Lazy as Sin

It's a three day wknd., y'all are lucky you got anything out of us yesterday. Now go jump in a lake, or some other recreational-type activity. (Jump off a cliff, for example. Or fall under your PWC & get chopped to bits by some drunk's propeller.)

Quick Hits

Below: Previous high point of Gov. Palin's life.As we've other metaphorical fish to fry, we won't be going on at length, but suffice it to say that Mme. Alaska Goobernator Palin is a member of the Assemblies of God (Fellow member? Why, former AG John Ashcroft, of course.) & apparently a creationist, as well as a member of "Feminists for Life." She fishes, she hunts, she's a jock, she was a telebision sportscaster; in other words, she's more macho than any of the other three top-two-spot-candidates of the corporate-approved Big Two parties. Maybe more macho than all three of them combined, though we hear Sen. Obama likes to shoot hoops too. Maybe the two of them could have a dunk-off or a game of H-O-R-S-E or something to determine the next president. It makes as much sense as the bullshit Electoral College or letting Republicans & Diebold steal the popularity contest. Sarah is also "against wasteful spending." Then gave $500 million in state subsidies to a CANADIAN firm so they could build a pipeline somewhere. We'll just have to assume that "wasteful spending," to her, means gov't. money that won't result in a kickback/campaign contribution to her or the Republican Party, & might actually help, oh, let's just say, poor Americans, as opposed to Canadian corporations!! Her five children? Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper & Trig. Yes, she named one of her daughters "Bristol." Obviously she's too ignorant to know what it means in British slang, but we know. And "Track" & "Trig?" No son named "Field," or "Calc?" How 'bout "Geom?" Bad judgment in naming children, in breeding at the age of 43 or 44, & in believing religious lies. Do you want this person the proverbial heartbeat from the Presidency? Those of you too lazy to do it yourselves may refer to Slate's Today's Papers recap for links to the corporate print media's liberal bias on the whole mess. We read some of the NYT's biased liberal analysis (A copy was left at Starbucks, don't think we're going all high-falutin' on ya!) & you should too. In general, it doesn't speak well for Sen. McCain. The last thing needed here in the United Snakes (or anywhere the hell else) is another idiotic fuckwad who hasn't much intellectual capacity, is afraid of his ignorance & stupidity, & therefore makes a fetish of "going from the gut," Bushie boy style. And a quick wrap-up of the political points at Mighty Sorry, No Body Cares' First Read. Plus, we see that John Dickerson of Slate came to the same "Huh?" conclusion that we did. And though we've not seen it ourself, there's been much talk-radio discussion of Senator John Sidney McCain III allegedly getting an eyeful of the Gov.'s hindquarters throughout her speech yesterday in Dayton. Time to trade up to a younger model again, John?

Huh?

We thought Senator Obama was the "celebrity." Why, then, are Gov. Sarah Palin & Sen. John McCain here in Usmagazine.com's "Celebrity News"?

Many Happy Returns

Best present you could give a man for his 72nd b-day? Why, an "administrative assistant" nine yrs. younger than the birthday boy's current wife, of course. And if she's a former beauty queen? Priceless. Wouldn't it be funny, though, if the Republican Convention denied J. Sidney McCain III his wish & foisted another old & wretched white guy on him? Don't hurt yourself blowing out all those candles, Senator. Also today: Michael Jackson (the twisted pervert, not the L. A. area radio host) turns 50. Time to grow up, sonny.

McCain Selects One-Time Beauty Queen as Veep

Below: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin after her introduction as McCain's veep nominee. Her daughter Piper (initials: Pee Pee) at her side. Are we sure it's only son Trig who's got Down Syndrome? Note typical Republican bottle-blond breeder women in background. Guess what, brood mares, the frontier closed 118 yrs. ago, we can stop trying to outbreed the Injuns now. Photo: John Gress/ReutersNo, not a drag queen, not Lindsay Graham, but a woman. A woman who's younger than Senator Obama, whose experience includes two yrs. as Governator of Alaska, & some other stuff. Considering that McCain is more likely not to finish even a first term than Marxist Messiah Hussein Obama, is Gov. Palin any more prepared to get that three a. m. 'phone call? And don't you for one New York minute (What the fug does that mean, anyway?) think that Just Another Blog™ hasn't been on top of the Palin story from the git-go. Once you've clicked & read, you will quiver in fear: K-Lo of NRO was behind this choice. Why? Because Sarah Palin decided not to abort her Down Syndrome baby. There's some judgement. A woman of 44, who already has four children, gets pregnant again. Smart, huh? And here are the juicy parts from MSNBC.com's compilation of Palin stuff:

Palin is married to Todd Palin, a lifelong Alaskan who is a production operator on the North Slope and a four-time champion of the Iron Dog, which is described as “the world's longest snow-machine race.” They have five children. Their son Track enlisted in the U.S. Army on Sept. 11, 2007.

Yes, not only did they name the son w/ Down Syndrome "Trig," they have a son named "Track." Initials in both cases: Tee Pee. And she wouldn't be much of a Republican if she weren't two-faced.

During one debate before the primary, Palin said she was in favor of capital punishment in especially heinous cases such as the murder of a child. "My goodness, hang 'em up, yeah,” she said. Palin opposes abortion rights.

Yup. Death penalty good, abortion bad. How soon before we have the death penalty for abortion practitioners & the women who receive their services? That would only be according to what Sen. McCain described as Palin's "tenacity."

"She is exactly who this country needs to help us fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second," McCain told supporters in Dayton.

She & all those Washington lobbyists running your campaign, right Sid? Yes, she is a beauty queen. Here's the corporate media on the subject. Apparently she was Miss Wasilla, even if she was only second in the Miss Alaska show. What's w/ the bee-hive, anyway? Is this entire election about returning to the early '60s?

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Previously on Just Another Blog (From L. A.)™, we mentioned that the F. B. I. isn't exactly impartial in its activities, often because agents are thinking ahead to their post-F. B. I. career. We mentioned banking & telecommunications as two fields former Feds like to get into. Add show bidness to the list. (Who doesn't want to get into Hollywood?) Not as consultants or would-be screenwriters, but as enforcers for the giant media conglomerates.

"In the past, these may have been viewed as victimless crimes," said Craig Missakian, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles who built the case with the FBI and recording-industry investigators. "But in reality, there's significant damage. This law allows us to prosecute these cases."

Important part emphasized. Yes, the F. B. I., & ass't. U. S. attorneys are doing the bidding of the recording industry & its "investigators." We wonder how many of those "investigators" are former employees of the F. B. I. or other police agencies. How amusingly ironic that the recording posted on the arrestee's web log is titled Chinese Democracy. And that it's taken over a decade to record it. (It's a fookin' "rock-n-roll" album, dudes, get over it!!)

"I hope he rots in jail," said Slash, the former Guns N' Roses lead guitarist. "It's going to affect the sales of the record, and it's not fair. The Internet is what it is, and you have to deal with it accordingly, but I think if someone goes and steals something, it's theft."

By the way, Mr. Slash, buying possessing & using illegal drugs is, well, buying, possessing & using illegal drugs, & it's illegal. In case it slipped your mind. (Also: No one said the Internet is not what it is.)

But Corynne McSherry, staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the arrest of Cogill was troubling for many reasons. It raises the prospect of eager fans going to jail for posting a handful of songs. "Bringing that hammer down on an individual music fan strikes me as entirely inappropriate," she said. "Taxpayers should be concerned that they are picking up Hollywood and the music industry's legal costs, particularly when you are going after an individual like this."

Golly, it strikes us as absolutely appropriate, or certainly to be expected, that the F. B. I. & the Bush Administration's Justice Dep't. would be working to benefit the corporate media conglomerates that control the nation's news & information. Is it a surprise to you? But we may not have to worry about this much longer. Your tax dollars may soon go directly to those "recording-industry investigators," for them to enforce & carry out the law any old way they like, if this story is any indication. You know, free market, free enterprise, let the people really concerned w/ the problem get the money, blah blah blah.

Go Away

The Editorial Staff is too effing tired to entertain or edify you further. 'Sides, we're saving our energy to catch Toots & The Maytals at the S. M. Pier later this evening. So get lost.

Anniversaries

1955: Emmett "Bobo" Till murdered at the age of fourteen by cracker assholes in Money, Mississippi, for whistling at a white woman (or worse). 1963: Martin Luther King, Jr., gives "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D. C.

Culture: It's More Than Yogurt

Via, as they say, Megan McArdle, we are informed of the debut of

The much-talked-about "Conservative version of Slate"

Something called Culture11. (Never heard of it. Much-talked-about where, exactly? And did they get all excited & forget to turn off Caps Lock, resulting in "11" rather than "!!?" Or does their culture go to 11?) Adds Megan:

Full disclosure: I'm fairly close to its editorial staff.

