More Cloudiness

Have we mentioned our love of humanity recently?

Note gulls.

Asleep yet?

Versions

Had not heard the original Scratch production.We admit we prefer this cleaned-up-for-Yankees version.

Friday's Clouds On Saturday

Hugely disappointed that the rain promised for this wknd. has not materialized.

Six is (more than) enough (for now).

Rats In A Cage

More of this sort of thing & perhaps reactionaries will stop pooping their Depends® when it's suggested that these United Snakes might do worse than become a little more like Europe.

A body is covered in foil after a shooting at a shopping mall in Alphen aan den Rijn, Southern Netherlands April 9, 2011. [...] "A man with an automatic weapon, whose identity we cannot reveal, started shooting and killed five people and then himself," mayor Bas Eenhoorn told reporters. "Four people were very badly injured, five mildly wounded, and at least two slightly injured." REUTERS/Stringer (NETHERLANDS - Tags: CRIME LAW) NETHERLANDS OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN NETHERLANDS

Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Mark Rutte issued statements saying they were shocked and sympathize with the victims and their families.

Hours after the shooting, residents continued to gather at the mall, some of whom appeared to be in a daze.

"You hear about this sort of thing happening at American schools and you think that's a long way away," said Rob Kuipers, 50, a project manager. "Now it's happened here in the Netherlands."

Nooy said there was "no evidence" to support rumors that the gunman was a former soldier or that his mother or father had been among the dead or wounded Saturday.

Witnesses said the attacker had long blond hair and wore a black jacket and camouflage pants.

A resident who lives near the mall who gave his name as Marijn said the shooting went on for minutes. When he went to see whether friends working at the mall were OK, he saw the assailant lying dead in a grocery store.

"There was glass everywhere," the resident said. "He was just shooting everywhere as if it were the Wild West."

Apparently the news that the craven murderer was a blond, native-born Dutchman was released early enough that reactionary fear & hate elements were unable to screech about this no doubt being jihad, by Gawd!! Too bad; that always amuses us.

Today's Stupid Jerk

LETTER

Donald Trump Responds

Published: April 8, 2011

To the Editor:

Re “Donald Trump Gets Weirder,” by Gail Collins (column, April 2):

Even before Gail Collins was with the New York Times, she has written nasty and derogatory articles about me.  Actually, I have great respect for Ms. Collins in that she has survived so long with so little talent. Her storytelling ability and word usage (coming from me, who has written many bestsellers), is not at a very high level. More importantly, her facts are wrong!

As far as her comments on the so-called “birther” issue, I don't need Ms. Collins's advice. There is a very large segment of our society who believe that Barack Obama, indeed, was not born in the United States. His grandmother from Kenya stated, on tape, that he was born in Kenya and she was there to watch the birth. His family in Honolulu is fighting over which hospital in Hawaii he was born in-they just don't know.

He has not been able to produce a “birth certificate” but merely a totally unsigned “certificate of live birth”-which is totally different and of very little significance. Unlike a birth certificate, a certificate of live birth is very easy to obtain. Equally of importance, there are no records in Hawaii that a Barack Hussein Obama was born there-no bills, no doctors names, no nurses names, no registrations, no payments, etc. As far as the two notices placed in newspapers, many things could have happened, but some feel the grandparents put an ad in order to show that he was a citizen of the U.S. with all of the benefits thereto. Everybody, after all, and especially then, wanted to be a United States citizen.

The term used by Ms. Collins-“birther”-is very derogatory and is meant in a derogatory way. Had this been George Bush or almost any other President or Presidential aspirant, they would never have been allowed to attain office, or would have been thrown out of office very quickly.

For some reason, the press protects President Obama beyond anything or anyone I have ever seen. What they don't realize is that if he was not born in the United States, they would have uncovered the greatest "scam" in the history of our country.  In other words, they would become the hottest writer since Watergate, or beyond.

Open your eyes, Gail, there's at least a good chance that Barack Hussein Obama has made mincemeat out of our great and cherished Constitution!

DONALD J. TRUMP
New York, April 7, 2011

Confirmation.

Is There Something That You Can Understand?

Sullivan's bracing post is evidence that the debate on Craigslist cruising can move on to more earnest grounds.

