to 23 points.

Said pollster Tom Jensen: "The fact that the more Americans are exposed to them, the less they like them certainly does not bode well for their competitiveness next year."

Why Do We Bother W/ The Words?

Cursory Parade Staging Coverage

Photo Flogging

Sunday's brunch is leftovers:

From our Light Blue Period.

Is this lunch, therefore?

Again, the white balance is adjustable on the FOOD Setting.
(A camera FOOD setting tells us too much already.)

Psychological Afflictions

We don't pay too much attention to Glenn Greenwald (the time we waste wasting time is precious to us) but once in a while, when he isn't using his law degree, he comes up w/ some good stuff.

This is exactly the psychological affliction that leads Wall Street plunderers and tycoons and billionaires to see themselves as the victims of the resentful lower-classes and the "radical egalitarians" who run the U.S. Government.  Even as they get richer and everyone else gets poorer, even as the very few remaining restraints on their political power are abolished, even as the disparities in wealth and power grow ever-larger, they become increasingly convinced that everything is stacked against them, that there is a grand conspiracy to deprive them of what is rightfully theirs.  All of this could be confined to a fascinating, abstract psychological study if not for the fact that the people who think this way exercise the most political power and continue to exercise more and more.

Uh-huh. As the failures of reactionary & conservative policies continue, essentially unacknowleged, we begin to realize there's more here than meets the eyes & ears, & it's not policies or politics.

When you see a party shifting between two mutually exclusive arguments for a policy, each of which fails spectacularly and repeatedly, you have to look for other reasons behind the policy other than the stated rationale.

Moral & mental illness. Personal problems, in other words. Why people in a supposedly civilized society allow these psychos to work out their "issues" on us is beyond this reporter. Stalin was right. Put them in the mental institutions, where they belong.

PLUS WHICH (1801PDT 27 March 2011): John Cole (the guy what runs Balloon Juice) has a nit to pick w/ Greenwald, & we're inclined to agree.

April Fools

From the pages of The DC, a shriek is heard:

Islam is the only religion with a propaganda arm, and its most powerful outlet for dissemination of disinformation, Islamic* Jew-hatred, scrubbing of ethnic cleansing, gender apartheid, jihadi wars, land appropriations and cultural annihilations is Al Jazeera. Reasoned and rational free men have long known the pernicious influence of this jihadist news organization. But the recent legitimization and outrageous “lauding” of their coverage by mainstream news outlets is not only dangerous, it’s civilizational suicide.

This cannot stand. Look at your calendars and join me April 1 in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club: Cliff Kincaid, the president of America’s Survival, Inc., has put together an explosive event that you cannot afford to miss: “Al Jazeera, Global Jihad, and the Suicide of the West.” I’ll be speaking, along with Kincaid, news analyst Charles K. Ortel, independent television producer Jerry Kenney, and investigative journalist Lee Kaplan.

Do not accept the Goebbels network of the Fourth Reich. Join me in fighting this scourge.

"Put together an explosive event?" Is that really the tone to take here?

Pips Only

From the Richard Pryor Show (1977) via laist.