Looks like a load of crap to us, but we will read "How Big Business destroyed regional professional wrestling." Not that we don't know, of course. If they're so conservative, though, why are they opposed to the destruction of Mom & Pop rasslin' operations? Doesn't Vince McMahon donate enough to the right? We will not watch

Bill Bennett on “The Great Books” Here’s a preview of an upcoming video series by Bill Bennett on four of the greatest books ever written. “These books,” according to Dr. Bennett, “are sources of wisdom, guidance, inspiration and counsel. If you take them seriously, they can literally change your life.” Join him on “an adventure into the human spirit” by watching the introduction to the series below.Then join the group “Bill Bennett on the Great Books” to talk about the series and get exclusive updates on future installments.

Cheese 'n' crackers! Whatta revoltin' concept!! Not to mention the irony of a video series on written material. Guess degenerate gambler & fat-boy Billy wants to get his ugly mug in front of the public, rather than letting his researchers do the typing for him.

One More From the Bee Ess File in the In-Box

Britney Spears Caught Defecating in Target Store

Well, that's what it said. We suppose the real question is: "Was she seated on the throne in the restroom, & you douchebag paparazzi followed her in, or did she just..." Oh, never fucking mind.

Enough Already (UPDATED)

Dep't. of Sore Losers:

[Sen. Clinton] betrayed none of the anger and disappointment that she still feels, friends say, and that has especially haunted her husband.

Get the fuck over it already, both of you triangulating corporate crapholes!! Is ex-Pres. Bill angry 'cause now there'll be a real "black" President? You have another wishy-washy, middle-of-the-road, scared to make real change in the political & economic systems drone all set to beat Sen. McCain, just what is your fucking problem? You lost, because your campaign sucked; BOTH OF YOU hired the wrong people & didn't handle them well. Now do your jobs by getting Sen. Obama elected, and then get off the national stage. You had the chance, you blew it, & Ms. Pumpkin Pantsuit will be too old to go again after Obama's glorious Islamo-Marxist administration returns this nation to the empire it once was – no, wait, that's our Russian boilerplate. What we mean is – aw, forget the whole thing!! UPDATED, (well, added to, really) @ 1202 PDT 27 August 2008: Below is a picture of Madam Senator Clinton in her pumpkin pantsuit, accessorized by her daughter Chelsea. Anyone who dresses like the Senator probably should not be allowed to make any important decisions. And what's w/ the bug-eyed expression & that slack jaw? Photo: Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News And just to lay it on a bit thicker, here's that expression again. (We mean, really, wazzup wi' dat? She looks as if someone she likes just rammed a stick up her ass.) Photo: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles TimesOn the other hand, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can probably be trusted to dress herself, & has some sense of color, but can't seem to do anything correctly either.At least Sen. Clinton had the sense not to wear a green scarf w/ her ensemble. Cattiness like, totally inspired by (if not almost completely stolen from) Kathy Bay, producer of the Mike Malloy Show on the NovaM Network, M-F 1800-2100 PT. Available on XM & Sirius.

Annals of National Insecurity: The Fear Mongers & The Incompetents

Newsweek's Terror Watch goes to see a "terror museum" that opened in Denver this wk. "Just a co-inky-dink," says the McCain contributor who financed it & brought Rudy "The Catholic" Giuliani in to open it. We all know there is no such thing as coincidence.

Giuliani said he didn't want to make any political points during his visit. But as soon as he left, he drove straight over to local GOP headquarters and fired away. "The Democrats want to go back on defense against terrorism, want to cut back on wiretapping, want to cut back on surveillance, they want to cut back on interrogation techniques," he said. "Senator McCain wants to be on the offense."

And we know damn well that "terror" is not "the most important global issue of our time." How can we say that?

(Ironically, the exhibit includes an observation from Rand Corporation expert Brian Jenkins who notes that the actual risk to an American of being killed in a terror attack is about one in a million, compared to one-in-7,000 or -8,000 chance of being killed in a car accident.)

In other national security news, the Bush administration has no interest in protecting us & our Internet from cyberattacks. They've been performed against the Pentagon, & against our plucky little democratic (sort of) friend, the Republic of Georgia, by the Chinese & Russkis, respectively. Here's the attitude & approach of the current gov't.

As if to underscore the gap, the government's latest point man on cyber safety used a keynote address the next day to discuss economic theory, explain why Abraham Lincoln was the nation's "first wired president" and dismiss calls for the financial industry and others to beef up security spending. "Over time, the banking industry is pretty rational," said Rod Beckstrom, director of the new National Cyber Security Center, which is part of Homeland Security. "So they're probably doing a good job on investment." He added that private security spending in general was probably at about the right level.In the hallway afterward, executives grumbled that Lincoln had nothing to do with protecting their corporate networks.

Rational isn't the word for the banking industry, over time or over the rainbow.

Beckstrom, an entrepreneur with little security experience before taking the helm of the National Cyber Security Center, is best known as the co-author of a recent book on the power of decentralized organizations. [...] Beckstrom said some effort should be devoted to rethinking the address system and other basics of Internet architecture because they represent a "single point of failure," a weak spot presenting an effective target. Otherwise, he praised the corrective power of the free market. That's not enough for people like Dixon, who said that companies hold back on computer security because it's expensive and they aren't punished when something goes wrong. Although customers who lose information occasionally sue, few change their buying habits after even well-publicized breaches.

Jeezis Hussein Christ. The "free" market. It isn't "free" when it costs people their credit ratings & identities. It may not be long before we hear Bush saying "Heck of job, Beckie!" Right after the whole fooking web is killed & the world as we know it has come to an end. We suppose it'll be an advantage that Sen. McCain can't even turn on a computer (maybe he could figure out how many houses his bottle-blond beer baroness wife owns – & how to get the taxes on them paid – if he had a real estate management program that he knew how to run) & can get the country back to work using carrier pigeons.

That About Which We Could Not Possibly Care Any Fucking Less

Hillary Clinton

Please Explain, Senator McCain

How does not knowing how many houses you & the beer baroness own have anything to do w/:

“Could I just mention to you, Jay, that, at a moment of seriousness,” McCain said, “I spent five-and-a-half years in a prison cell. I didn’t have a house. I didn’t have a kitchen table. I didn’t have a table. I didn’t have a chair. And I didn’t spend those five-and-a-half years because, not because I wanted to get a house when I got out."

It's like Rudy "The Catholic" Giuliani, except it's not "noun, verb, 9/11," it's "noun, verb, I was a POW for five-and-a-half years."

Law-Abiding Citizen Report, or: Why They Call Them "Pigs"

Make sure you have a gun if you're a law-abiding citizen. No reason not to. And plenty of reasons to have one. You never know when a dangerous predator, human or animal, may threaten your life, your loved ones, or your property. And the constitution gives each & everyone of us the individual right to pack as much heat as we can afford. Here's an excellent example of why we need to be armed to the teeth 24/7.

L.A. officer shoots man dead in Corona The officer and another motorist were involved in a traffic accident on Temescal Canyon Road in the Dos Lagos area. As they were exchanging information, the officer fired at the man. By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer August 26, 2008 An off-duty Los Angeles police officer fatally shot a man after a traffic accident in Corona on Monday. Initial police reports said the man had tried to snatch the officer's 1-year-old child from the officer's vehicle, but Riverside County Sheriff's spokesman Jerry Franchville said later there was no evidence that the man had attempted to take the child, who was unhurt. The officer was involved in a minor traffic accident about 3:45 p.m. with an unidentified driver on Temescal Canyon Road in the Dos Lagos area, authorities said. The two were exchanging information when the officer fired at the motorist. The man was later pronounced dead, authorities said.

Because another "law-abiding citizen" (And who could be more "law-abiding" than a police officer?) who's packing as well may just get road rage & shoot you dead. And then play the child card in an attempt to cover for himself. As a matter of fact, it's probably a good idea not just to carry, but to have the weapon out, safety off, finger on the trigger in any encounter w/ anyone you don't know & trust absolutely. Don't let predators or cops get the draw on you!!

Little Johnny Goes to Prison Camp

Below: A photograph of Lt. Cmdr. John Sidney McCain III taken during an interview with U. S. News & World Report after his release from captivity in Vietnam. When did he quit smoking? Photo: Thomas J. O'Halloran for USN&WR/Courtesy Library of CongressFrom the Horse's Ass's Mouth (Or typewriter. Or Dictaphone™. Or something.):

Here, in his own words, based on almost total recall, is Commander McCain's narrative of 5½ years in the hands of the North Vietnamese.