Another tip from a pro:

7. My generation will have to suck it up.

Shut Down II

Shut down? Excellent idea. But why stop at the government?

Shut it all down, burn it to the ground, plow it all under. W/ salt.* Now!

Sadly, there is no music nihilistic enough to illustrate this plea for the planet.

*Radioactive material w/ a looooong half-life is also acceptable. We're very 21st century here.

Confederacy Of Dunces

Hell itself, or just Nashville?

At my first apartment, my next-door neighbors were a down-on-their-luck husband and wife. They were starting over after a tenure in Las Vegas, where they'd worked as a Hank Williams Jr. impersonator and exotic dancer, respectively. The wife got home from work each night the same time I did, always carrying a fresh case of Natural Ice into their apartment. Once they started drinking the spirit was strong in them. They often wandered down to the laundry room to tell anyone folding their whites about their friend, Christ the Redeemer.

I ended up going out with a few other guys who referred to themselves as "good Christians." One of them called the day after our date to say he felt guilty about the lust we'd acted on. I wondered if he was confusing me with another girl. All we had done was kiss for a few minutes while he'd rested his hand on the small of my back. I was flattered that our PG date had stirred such emotions, but his enthusiasm did me little good. His so-called contract with Jesus rendered his lustful feelings void where prohibited, which was outside of marriage. Though he did offer to take me to church if I ever wanted to improve my relationship with the man upstairs.

Alas, the typist is unable to recognize fascism even when it's staring her in the face, gets mopey about not being one of the sheep

I didn't feel the spirit that day, but I did feel jealous. I'd come to equate religious certainty with belonging in this city where I felt so out of place. I wondered, briefly, if I could pretend to believe for a while. I would make friends more easily. There would be no more Saturday nights in my apartment straining to hear the television I'd turned down low because I didn't want my neighbors to know I was staying in alone.

& flees to Los Angeles, where everyone's cool.

Wouldn't a normal person get angry at these shit-heels, not have the slightest desire to be any part of their cultish world, ever, condemn them roundly for their hypocrisy & then become a flaming atheist? We certainly would, not that we wish to conflate ourself w/ whatever passes for "normal," but you know.

Hurt Fee-Fees

A nerve is struck.

"Hardcore pro-" makes us think Breitbart would like interracial marriage imposed on all right-thinking Americans by violent government coercion. Stalinist!

Line-Up

From left: Mitch Daniels; Chris Christie; Jeb Bush; Haley Barbour.

From The NYT Magazine. Just liked the comic book style. Barely skimmed the text. You probably shouldn't either.

POST-READING UPDATE (2223PDT 7 April 2011): Actually, it couldn't hurt to read it. Short. And further proof of the joke of democracy. Most telling example, other than the four oafs shown above:

Problem is, electoral politics is a highly superficial field. A series of experiments has shown that subjects, even young children, can reliably pick the winners of races based solely on candidate photos. Now, most voters tend to support one party or the other no matter what. But swing voters tend to have the greatest susceptibility to the influence of superficialities.

A condemnation of the entire species, & any hope for it.

Arms Race

Maine lawmakers on Wednesday approved legalizing switchblades for people with one arm, moving close to becoming the first state to make such an exception to laws that ban use of the spring-action knives.

Backers of the measure say legalizing switchblades would eliminate a need for one-armed people to be forced to open folding knives with their teeth in emergencies.

The bill to allow amputees and other one-armed people to carry the quick-opening knives cleared Maine's Senate on Wednesday after passing the House on Tuesday, Senate officials said.

Until now, Maine banned the use of switchblades by anyone.

In most states, carrying switchblades is illegal in most circumstances, though owning the knives may be allowed in some states.

Federal law allows their use by a person with one arm only on federal property if the blade is shorter than three inches.

The Maine bill requires that the knives have a blade that is three inches or shorter.

Gov. Paul LePage is expected to sign the measure into law in the next couple of days, said spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Lucky Maine. The whole state at full employment, budget balanced, roads paved, & not much for the legislature to do but file their nails, apparently.

And what inane drone made this a Federal deal as well? The One-Armed Peoples Self-Defense lobby is a new one on us, but they seem powerful. Maybe The Fugitive got them worried, & they've been carefully insinuating themselves into the halls of power for the last forty yrs.