Well, we see no need to reproduce the entire thing here, but let's look at the "good parts." And wonder where the cross in the dirt story is. Here's a good one:

Others came in to find out about life in the United States. They figured because my father had such high military rank that I was of the royalty or the governing circle. They have no idea of the way our democracy functions.

Well, let's think about how that "democracy" functions, Sidney. You get into Annapolis as the son & grandson of the U. S. Navy's first four-star admiral father-son team (& it appears his great-uncle was a general in the U. S. Army during WWI) graduate fifth from the bottom at the Academy, crash several planes, still get to fly an attack aircraft from a carrier, marry a beer baroness, get her daddy to buy your way into the House & Senate, then get to run for President twice, actually getting the nomination the second time. No, you're certainly not royalty, or "the governing circle." (As mentioned previously, no enlisted person has ever been elected president of these United Snakes.) You bear no relation to George Bush (also not a member of the "governing circle," who in the wonderful words of Ann Richards, was "born on third base & thinks he hit a triple.") Four more yrs.! Four more yrs.!

As far as this business of solitary confinement goes—the most important thing for survival is communication with someone, even if it's only a wave or a wink, a tap on the wall, or to have a guy put his thumb up. It makes all the difference.

Gee, wouldn't this have been the perfect place to mention his Xian buddy the cross-drawer? You'd think, wouldn't you?

I had read a lot of history. I spent days on end going back over those history books in my mind, figuring out where this country or that country went wrong, what the U. S. should do in the area of foreign affairs.

What should the U. S. do, after yrs. of contemplation? "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran." "I'm sorry to tell you, my friends, there will be more wars."

People have asked me how we could remember detailed things like the tap code, numbers, names, all sorts of things. The fact is, when you don't have anything else to think about, no outside distractions, it's easy. Since I've been back, it's very hard for me to remember simple things, like the name of someone I've just met.

Perhaps we'd best keep him in solitary confinement if he's elected, so he can concentrate w/o 'outside distractions.' Maybe he just forgot when he met Slovakia & the Czech Republic.

Hope this one gets a little more notice:

The Oriental, as you may know, likes to beat around the bush quite a bit.

As you may know. And if you didn't, now you do. Anything to say about "The African," John?

I was determined at all times to prevent any exploitation of my father and my family.

Well, other than any exploitation that you might have done yourself, right Sid?

Now get this one:

Some guards would just come in and do their job. When they were told to beat you they would come in and do it. Some seemed to get a big bang out of it. A lot of them were homosexual, although never toward us. Some, who were pretty damned sadistic, seemed to get a big thrill out of the beatings.

Uh, John, if they were homos, but not toward you, how did you know they were homos? Is it just a shame that your gaydar was better than your anti-SAM radar? And is there a difference between being thrilled by beatings & being thrilled by dropping bombs on people?

We're bored limp w/ this thing now. Do see it for yourself, as McCain used the words "gook" & "slopehead," & says he's in better shape at the time of the interview than before he was shot down. And so on.

Thanks to Eric Brewer of BTC News for digging up this marvelous article in the first place, & tracing the timeline of the cross story.

That About Which We Could Not Possibly Care Any Fucking Less

In no particular order, but we'll assign them numbers anyway. 1. The Olympic Games. (We are glad it's over.) Don't give us all this crap about peace & brotherhood (And what about the sisters?) when the event is divided into teams from nations. Nationalism is the antithesis of peace & brotherhood. 2. Democratic National Convention. 3. Burning Man. 4. Republican National Convention. 5. Labor Day. 6. You, everybody like you, & the horse you rode in on.

Our Friends the Feds, or, The F. B. I. in Peace & War

The F. B. I. drops the ball again. (We often wonder why the ball is ever given to them, or even if they've ever caught it when it was thrown at them.) This time not an attack on the U. S. that might have been stopped had anyone in Washington bothered to read what field agents were sending in, nor J. Edgar Hoover's (photo, right) refusal even to admit there was organized crime in This Great Nation of Ours™. (Theories on that range from organized crime having something on his transvestism or gayness all the way to his enjoying the dog tracks in Florida & not wanting them to go out of business if he clamped down on the mafia.) Of course J. Edgar was so busy publicly battling the "menaces" of communism & "dope" that he probably couldn't invest the time in going after a real threat to the American Way of Life. On a lower level of the Federal Bureaucracy of Investigation, many of the agents have dreams greater than merely retiring from the Bureaucracy w/ a pension & the satisfaction of having done their jobs as well as possible, keeping America safe from crime & the crazy, un-American ideas of furriners. Nope, the dream is to get a cushy, well paying job in industry as security personnel, or even that Senior Vice-President of Security gig. And two excellent places to get those jobs are banks & telecommunication companies. Best way to get a job at a banking institution? Assemble a good record as an agent who catches bank robbers & people who commit fraud against banks. But let's face it, actually busting banks committing fraud against the public is not going to put you at the top of any employment list. In the telecom industry, former FBI (& other former law enforcement) personnel are prized both by the company, which knows that the retirees will be able to pull strings w/ their still-employed-by-the-gov't. colleagues, and by the FBI & so on, who will pull strings w/ the "retired" agents now at the 'phone cos., in order to obtain information, wiretaps & the like w/ more ease & fewer warrants. One hand washing the other. The end result of which is both hands remaining filthy. "Ain't that America," as some no-talent hack once sang. That, of course, is the part of the problem that won't be covered in the L. A. Times. And it's not entirely fair to blame greedy pig F. B. I. agents alone. The Bush Administration's pants-pissing paranoia about "turrists" plays a big part, though you'd think a few more heads would have rolled after the colossal fuck-up that resulted in the events of 11 September, 2001. That is, the heads of some F. B. I. personnel, not just of those who were murdered in the attacks. Also vital to the safety of the United Snakes, of course, or at least Republican political contributors, is not pursuing the economic crimes that truly do the greatest damage to our once-great nation.

But the tepid response also reflects a broad realignment of law-enforcement priorities at the Justice Department in which mortgage fraud and other white-collar crimes have been subordinated to other Bush administration priorities. That has reflected, in part, the ramp-up in national security and terrorism investigations after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the administration has also put more support behind efforts against illegal immigration and child pornography.

Oh, & illegal immigration. Isn't that ICE's job? While no one can be in favor of the exploitation & abuse of children, sexual or otherwise, it should be noted that the Justice Dep't., especially under John "Hide Justice's Titties" Ashcroft, devoted many resources to going after smut involving adults (& attempting to establish new precedents to prosecute the smut-peddlars) just because their brand of porn was thought to be "extra-icky."

"I think most sitting U.S. attorneys now staring at the subprime crisis find scant resources available to pursue sophisticated financial crimes," said John C. Hueston, a Los Angeles lawyer who was a lead federal prosecutor in the trials of Enron executives Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling. Absent a major shift in priorities and resources, he said, it is likely that the Justice Department and the FBI will continue on their current path of focusing on simple cases "that don't go to the heart of the problem."

At one time didn't F. B. I. agents have to be CPAs or lawyers or the like, before they could even apply? Has this changed, or is it that the simplest, slowest law school & accounting graduates just naturally gravitate to the F. B. I.? Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, or, it seems, an incompetent. Not to mention all the losers who cling to their guns & gawd, when confronted w/ the fact they'll never get a big-city job w/ a large corporation or partnership. F. B. I. academy, here they come!

Cross in the Dirt, Line in the Sand

Religion News Service has an article on Senator John Sidney McCain III & his "faith journey," whatever the fuck that is. Author Adelle M. Banks uncritically repeats the NVA guard making the sign of the cross in the dirt in the prison camp (In a pig's eye!!) story, not finding it worth mentioning that Sen. McCain had made no mention of this little vignette in his big deal "I was a P.O. W." article in U. S. News & World Report, 14 May 1973.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain has one story he tells again and again about his religious life. In a campaign ad, a family memoir, and most recently a televised interview with megachurch pastor Rick Warren, he recalls a guard in his prisoner of war camp in Vietnam who silently shared his faith one Christmas. "He stood there for a minute, and with his sandal on the dirt in the courtyard, he drew a cross and he stood there," McCain told Warren at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Saturday (Aug. 16). "And a minute later, he rubbed it out, and walked away. For a minute there, there were just two Christians worshipping together."

Another religioso notes how what McCain wants you to get from the story has changed over the yrs. The big point being that the cross-in-the-sand-or-dirt story seems to come from the writings of the late Alexander Solzhenitsyn (We've heard both One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch & The Gulag Archipelago as the source) & J. Sidney appropriated it sometime in the late '90s. Apparently Adelle M. Banks couldn't be bothered to check any of this. See also an examination of the story by BTC News.

McCain biographer Paul Alexander says the senator's faith and military backgrounds are responsible for his religious reserve. "He's a very spiritual person but ... in his core, he's a military man," said Alexander, author of "Man of the People: The Maverick Life and Career of John McCain." "They don't feel comfortable talking about religion."

No shit. We suppose that were our primary job to insure the survival of capitalism by killing as many people as possible, in direct violation of one of those "Commandments," we wouldn't be too comfortable going on about religion either.

Add McCain's Episcopal roots -- his great-grandfather was an Episcopal minister -- and you have someone who was raised in a "subdued and understated religion," Alexander says. In "Faith of My Fathers," McCain says his father "didn't talk about God or the importance of religious devotion," but used a well-worn prayer book when he knelt to pray twice a day. Faith -- cultivated over the years by his attendance at Episcopal day and boarding schools -- helped McCain through the tortuous 5 1/2 years he spent as a prisoner of war.

"Cultivated" – or inculcated? We can also see just how faithful is is to his 'Piscopalian "roots."

During much of his time as a senator, McCain has attended North Phoenix Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Arizona where his wife Cindy was baptized in 1991. But McCain has not joined the church, whose Sunday morning service is attended by about 2,200. "He does not describe himself as one denomination or another but he felt like the Baptist church in North Phoenix had a good message, a message that resonated with him and so that is where he goes to church," said Taylor Griffin, a spokesman for the senator's campaign.

He said McCain attends church "whenever possible when he's in the Phoenix area."

Ah yes, all things to all people; therefore pretty much nothing. But those evangelical votes come from nutjobs like Babtists, not from 'Piscopalian nutjobs. And why was Cinderalla Stepford Hensley McCain not babtized 'til 1991? Slow learner? Began to feel guilty about the number of houses she has? Looking to get into heaven, despite that "camel through the eye of a needle thing?" The hypocrisy never ends, of course.

Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values in Ohio, said he respects McCain's preference for a private faith. "I believe his faith is deep but he will not use it to try to get somebody to vote for him," said Burress, an evangelical Christian who met with McCain in June along with a handful of other conservative leaders in Cincinnati. "I just think that that's his style, that he just does not wear his religion on his sleeve." In recent weeks, McCain has made brief mentions of faith, recounting the Christian history of Georgia after Russian forces entered the country, calling Hispanic immigrants "God's children" in an advertisement and saying of today's military members: "I pray to a loving God that he bless and protect them." But generally he has kept his faith to himself, a spokesman says, at least in part for political reasons."To Sen. McCain, faith is a private matter," Griffin said. "He believes that politicians or leaders shouldn't be judged on their religious beliefs but rather they should be judged on their preparedness to do the job."

You better believe it!! That's why he & stealth Moooslim Sen. Obama showed up to be quizzed at Saddleback church by Pastor Fat Boy Warren, 'cause they didn't want to wear their "faith" on their sleeves. Lying scum, both of them!! Anyway, congratulations to Religion News Service, "The only secular news and photo service devoted to unbiased coverage of religion and ethics—exclusively." Bang up job. Really unbiased, just taking everything said on faith.

Paradise-By-The-Pacific

The truly local dog-trainer, the Santa Monica Daily Press, has two exciting stories on the front page of its wknd. edition. Sadly, their website involves a PDF of the paper rather than anything easily copy & paste-able, but here's a link thereto.The two stories, "Gang-related shooting Downtown" & "Finding middle ground Santa Monica is lacking homes that the majority of middle-class workers can afford, raising concern," pretty much sum up the future for most of AmeriKKKa: Gang warfare among a permanent underclass, w/ middle class slobs who have to drive three hrs. a day to be wage-slaves getting caught in the cross-fire, as wealthy Neros, safe in their multi-million dollar estates, gated enclaves & condos fiddle as the world burns about them. Safe, that is, until the security guards decide it's just not worth driving half of your life to lay it on the proverbial line for your millionaire boss. Then the fun will really begin. We only hope we live to see it.

Not Coming Attractions

It may be some time before any "shot just for us" photos see the light of day here. It seems as if no library computers will allow the plugging in of a digital device. Please, do not hold your breath.

That About Which We Could Not Possibly Care Any Fucking Less

Biden, schmiden.

"That's right folks, don't touch that mouse!"

If we can find a devil-box w/ a working USB port, we'll be publishing some probably crummy (due to the cheap digital camera, not us, we're very talented) shots of a fire engine of the '60s or '70s. Stay tuned.

MilRubes, Parte Trois

One LT Nixon, a "milblogger," has noted one of our items from March of this yr., & commented on it at his "milblog." (And in our comments here.) Odd, that the LT should use a word like "zeitgeist," yet not know what "jingoistic" means. Nice picture of typical jarhead Gomer Pyle, U. S. M. C., however. And thanks for the info on Marines & bayonets. We don't keep up as we used to, but "baby-bayoneting" is so alliterative we couldn't resist. Do they now use those carbon-fiber assault knives or whatever they call them when they're slaughtering civilians for truth, justice & Exxon-Mobil profits? Refer to U. S. M. C. General Smedley Darlington Butler's War is a Racket for why we might just think that the continuing occupation of Iraq is more about profits than "spreading democracy." (Itself a coded phrase for "installing gov'ts. that will give their people's oil to AmeriKKKa cheaply.") P. S.: We know that "AmeriKKKa" is stupid & cheap, but we're pretty cheap ourselves, & if its use irritates anyone, our mission has been accomplished.

Today's Factoids

1775: George III, King of England, declared the American colonies (us) in a state of "open & avowed revolution." What the fuck happened to us? Why aren't we revolting now? 1927: Sacco & Vanzetti executed. Today's B-Days (besides the aforementioned Peabody): Vera Miles, 78. Barbara Eden, 74. Kobe Bryant, 30.Virgo Non-Facts (Is this the first day of Virgo?):

With an acute attention to detail, Virgo is the sign in the Zodiac most dedicated to serving. Their deep sense of the humane leads them to caregiving like no other, and their methodical approach to life ensures that nothing is missed. The Virgo is often gentle and delicate, preferring to step back and analyze before moving ahead. [I. e., we Virgos are big-time procrastinators.] Careers suited to this sign include being a doctor, nurse, psychologist, teacher, writer, and critic. [Especially critic.] Tactile, methodical, and willing to take as long as is needed, they make excellent lovers. [That bears repeating.] Tactile, methodical, and willing to take as long as is needed, they make excellent lovers. Virgo is most at home in the company of animals and close to nature. [Far the fuck away from you stinking humanoids, that's for damn sure!!] Virgo likes power and enjoys being the sidekick or indispensable assistant. [Mostly the power part, really. Find your own sidekick, before we kick you in the side!!]

The Sucking Senators

The big "hope" (There is no hope, fools. Only the grave.) here is that Sen. McCain will pick homunculus Joe Lieberman for his veep. That would give us four sitting Senators in the running for the top offices in the land (A first?) & a good look at just who & what runs Amerikkka. Specifically (if it happened) there would be three "white" wretches 65 or over. (That's retirement age, or was before the concept of pensions disappeared & Americans found it necessary to work until they dropped dead, just as in those "good old days" we all so fondly remember.) Biden (65, "white," Roman Catholic) owned & operated by the credit card interests that pollute his state, is in his sixth term as a senator. McCain (71, will turn 72 on 29 August, "white," raised 'Piscopalian, attends Babtiss Church) serving his fourth term in the Senate, is a tool of the military-industrial complex. Not so much the military side of it, judging from his votes on veterans benefits. ("It'll make it more attractive for people to leave the service. We can't have that." – Paraphrased but TRUE.) Never met a war he didn't like. "Holy Joe" Lieberman (66, Jewish by religion & ethnicity) is also in his fourth Senate term as the property of the insurance cos. that are headquartered in his state. And he's owned & operated by the Israeli lobby. Can one serve two masters? Even though they should all have been put out to pasture some time ago, none of the above will ever have to worry about not having enough on which to retire. The ringer, Barack Obama (just turned 47, half "white," & therefore, under the "One Drop" rule, a bare half-step above those African savages, & both a Protestant Xian & a Mooooslim – that's even slicker than double-dipper McCain's religions) is only in his first term. Of course he's an old-time Chicago politician/ward-heeler, a crypto-Islamo-Marxist-fascist, the secret gay lover of Bill Ayres, Weather Underground radical who's been plotting to blow up the Capitol Bldg. since the early '70s, & bought part of his backyard from a guy named Rezko who's doing time for something completely unrelated. Obama's wife, much like Hillary Clinton, will be placed in charge of sending hard-working white people to concentration camps the day after inaugural day, which is pretty stupid. Who'll pay the welfare for all of Obama's fellow coloreds if the white race is being used as slave labor? So, John McCain, here's a vote for "Holy Joe" as your flunky. Maybe we can get a photo of him sniffing your armpit like that one of you under Bush's pit, to complete the circle.