You're More Than Welcome

Indeed. Heh.

Strangers On A Train

Modest Proposal:

Just to the north of these United Snakes (Yes, there's a whole nation of 'em up there, ignernt 'Murkin.) Canadians are having their own troubles w/ fascism (i.e., they're holding a "democratic" election in which they are permitting fascists to vote).

Perhaps we & they could work out an exchange of sorts. (No copper would ever look twice at sweet little us for dealing w/ someone who's a mostly Canadian problem.)

Note to ourself: Will need "Murder!" category soon, huh?

RyanHair

Maybe if J.C. at B.J. (Initials & acronyms are fun!) drew Sullivan a picture ...

Image from Political Wire.

Will Trade For Gun...

We are starting to get the feeling that our existence on this sorry dirt-clod covered in idiots will not be complete until we have struck a blow for reason, freedom & liberty by murdering someone.

Here, as an example, are two lumps of Idaho-grown undifferentiated tissue

Senate Bill 1165 bans abortion after 20 weeks on grounds of fetal pain. It includes no exceptions for rape, incest, severe fetal abnormality or the mental or psychological health of the mother. Only when the pregnancy threatens the mother’s life or physical health could a post-20-week abortion be performed.

that are wasting oxygen that a human being (or a dung beetle) would put to better use:

“Is not the child of that rape or incest also a victim?” asked Rep. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton. “It didn’t ask to be here. It was here under violent circumstances perhaps, but that was through no fault of its own.”

[...]

The Idaho bill’s House sponsor, state Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, told legislators that the “hand of the Almighty” was at work. “His ways are higher than our ways,” Crane said. “He has the ability to take difficult, tragic, horrific circumstances and then turn them into wonderful examples.”

Bet if we shoved a gun up Sen. Crane's ass & fired it, he'd want that bullet baby removed. Hypocrite.

Cleaning House

We sincerely hope this mess is loading faster now. Bloat was trimmed from the bog-roll (by making a list, checking it twice, & purging all who kvetched).

Now let's see how many YouTube vids we can add to slow it down. Look, Black Ark Nuggets just deposited a few! This one b/w: "Killer Dub."

Is Nothing Sacred?

We expect what we find on that last hunk o' cream cheese to be
green &/or blue, not pinkish.

Another harbinger of spring, or was there a shift of the planet's magnetic field or something while we weren't paying attention?

More From The Other M.B.: SHE IS A PERSON OF SUBSTANCE!

The fun starts seven mins. in.Just the facts, ma'am.

Is someone substantial acting out self-esteem issues on the national stage? (Item below also.)

The Airhead Candidate

Bachmann Touts Her Qualifications

In a Fox News interview, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) explained why she's qualified to be President of the United States:

Said Bachmann: "I have a very broad, extensive background. I'm a student of many years. I've studied a number of, a wide berth of topics. I sit currently on the Intelligence Committee. We deal with the classified secrets and with the unrest that's occurring around the world. I also sit on Financial Services Committee. But again, I've lived life. Tomorrow, I'll be celebrating my 55th birthday, and I've had a wide, extensive life. And again, my background is a very practical, solution-oriented vision."

Wal shee-yit, we've lived our share of life, & probably a significant part of Rep. Bachmann's share too, Crazy Shelley not seeming the type to live live to its fullest, & almost two yrs. more of it. Practical & solution-oriented? That's us too. Practical & final solution-oriented, one could say.

Rock-Rock-Rock-&c.

May already have swept the web, we never know because we just don't care. Earliest we can trace it is Old Peoples Radio. Though the insistence on illustrating everything is something we expect from youngsters.

Remember, kids, you don't need visuals to enjoy music.

Shut Down

You can't listen to this until you've listened to that.

DIAF, You Old Morons!

Old & in the way:

So perhaps when CBS News signed Couric it understood that we had reached the end of the anchor-era better than I give it credit for. Indeed, when ABC News gave Diane Sawyer the keys to its World News telecast in 2009, they were overtly endorsing the CBS News strategy of hiring a middle-aged bottle blond from morning TV to chaperone all the unschooled geezers turning on their sets at night. Putting Couric and Sawyer in the anchor chairs was admitting that the programs had no future, only a past that could continue to be harvested for profits (yes, the evening shows are still profitable, thanks to pharmaceutical ads) until their audiences finally die off.