Houses & Homelessness

Beer baroness Cinderella Stepford Hensley McCain:

In an interview with Vogue magazine, Cindy McCain confessed that her husband, who has suffered from skin cancer and must avoid the sun, wasn't initially in favor of buying oceanfront property. "When I bought the first one, my husband, who is not a beach person, said, 'Oh, this is such a waste of money; the kids will never go,' " she said. "Then it got to the point where they used it so much I couldn't get in the place. So I bought another one."

It's just that easy, you know. Below: She's 67 and has little hope of putting her life back on track. "I'm one of the people who should not be homeless," she said. "Who's going to hire me to do anything?" Photo: Benjamin Reed/LATWe don't understand why the approx. 73,000 homeless scum who populate the streets of Los Angeles County on any given night don't just buy another one themselves. Really, is it that hard, or are you people just too damn lazy to call your Realtor©? It might not be a bad idea to confiscate all their telebision sets, maybe then they'd get off their asses.

Paul Driscoll, 54, said he prefers the peace of Griffith Park but sometimes sleeps alongside many others on a side street off Hollywood Boulevard so he can be available for jobs early in the morning. On a recent night, Driscoll, who takes care to shave every morning, had unfolded a flattened cardboard box onto the sidewalk and layered two blankets on top for warmth and padding. Then he settled down with his battery-operated black and white television to watch "NCIS." He used headphones, because there were so many people sleeping near him.

Really, these people are on the streets because they are defective, not a part of gawd's & America's big plan, & they should be punished for it, not rewarded w/ a 5" B&W tee vee set that won't work after the transition to digital next Feb. Or: Stop coddling these people w/my tax dollars & they'll find high-paying jobs & luxury housing before you know it. If Cinderella McCain could lift herself up by her bootstraps, so can these people.

Stabs Into The Past

(Copywritten image to the left is used for illustrative purposes only.) It's rerun time! Click for birthday wishes, both to Peabody, no relation to the murdering fascist coal mining co., merely the Just Another Blog (From L. A.)™ Commentariat King, & to Bugger™ itself, which hasn't bothered to announce its b-day today. Figures, those Bugger™ people are just more of the incompetents that make our life a living/dying hell. Later, we'll be B-B-Qing the good parts of a slaughtered bovine w/ Peabody & fellow blogger Mikaleno, at the Silver Lake Bachelors Club HQ. You're not invited! And if you're a girl or woman, you're double-plus not invited!! (We're not gay –NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG W/ THAT, OF COURSE!! – but sometimes we like to hear the sounds of our own voices. We're funny that way.)

That About Which We Could Not Possibly Care Any Fucking Less

The Vice-Presidential nominee of either of the Big Two political parties, & the attendant tee vee-generated pseudo-tension. Snooze time, Senators. Give it a rest, & text this, bee-otch!!

Action Must Be Taken!!

Below: Shoes for Industry, Shoes of the Dead. Photo: STR/AP We anxiously await the slightest utterance from the Cheney/Bush admin (150 more days of their crap to go, barring "surprises" involving declaration of martial law should the slightly less offensive to us, at least, Sen. Obama, manage to beat the rigged election process & win) concerning the situation in Pakistan. It's all "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" (sorry, it's "All options are on the table") w/ an Islamic nation that may be attempting to develop nuclear weapons, but Pakistan, seemingly descending into greater chaos & anarchy each day since the resignation of President General Musharraf, actually has several nuclear weapons, and it would appear to have a lot more wacky, uncontrollable, not much to lose radical Islamist extremist jihadi types (to coin a phrase) running around than Iran. Specifically, from today's L. A. Times:

Like several other attacks mounted in the last year by Islamic militants, the strike against the munitions complex appeared to point to possible inside knowledge of the compound's layout and security systems, along with the comings and goings of its workers. Militants have boasted that they have infiltrators in Pakistan's security forces and intelligence agencies.

Can we doubt that these boasting militants have infiltrators in the parts of the Pakistani military that are charged w/ the safety & security (or the detonation) of the so-called Islamic Bomb? And if we can doubt it, isn't it part of Cheney's One Percent Doctrine that we must deal w/ the threat anyway? Might it not be a good idea to step in now & seize control of these nukes, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE?!?! Or is the BushCheney administration concerned only w/ imaginary threats (Saddam Hussein) or threats to the profits of their cronies in the Oil Patch? (That's a rhetorical question.) And it's not just the one percent possibility of a smuggled nuclear warhead going off in, say, Colorado Springs. (Just sayin'. Don't get any ideas, B'rer Fox, you really don't want to set off a nuke in the capital city of Xian hatred, really, please don't throw me in that – I mean, please don't nuke Jeezis Central, please.) Let's turn to a totally impartial source for news & info, the (Tah-dah!!) Voice of Amerikkka:

This protest and others earlier this week are the latest in an escalation of tensions in Kashmir Valley. A controversial land deal sparked the first protests, but they quickly ballooned into a renewed independence struggle. Younis Mir, a 25-year-old Kashmiri, is one of the protesters. "All people have assembled here in the Eid Gah," he said. "Our main mission is the freedom of Kashmir, nothing else. We are not spreading terrorism. There is no movement of terrorism in Kashmir. It is a freedom struggle, a simple freedom struggle. Freedom from Indian occupation."

Oooh, that's bad news. The minute you hear anyone denying terrorism, but speaking of a "freedom struggle," you know there's big trouble there.

At least 350,000 Indian troops patrol Indian-controlled Kashmir, many of them along the line of control between Indian- and Pakistani-controlled areas of Kashmir. Since 1989, more than 45,000 people have been killed in sporadic violence between Indian troops and Muslim militants. At least 6,000 suspected Muslim militants in Kashmir have disappeared after being arrested by Indian security forces, human rights groups say. Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in its entirety and have fought two wars over it since the two nuclear-armed nations split in 1947.

Biiiiiig trouble. Imagine a world-wide nuclear winter, & a radioactive wasteland stretching from Iran's eastern border to Burma. At a minimum.

Loh Profile

We'll be busy most of today in the criminal underworld, trying to buy some large caliber handgun(s), or if we take enough "anti-anxiety" pills, we'll just be talking to the Postal Service & Social Security Administration about so-called social service agencies that fuck w/ the helpless & homeless by stealing their Social Security payments from them. They'll be pretty fucking sorry when they're watching their blood & lives draining out while we're pissing in their mouths, won't they?

One note before we set off on the path of revenge. (It's not "murder," as no jury will convict us, assuming we haven't committed suicide by oinking pig motherfucker.)

Seems as if the first to go at the Incredible Shrinking Newspaper™© were the editors. How else can one explain this:

Loh is a cunning linguist who's honed her craft over 20 years, and it shows.

Our emphasis, but good gawd!! Shame on you, Susan Carpenter. Ms. Carpenter until recently wrote motorcycle reviews for the Times. We can only wonder if this is some sort of passive/aggressive revenge, and, of course, wonder if she's perhaps a dyke on a bike. We hope Mme. Tsing Loh (Sweet Chariot!!) sues. And that the Times hires back an editor or two.

That About Which We Could Not Possibly Care Any Fucking Less

After a wk. or so, the 2008 Olympics remain at the top of the list of pointless crap we are "so over," as those damn kids who won't stay off our mental lawn keep saying. If anything, we're even more over the entire mess o'crap than we were when it started. Has it been one wk. or two? And will it ever end? This is the second time in two days we are happy we are w/o telebision. A radical change for us, to put it mildly.

Violence & The Wealthy: That's About It

Below: Now we know where Tori Spelling gets her looks. Candy (Is that any sort of name for a woman "of a certain age?") Spelling in the entry to her ginormous pad, The Manor. Got pretension? Photo: Stephanie Diani/NYT. You may click the pic for a larger version.We got virtually nothing today, other than continuing violence across the world of "humanity" (blood-crazed killer apes is more like it) & the return of the "Cold War," but we can make mock of the NYT, which is only a month late to the story of the $47-million condo. (Do they believe that by waiting that long no one will remember? Didn't count on the mental prowess of the editorial staff here, did they?)

That Last Step Is A....

Our West Hollywood correspondent forwards this:Photoshop©, or a real floor somewhere? Maybe Worth1000.com has more info. Naw, 'parently not...It's the pipes that make it frighteningly real. As always, click image to see it larger.

This Won't Be Mere Throwing Up "In One's Mouth A Little Bit." It'll Be Projectile Vomiting, & There May Be Some Explosive Diarrhea As Well.

The WaPo is making us queasy already.

Socially moderate former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph I. Lieberman will have featured speaking roles at next month's Republican National Convention, party officials announced yesterday. Giuliani, who once thought he would be the one accepting the GOP nomination, will deliver the keynote address on the Tuesday night of the convention. [...] He said he knew McCain's first criterion would be selecting a person "who could immediately be president of the United States." He added: "If that person happens to be, among other things, pro-choice, the party will support that." McCain, who adamantly opposes abortion, declined to discuss the running-mate issue yesterday with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, who said that "from the conservative perspective, we are literally imploring you to not turn your back on your great pro-life record over decades."

Was it necessary to bring Laura Ingraham up as well as Rudy "The Catholic" & Holy Joe? The bile is already rising.

"Our convention will showcase a cross section of leaders who will highlight John McCain's long commitment to putting our country first -- before self-interest or politics," said Jill Hazelbaker, McCain's communications director. "The speakers will address John McCain's unmatched record of service and sacrifice for America, and his vision for moving our nation forward to keep us safe and get our economy back on track."

Stop it, McCain campaign!! Stop this "self-interest & politics" crap. If Obama wins because he wants to withdraw troops from our illegal occupation of Iraq, as requested even by the puppet gov't. there, how is that "political?" It's the will of the American people, if he wins, isn't it? Yankees may not be interested in the perpetual war that Sen. McCain seems to want.

First lady Laura Bush will speak on Monday, the first night of the convention, before her husband and after Vice President Cheney. McCain's wife, Cindy, is scheduled to address the convention on Wednesday night, the same evening as his running mate.

We've never been happier that we don't have anywhere to put our sad 12' diagonal analog VCR/telebision. NB: Slight changes/additions & formatting corrections made 21 August 2008 @ 1009.

Plagiarism at Slate

Hey, look!! A dude who gets paid to type this sort of crap for a living (i. e., a thief) has noticed just what we noticed. Oh sure, he goes into greater detail, & bitches more, but Just Another Blog™ was there first, wasn't it? Nyah, nyah!!

Greedy Old Party

The expression "tax-&-spend Democrats" is second nature to rabid weasel commentators, as if there's something wrong w/ paying for something. Seldom mentioned are the "saddle-our-children-w/-debt-&-spend Republicans," who are apparently unable to see six months into the future, despite all their blather about "poor people"who don't "make wise decisions" or plan for their "futures," & so on. Looks as if Goobernator S. has decided to tax Californians, "spurning his fellow Republicans' uncharacteristic effort to borrow their way out of budget trouble." (Just a note to The Incredible Shrinking Newspaper's™© Evan Halper: You fool. "Uncharacteristic?" Remember Reagan, who spent us into debt to destroy the Soviet Unionmake sure his defense contractor campaign contributors had enough money to buy him & Nancy a house in Bel-Air where she could live out her life in decadent luxury? Or the current denizen of the White House, George W. Bush, who's plunged This Great Nation of Ours™ into the greatest national debt ever, using the same excuses as Reagan, that is, fighting a mostly non-threatening & imaginary enemy. The primary difference being that Reagan, the amiable dunce, wasn't responsible for too many more deaths of American service people than those two hundred plus Marines killed in Lebanon, while sadistic sociopath Bush is directly responsible for the deaths & maiming of thousands of our fellow Americans. "Uncharacteristic," our generous ass!!) We are surprised that the Republicans aren't somewhat willing to increase the sales tax, as it's pretty regressive, but if the po' folks & the middle-class sheep don't spend as much, the business owners may suffer a tad. We're not that surprised that Schwarzie doesn't want to tax the living piss out of everyone living on the labor of others. One of these days someone in Sacramento, or somewhere, will have the intestinal fortitude to change the current law (may be a state constitutional thing) requiring two-thirds of the legislature to approve the budget, which is how the Republicans (who'd probably be even fewer in number if districts weren't gerrymandered in favor of the incumbents each time the legislature gets together for re-apportionment) manage to pull this obstructionist crap each year. Can somebody stop the madness?

Open Letter to '70s Soul Artists With A Gig In The Southland

First, Black Moses Isaac Hayes was going to appear at the Sunset Junction street fest this wknd., but he died. Now comes news that Pervis Jackson, bass vocalist for The Spinners, who were to appear at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts w/ Martha & the Vandellas on 6 Sept., has gone to spin in his grave, having been diagnosed "last week with brain and liver cancer after feeling ill for several weeks, said his wife, Claudreen Jackson." Damn. Maybe y'all better just stay away from SoCal for a while. Just imagine "feeling ill" for a few wks., finally getting to the croaker, being told your whole effing body is filthy w/ The Big C., & then checking out w/in a wk. At least Pervis didn't have to "wage a long struggle/battle w/ cancer," as the cliche goes.

This Is The Last One, Really (Well, Probably)

Britney Spears Vagina Uninjured After Car Crash

The lack of a possessive apostrophe makes one wonder if they're not referring to someone named Britney Spears Vagina, who just lived through an accident.

Spare The Rod & Spoil The Child, & Other Lies From Gawd's Big Book of Lies

If you didn't poke your eyes &/or ears out w/ a sharp or dull object first, you've probably heard or read a right wing personage state that any mention of any racial disparities in these United Snakes is "playing the race card," unless of course said wingnut is complaining that white people can't get jobs as a result of Affirmative Action policies. However, survey says:

African American students are more than twice as likely to be paddled. The disparity persists even in places with large black populations, the study found. Similarly, Native Americans were more than twice as likely to be paddled, the study found. The study also found: In states where paddling is most common, black girls were paddled more than twice as often as white girls. Boys are three times as likely to be paddled as girls. Special education kids were more likely to be paddled.

Yessir, whip them darkies & injuns, & don't forget the 'tards. By gawd, if them retards is actin' dumb, we'll whip some fuckin' brains into them!! An' we got a differnt punishment in mind fer th' little misses, heh heh. Just Another Blog™ would like to know where the fuck Human Rights Watch Commie fags who are trying to sissify our kinder? You decide.) were during the '60s, when some members of the editorial staff were permanently turned into sociopathic attempted spree killers by being whipped w/ a belt by parental units & paddled by some fucking asshole Episcopal priest at one or another of the shitholes of fascist religious indoctrination our parents sent us to? Other swell survey info:

Researchers also interviewed students, parents and school personnel in Texas and Mississippi, states that account for 40 percent of kids who were paddled in the 2007 school year.

Texas, leading the nation in state-sanctioned murder & state-sanctioned child abuse.

As one might expect, this sort of thing is widespread across the Bible Belt.

A majority of states have outlawed it, but corporal punishment remains widespread across the South. Behind Texas and Mississippi were Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida and Missouri.

Is it too late to let these cesspools of reaction, ignorance & brutality secede from This Great Nation Of Ours™?

Heather Porter, who lives in Crockett, Texas, was startled to hear her little boy, then 3, say he'd been spanked at school. Porter was never told, despite a policy at the public preschool that parents be notified. "We were pretty ticked off, to say the least. The reason he got paddled was because he was untying his shoes and playing with the air conditioner thermostat," Porter said. "He was being a 3-year-old."

The nerve of a three-yr.-old to act like a three-yr.-old!! We hope that paddling taught him to act like a ten- or twelve-yr.-old. Hell, a good beating might send him all the way into adulthood, & we wouldn't have to educate him further.

Carte blanche is given to so-called educators to commit sadistic brutality against weak, defenseless children.

Widespread paddling can make it unlikely that forms will be checked. A teacher interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Tiffany Bartlett, said that in her Austin, Texas, school, the policy was to lock the classroom doors when the bell rang, leaving stragglers to be paddled by an administrator patrolling the hallways. And even if schools make a mistake, they are unlikely to face lawsuits. In places where corporal punishment is allowed, teachers and principals generally have legal immunity from assault laws, the study said.

If we aren't mistaken, it's usually the sort of two-bit prick who wangles himself an "administrator's" job who most enjoys this sort of thing. And it doesn't improve the child, just makes some piece of shit adult feel like a "man" for a few moments. It really is about the "grown-ups," not the yout'.

There is scant research on whether paddling is effective in the classroom. But many studies have shown it doesn't work at home, said Elizabeth Gershoff, a University of Michigan assistant professor of social work. "The use of corporal punishment is associated almost overwhelmingly with negative effects, and that it increases children's problem behavior over time," Gershoff said. Children may learn to solve problems using aggression, and a sense of resentment might make them act out more, Gershoff said.

[...] "We teach our children that violence is wrong, yet corporal punishment teaches children that violence is a way to solve problems," said Jan Harp Domene, the group's president. "It perpetuates a cycle of child abuse. It teaches children to hit someone smaller and weaker when angry."

For extra laughs, look at the comments, where paddling is extrapolated to "A foot in the ass." (Considered a good thing.)