Spring Now Official

The first fly has been observed.

Social Con Throws (Tinfoil) Hat In Ring

We think Susan Burns is our next Republican president. Look how she announced, demonstrating her concern for the family & the faithful w/ a 21st century Tea Party/Art Attack.

Just one of many concepts brain-stormed for the campaign:

Newt Gingrich is afraid his grandchildren will grow up under godless atheists &/or Muslim Sharia law. So is Susan Burns. BUT SHE'S DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!

On Friday afternoon, Burns allegedly walked over to the Gauguin painting in Gallery 214-C and “grabbed the frame holding said painting on its left side and attempted to pull it off the wall.” Burns, the misdemeanor complaint charges, then “struck the middle of the painting with her right fist.” However, since the painting was “protected by a transparent acrylic shield on the front,” no damage was observed.

Burns gave an extensive--and very kooky--statement after being read her Miranda warning Friday. She said, “I feel that Gauguin is evil. He has nudity and is bad for the children. He has two women in the painting and it’s very homosexual. I was trying to remove it. I think it should be burned. I am from the American CIA and I have a radio in my head. I am going to kill you.”

Seems party line to us, w/ the possible exception of the last two sentences. But we're still months & months & months away from the first caucuses or debates. It may become a matter of pride among the sacrificial lambs that there is an American CIA radio in their heads. ("I am going to kill you," while common enough among the reactionaries, has so far been aimed at people unfortunate enough to live above AmeriKKKa'a oil on the other side of the world. Matter of time before it's applied to the domestic half of "enemies foreign & domestic.")

Our next president is a crusader against coercion by governmental violence as well (At least when it's applied to her. Always good for the hypocrite vote.):

Burns [...] appears to have a lengthy rap sheet that includes convictions for carjacking, disorderly conduct, trespassing, and assault on a law enforcement officer.

Starbursts Dep't.

For the all important Republican Viagra®-user demo, we can gussy up Susan Burns for less than Sarah Palin's Lower 48 shopping spree. Paint some eyebrows back on, get her back on her meds for that twinkle in the eye & something resembling a smile, do something about the lighting & bingo: Stepford Wife w/ spunk!

More sourcing. Bit totally suggested @MaxBlumenthal:

Victim Card Up-Date

When they aren't whining loudly that actual victims are "playing the victim card," you can bet they're whining about how they've been victimized. In a recent case, a Republican State Senator (Oh, alright, not him, his car, if we must be "accurate.") claimed to have been assaulted by a rock.

Contrary to Sen. Dan Kapanke's claim that his car windshield was vandalized the day he voted in favor of the controversial collective bargaining bill, a police report has determined the damage was caused by a stray rock.

Kapanke, R-La Crosse, informed Capitol Police his windshield was smashed March 9, the same day top Republican lawmakers surprised Democrats and the public by hastily calling a joint conference committee meeting to vote on a stripped down version of Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill.*

Not in any way an attempt to move media focus (Such as it is. Here's where "Why fucking bother?" comes in: We act/assume/pretend as if there were demand for media attention to be devoted to anything beyond rock-throwing, name-calling, hurt feelings, & other junior high activities. Abandon hope, all who enter.) from the hastily called joint meeting.

According to a March 22 report filed by an officer with the Capitol Police, however, Kapanke first noticed the crack in his windshield after an officer drove his car from a parking garage to the Capitol following the vote on the bill.

[...]

Kapanke defended his March 9 vote in favor of restricting collective bargaining in an interview with the La Crosse Tribune Friday, saying he would vote the same way again because of the $3.6 billion deficit facing the state.

"This certainly trumps any one person's ambitions or political career," Kapanke told the newspaper. "We are elected to put our fiscal house in order... You've got to do what's best in your heart - what you feel is best for the future of the state."