Paddle the snot out of those little miscreants. Our culture has spared the rod in so many ways and now society is suffering from it. You can administer just punishment without getting sadistic or abusive. Children need to learn to respect their elders and teachers. Too many 'time outs' and not enough foots in asses, if you ask me. Oh, and enough with trying to put some sort of 'racism' in every damn article. I'm sick and tired of it.

No sadism or abuse involved w/ this piece of work. And he's sick & tired of being reminded of what a racist he is.

Twice A Day (If It's Not A 24-Hour Clock)

Left: A bit o' Vaseline™ or cheesecloth, no tighter than the waist, & she's lookin' good. Photo: Tom Kochel The lovely through soft-focus Kathleen Parker, who generally leans to the right, if not the far right, has an op-ed in the WaPo today that makes a whole pile of sense. (It can happen.)

Both Obama and McCain gave "good" answers, but that's not the point. They shouldn't have been asked. Is the American electorate now better prepared to cast votes knowing that Obama believes that "Jesus Christ died for my sins and I am redeemed through him," or that McCain feels that he is "saved and forgiven"?

What does that mean, anyway? What does it prove? Nothing except that these men are willing to say whatever they must – and what most Americans personally feel is no one's business – to win the highest office.

We do have to wonder what her quick bio on the WaPo Writers Group site means by this:

Twice weekly, she assesses the country’s mental health with a Rorschach uniquely her own – a reporter’s gimlet eye combined with a sense of humor that Parker attributes to having grown up with five mothers.

Five mothers? Was her father a Bluebeard, or just a Sleep-Around Sammy? Yeesh.

Hot Poop From The Inbox

We thought Britney Spears was like, so, like, totally, like, over, like, but she seems to be getting a new lease on life from the World O' Spam. The World O' Spam that appears in our in-box, anyway.

Britney Spears to Study Theoretical Quantum Mechanics at MIT Britneys vagina to attend AA on its own! Britney Spears Confession: 'I'm the Father of Anna Nicole Smith's Baby!' Bald Britney Spears Says Shaved Head Goes Well With Shaved Vagina Britney sues vagina for divorce Britney Spears and Brad Pitt naked video Britney shaves her head again. Also seen shopping naked. Britney Spears is dating Obama

[Stay away from our pure unsullied flowers of Southern womanhood, you uppityarrogant elitist!!]

Annals of Irony (Or Is It Hypocrisy?)

Dr. Rice:

"Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool it has always used when it wants to deliver a message . . . that's its military power," she told reporters on her airplane en route to Belgium. She said Russian bomber patrols during the last six months near the U.S. and Europe were, in particular, a "dangerous game."

Rice and President Bush have been intensifying their criticism of Russia in recent days over the fighting in Georgia.

And which state was it that invaded a sovereign nation, blah blah blah, illegal, blah, no threat, blah blah, & has been occupying it for the last five years? Russia? No, no, not Russia, it's, uh...you know, that big one on the other side from Russia, Cana–no, no, but it's near Canada, ummm, it's on the tip of my tongue... Which state invaded that same sovereign nation in 1991 after it "pulled a Georgia" & went to take back what it considered a breakaway area, Kuwait? (After, if not being encouraged, at least not told absolutely not to do it, or else. Does that sound familiar?) Are there any similarities between that & what Russia did? Not really, because Russia was dealing w/ a problem right on its border, involving people holding Russian passports (although there's plenty of suspicion about those). And which presidential candidate made the big "not in the 21st century statement," conveniently forgetting the invasion/occupation & his "surge" & all that? Two wrongs don't make a right, nor do three wrongs, or five or lebenty-zillion. As far as we're concerned here, the Russkis & the Georgians can & should both go fuck themselves w/ splintery broomsticks. None of that excuses Dr. Rice & her foolishness, however.

Rice said a strong statement from NATO leaders would show the Russians that they will not succeed in their "strategic objective" of undermining the government of Georgia and the country's democracy. U.S. officials say they recognize that North Atlantic Treaty Organization members are divided on how far to go in pushing Russia, which is a key supplier of oil and gas to Europe. But they believe they can bring stronger pressure if NATO issues even a general statement of support for the government of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and begins a public discussion of retaliatory measures against Russia. American officials believe the Europeans have great leverage over the Russians, who want ties to the European economy.

Last paragraph must have been on "deep background" from the doc herself. Seriously, a "strong statement" will show Russia it "won't succeed?" All it has to do now is make a U-turn in the direction of Tbilisi (assuming it truly is pulling out of Georgia proper) & it's succeeded. Yeah, the Russians are really scared of those "strong statements of support." Worth the paper they're written on, that's for sure. Hurts like a slap on the wrist, too. And we'd guess they'd be happy w/ gas & oil ties to the Euro-economy. Meaning that the U. S. would have to let ProfitCo Oil loose offshore & in your backyard to keep the Euros happy. Or warm. Or watching American movies.

Pravda Gets The Boot

We had an idle interest in pointing out what a bloodthirsty weasel Max Boot (stamping on a human face forever?) is, in this op-ed item, but our good friends at the paragon of Russian journalistic excellence, PRAVDA.Ru, while not exactly beating us to it (we decided not to bother w/ dead horse Boot after all) did a masterful job (we're kidding, really) of abusing Boot. PRAVDA.Ru may especially have it in for Max as he was born in Moscow, & raised in Los Angeles (per Wikipedia, anyway, but no other details). Oh, one other thing about Bootie (again, per Wikipedia, not much more reliable than PRAVDA.Ru) that the Incredible Shrinking Newspaper©™ neglected to mention in the little thing at the end of the column:

Boot is currently a foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain in his bid to win the 2008 United States presidential election.[5]

Ooops. Maybe the LAT is a source of disinformation. Max's thesis:

We should also do more to help Georgia defend itself. Sending American troops is out of the question, but we can send American equipment. That's what we did in 1973 when Israel appeared on the verge of losing the Yom Kippur War, and it is a favor we should extend to our embattled ally in the Caucasus. The greatest bang for the buck would come from two inexpensive hand-held missiles: the Stinger to destroy Russian aircraft and the Javelin to destroy tanks. Pictures of long columns of Russian vehicles advancing slowly down winding mountain roads indicate that a few well-placed missiles could wreak havoc with their operations.

What a military genius! We really don't understand why The Boot is opposed to sending more of our girls & boys to die for other countries, but at least the arms manufacturers who doubtless pay Boot a princely sum to shill for them can make a few bucks on the deal. PRAVDA.Ru is as mean & juvenile as Just Another Blog™. Do remember that this PRAVDA is not the house organ of the Russian Empire, as the original was the mouthpiece of the Soviets, although we haven't the slightest idea who or what is behind this version. It's funny, though.

The piece “Stand up to Russia” was shown to me by a Russian friend, who asked me to reply in PRAVDA.Ru, which was quoted in this two-page schmuckfest of unadulterated bilge. It could almost have been printed by the British Bullshit Corporation or written by that other insolent female who got a Pulitzer. Max Boot, “Senior fellow in National Security Studies at the Council of Foreign Relations” is the name of the author in this case.

"Schmuckfest." Ha ha. We'd like to know who the "other insolent female" is.

Fair- Minded, Even-Handed

Jerome Corsi, paranoid, racist, author of "that Obama Book" & a lying sack of poopy-doody as well, seems to be impartial in his hatred for, & willingness to lie about, anyone who gets a (presumptive) Big Two Party presidential nomination. (In deep ominous voice: Or is it a lie?)

ELECTION 2008 McCain fortune traced to organized crime Mob figures later implicated in Arizona savings and loan scandal Posted: February 26, 2008 9:29 pm Eastern By Jerome R. Corsi© 2008 WorldNetDaily John McCain's personal fortune traces back to organized crime in Arizona, through his father-in-law, according to a report published by a multi-news agency team called Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.

Germs fans will dig this part.

In 1977, after Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles was killed when his car was blown up by the mob in a parking lot, a team of 36 journalists from 27 news organizations, known as IRE, published an 80,000 word 23-part series on organized crime in Arizona. Dan Nowicki and Bill Muller, reporting in the Arizona Republic March 1, 2007, documented that in 1953, Hensley was again charged with falsifying records at Marley's liquor firms. Hensley was found not guilty after being defended by William Rehnquist, the future chief justice of the Supreme Court, Nowicki and Muller wrote. In 2000, Hensley, then 80 years old, still controlled the Budweiser distributorship valued as a $200 million-a-year business, with annual sales of more than 20 million cases of beer. On Feb. 17, 2000, Pat Flannery reported in the Arizona Republic that Hensley's beer-distribution empire was the fifth largest in the nation, "a Budweiser franchise whose bigwigs hold the No. 2 spot on Sen. John McCain's all-time career list of corporate donors."

Interesting, no?

Survey Says: Americans Just Plain Cretinous

A recent poll published in today's Archives of Surgery reveals that a majority of Americans probably should not be allowed out of the house w/o a helmet, & a poorly-paid 'tard minder as well, although it appears enough brain damage has already been done that it's already too late for most of them.

An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle." More than half of randomly surveyed adults — 57 percent — said God's intervention could save a family member even if physicians declared treatment would be futile. And nearly three-quarters said patients have a right to demand such treatment.

Now we know why health care costs so damn much: Keeping junior on the ventilator until gawd gets around to fixin' him. As usual, there's no mention of why the "omnipotent" spook-in-the-sky allows traumas to happen in the first place, but these pathetic sheep are so happy/amazed when anyone survives trauma, even momentarily, that the others involved, who died in horrible agony, pinned in the car w/ a steel rod through their guts while they burned to death, are soon forgotten, along w/ gawd's "allowing" this to happen. The survey was taken so that trauma/emergency room personnel would understand that a majority of the people who live in this country holds these superstitions to be self-evident, meaning that the medical people must make a special effort to prove that trauma victims are damaged beyond recovery & won't be experiencing a miracle. Jeezis Hussein Christ, it's like practicing medicine in the third world!! If the natives' belief systems are threatened, they'll run away screaming "Witchcraft! Demons!!" & never return to be inoculated against beri beri or whatever.

Why We Fight: The First Amendment

Click & then click "Listen Now" to hear how the United States military respects the First Amendment to the Constitution. Aren't they supposed to be defending the Constitution, or is that some sort of lie? We just can't believe that our own gov't. would lie to us. Can you? "They hate us for our freedoms," remember?

Foreign Policy Fuck-Ups: Eight Yrs. of "Work" Down The International Crapper

If the NYT is the "Liberal Bible," is the L. A. Times therefore the "Liberal Catechism," or the "Liberal Hymnal?" We ask because of two different pieces we encountered w/in minutes in today's Incredible Shrinking Newspaper©™ (Now being run by the guy who started DirecTV for Hughes Corp. How's that going to work out? Satellite xmissions to your fucking iPod to save the trees?) while standing outside the Santa Monica Central Library getting some nicotine before entering to type for a while. The following was on page A1.

Georgia-Russia conflict a blow to Bush foreign policy The president's reliance on diplomacy based on personal relations with leaders such as Putin and his push to establish democracies from the top down has proved not so viable. By Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer August 18, 2008 WASHINGTON -- In the last week, two major pillars of President Bush's approach to foreign policy have crumbled, jeopardizing eight years of work and sending the administration scrambling for new strategies in the waning months of its term. From the earliest days of his presidency, Bush had said spreading democracy was a centerpiece of his foreign policy. At the same time, he sought to develop a more productive relationship with Russia, seeking Moscow's cooperation on issues such as terrorism, Iran's nuclear program and expansion of global energy supplies. And in pursuing both these major goals, Bush relied heavily on developing what he saw as strong personal relationships with foreign leaders. The recent setbacks to the president's approach were all the more unsettling because Georgia had appeared to be one of the few success stories in the administration's effort to nurture new democracies that could advance U.S. interests.

Sheer ego & arrogance on Bush's part. Does he really think he's so charming that actual world leaders will treat him as his daddy's business buddies did? Just a hint, George: None of that had anything to do w/ your drunken frat boy personality, it had to do w/ your family's power & money. Even were you a charming sophisticate, there are other things going on, as evidenced in this Gregory Rodriguez op-ed:

Consider what Sheik Allahshukur Pashazadeh, the chairman of the Muslim Board of the Caucuses, told me over tea and grapes: "There are never friends in politics. Individuals have friends, countries don't. Their interests are too complicated." "What does 'friend' mean?" echoed Samad Seyidov, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee in the Azerbaijani parliament. "We just want normal relations."

See? The chair of the Muslim Board of the Caucuses (Izzat a typo for Caucasus, or does he really mean more than one caucus?) wiser than Bush. We could go on about the horrors & inequities of relationship-based commerce, employment & the like. But we'll let this serve as an example.

End of An Era

Below: Pervie M. makes retirement announcement in multi-screen video installation. Photo: Shakil Adil/APKing of Paki-Rap Pervie M., a/k/a General Mooshie, announced today that he is leaving show biz. In a move reminiscent of American entertainer Tricky Dicky in 1974, Pervie M. is getting out "to get real w/ his family" just ahead of possible payola impeachments that might have forced him to give up his gig anyway. Pervie's long career was mentioned by Condi "Boots" Rice, a spokes model for his management team, the Gov't. of The United Snakes of Amerikkka.

Condoleezza Rice praised Musharraf as “a friend to the United States and one of the world’s most committed partners in the war against terrorism and extremism.”

Increasing factional & gang-related violence in the world of Pakistani hip-hop was one of the hallmarks of Pervie M.'s rise to stardom, following his signing w/ the Amerikkkan management group.

Many Pakistanis blame the rising militant violence in their country on Musharraf's alliance with the United States. His reputation suffered blows in 2007 when he ousted dozens of judges and imposed emergency rule. His rivals won February parliamentary elections and have since sought his ouster, announcing impeachment plans earlier this month.

We only wish that the current King of Amerikkkan Show Bidness, Gee-Dub, had been forced to take his act far away from our nation's telebision screens by potential impeachments. Maybe he realizes that his family would as soon undergo perpetual root canals in the ninth circle of hell than spend any time w/ him. And the judges of Amerikkkan Idolator could never seem to summon enough intestinal fortitude to kick Georgie Boy to the curb, under the bus & off the island, no matter how lame & stale his act became. The competition between Big Band vocalist Sidney "Puffy Face" McCain III & Barry O., the youthful "conscious rapper" w/ a message of hope & ponies, which will determine the next King of Amerikkkan Show Bidness, only now enters the public's mind, but when Amerikkkan Idolator resumes on Fox this Oct., after the World Series, emotions are expected to run high. It is estimated that as many as 40 to 50 million Amerikkkans will pull out their mobile 'phones & vote in the contest.

Jerry Wexler Dead at 91

Jerry Wexler, who did as much as any honkie to bring the Afro-European musical synthesis to the attention of Euro-Americans, died; his obits are all over, but we did like this from the NYT:

“I asked him once,” said Mr. Thurman, the filmmaker, “ ‘What do you want written on your tombstone, Jerry?’ He said, ‘Two words: More bass.’ ”

Yeah. And Jerry was a foul-mouthed atheist, as well.

Annals Of Disturbed Behavior

We find paranoia, at least this kind, highly amusing. (We only suffer from depression & a certain desire to murder certain people – no, we're not so foolish or stupid as name any of them – rather than a conviction that the "gov't." is trying to keep us from exercising our rights. Well, of course the gov't. would like to keep all of us from exercising anything but our wallets, but they're not coming after us personally yet.) We also mention this story because the alleged perpetrator used to hang out at the same Day Care for the Disturbed that we do. We recognize the name, though we forget what he looks like. We also wonder if it's his original name, "Aaron Brothers" being a chain of art supply & framing stores. Maybe the name drove him mad, if it is his birth name, not that any one forced him to use all three names.

Richard Rea, a staff assistant and field representative at Dreier's district office in San Dimas, testified during a July 29 preliminary hearing that Brothers left three "very colorful" phone messages on the district office's answering machine late June 12 and early June 13, according to a transcript of the preliminary hearing. Rea testified that Brothers said in the messages he liked to wear women's underwear and made numerous vague references to "purple and pink," using profane language throughout the messages. Brothers also said wearing women's underwear "was his right...and that the government was taking his right away from him - preventing him from doing that," Rea testified.

Fascist bastards. How dare they? We blame George W. Bush himself for this travesty of justice.

Brothers was arrested by sheriff's deputies July 9, and during an interview at the San Dimas station the following day admitted he made the calls to Dreier's office, Detective Rudolf Schaap testified July 29. He told the detective he made the calls because "he was tired of people not listening to him and tired of people harassing him" for wearing women's underwear, Schaap testified. Brothers also said he had no intention of carrying out the treats, Schaap testified.

We should probably add that it is rumored (we heard it on the radio just last Friday) that Rep. Drier is of the gay persuasion, though he himself hasn't uncloseted himself, as he is a "no 'special' rights for homos" Republican. Perhaps that's why Mr. Brothers appealed to him, as Mr. Drier's district is quite a dusty, dreary distance inland from our beautiful seaside enclave of Santa Monica. Not that men wearing women's undies necessarily has anything to do w/ gayness. And we'll point out to Mr. Brothers that if one doesn't say anything about what's under one's jeans, no one else need know or interfere. No one, by the way, is going to listen to anyone whose chief topic of conversation is that he's wearing women's panties. No one knows what Your Editor sports under his Rustler jeans, for example.