Elected to "put our fiscal house in order," whatever that may or may not mean or not mean? That's it? Accounting? Legislators are now glorified CPAs w/ Capitol Police officers as free valets? Interesting development. Did Sen. Kapanke run on the CPA platform. Or on the no-taxes-ever platform? (Again, not that it would make any difference what-so-fucking-ever, but we've been so amused by recent blatherings from reactionary elements that have included the "didn't-campaign-on-this" moan, as if someone once believed that campaign promises would come true, or were even intended to be trusted.)

A Sign Of Hope

Just kidding, naturally. Democracy is dead, even if the corpse is still twitching.

Kapanke is one of 16 lawmakers - eight Republicans and eight Democrats - facing recall efforts from voters in their districts.

On Friday, several hundred people gathered outside the La Crosse City Hall to celebrate the fact they had collected more than the necessary number of signatures to trigger a recall election against the senator.

*Can we nominate that for a Euphemism Award?

Sums It All Up, Dunnit?

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

"We've gone to 50th in education and number one in gonorrhea, and that's the accomplishments of an all Republican government."

-- Dick Harpootlian, former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, explaining to The Fix why he's running again for his old position. 

Sporting News & Views

Mark Heisler's the L.A. Times NBA beat writer. At truthdig, he takes on that most 'Murkan of games, footsball.

You had to be inhuman, or at least un-American, not to be moved by “The Journey,” the intro this year (XLV, or 45), narrated by Michael Douglas—looking wonderful after his months-long battle with cancer, so the mere sound of his voice raised a lump in your throat.

A montage followed ... immigrants against a backdrop of the Statue of Liberty ... a kid in the Dust Bowl ... suffragettes on the march ... U.S. soldiers hitting Normandy beach ... tiny JFK Jr. saluting his fallen father ... a space shuttle launch ... Rosa Parks ... Ali in the ring ... Reagan ... Obama ... Ray Charles’ dazzling smile ... a German with a jackhammer atop the Berlin Wall ... Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon ... Martin Luther King’s emotion-filled voice, booming “I have a dream” ... New York firemen raising Old Glory amid the dust and ruins of 9/11.

Then, segueing to shots of Cowboy Stadium, the Steelers’ Hines Ward and the Packers’ Aaron Rogers, Douglas intoned:

“Tonight, here we are, united, to see their journey, two storied franchises. ...”

Of course, if you’re an archaeologist digging up the DVD in the year 3,677, you’re going:

“LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT, IT WAS JUST A FOOTBALL GAME?”

And the footsball stadium in downtown Los Angeles fantasy various movers & shakers, local & national, are trying:

In other words, it’s a national carpet-bagging initiative, enabling teams seeking public money in Jacksonville, the Twin Cities and San Diego to extort their best deal before someone pulls up stakes and becomes the Los Angeles Chargers/Vikings/Jaguars.

Not surprisingly, the news occasioned rejoicing in Los Angeles (and the offices of the Chargers, Jaguars and Vikings) and no protest, whatsoever.

If our government can’t enact a health plan like those of the modern industrialized nations without charges being made about establishing “death panels,” the NFL operates on a higher plane.

That is so high I can't explain. Also delves into labor disputation, & how evil the owners are.

Sonora Cafe Art Up-Date

Oh, turns out April is MOPLA. Better get on it then. But we've misplaced the piece of paper (Go ahead, laugh: We can still spread graphite & ink w/ the best of 'em!) where we'd recorded the previous items in this series, & we don't want to find it now. Wait, second time's the charm, here it is. OK:

We find ourself around the former Sonora Cafe every few wks. (Previously on this stupid web log.) And the display changes often.

For variety, the front view.

Detail

25 February 2011 ABC sends a camera.

But not for long.

By 16 March 2011 censorship was fully established.

Possibly as a result of whatever Channel 7 showed.

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON CRAP AHEAD

Forewarned is forearmed! (Not referring to those four-armed dudes on ERB's Mars, either.)

The Prometheus Award finalists for Best Novel are (in alphabetical order by author):

• For the Win, by Cory Doctorow (TOR Books)
• Darkship Thieves, by Sarah Hoyt (Baen Books)
• The Last Trumpet Project, by Kevin MacArdry lasttrumpetproject.com
• Live Free or Die, by John Ringo (Baen Books)
• Ceres, by L. Neil Smith (Big Head Press, also published online at bigheadpress.com)

For the Win is Doctorow's portrait of a future in which the world's poor adopt entrepreneurial strategies and Internet/virtual technologies to challenge the statist status quo and achieve freedom through self-empowerment. Doctorow has been nominated several times for the Prometheus Award and won in 2009 for Little Brother.

Darkship Thieves features an exciting, coming-of-age saga in which a heroic woman fights for her freedom and identity against a tyrannical Earth. Hoyt's novel depicts a plausible anarchist society among the asteroids. This is Hoyt's first time as Prometheus finalist.

The Last Trumpet Project tells the story of a future in which virtual reality and uploading people's minds into computers have merged. In this milieu, freedom struggle against a tyrannical government allied with religious zealots who will go to any length to ensure their vision of the future. The hopeful and utopian work is MacArdry's first published novel.

Live Free or Die is Ringo's rollicking saga of entrepreneurial humans using free-market capitalism and the spirit of old-fashioned Yankee individualism to defend Earth from imperialist aliens after first contact embroils us in galactic politics. This is Ringo's first time as a Prometheus finalist.

Ceres, the sequel to Smith's Prometheus Award-winning novel Pallas (1994), dramatizes a conflict between a libertarian society based in the asteroids and a statist Earth government. Smith also won the Prometheus Award for The Probability Broach (1982) and The Forge of the Elders (2001).

Ten novels published in 2010 were nominated for this year's Best Novel category. The other nominees were Directive 51, by John Barnes (Ace Books); Zendegi, by Greg Egan (Night Shade Books); Migration, by James Hogan (Baen Books); The Unincorporated War, by Dani and Eytan Kollin (TOR Books); and A Mighty Fortress, by David Weber (TOR Books).

The Prometheus Award, sponsored by the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS), was established in 1979, making it one of the most enduring awards after the Nebula and Hugo awards, and one of the oldest fan-based awards currently in sf. Presented annually since 1982 at the World Science Fiction Convention, the Prometheus Awards include a gold coin and plaque for the winners.

The Prometheus awards honor outstanding science fiction/fantasy that explores the possibilities of a free future, champions human rights (including personal and economic liberty), dramatizes the perennial conflict between individuals and coercive governments, or critiques the tragic consequences of abuse of power--especially by the State.

For more information, contact LFS Board President Chris Hibbert (hibbert@mydruthers.com); Best Novel awards coordinator Michael Grossberg (mikegrossb@aol.com); or Worldcon awards ceremony coordinator Fred Moulton (programming@lfs.org).

For a full list of past Prometheus Award winners in three categories, visit www.lfs.org. Membership in the Libertarian Futurist Society is open to any science fiction fan interested in how fiction can promote an appreciation of the value of liberty.

We call your attention (Because you're probably too wise to read the brief descriptions.) to "a heroic woman fights for her freedom and identity against a tyrannical Earth. Hoyt's novel depicts a plausible anarchist society among the asteroids," & "dramatizes a conflict between a libertarian society based in the asteroids and a statist Earth government." OK, it's like jazz, but c'mon: Two variations on the same riff in one yr.?

No complaining 'though; could have been more than one about putting your brain in a computer & fucking other robots, tired as that theme is.

Repetition of these words & phrases by the self-retarded who do not understand them has reduced them to cues for laughter from the still conscious:

Entrepreneurial strategies; statist; empowerment; self-empowerment; identity; free-market capitalism; old-fashioned Yankee individualism; personal and economic liberty; conflict between individuals and coercive governments; abuse of power--especially by the State; liberty. (Not a complete list.)

Obligatory

2 Lazy
2 Live
4 Long

So if anyone cares about a follow up to this, click this.

Down W/ Democracy!

It's now blatantly obvious that democracy is a sad fucking joke:

In a CNN poll of American adults released Friday, the median guess on what percentage of the federal budget goes to public broadcasting was 5%. With a $3.55 trillion budget last year, that would put funding for the CPB at approximately $178 billion.

Can we just drown these cretins in the rising sea levels they won't acknowledge, even as they believe the CPB is getting US$178 billion a yr.?

Spot The Zombi

Freak out!

Compare & Contrast, Again

Hmmm. Almost interesting.