Friday Follies: The 'screw you lot, I'm going on vacation' edition...

No-one reads this bloody thing anyway so I'm going on holiday...

Cheers!

For this "Environmentally-Friendly" President it is time to put-up, or shut-up...

You wouldn't know this from the M$M in the US, but there has been an ongoing, peaceful protest outside the Whitehouse in Washington D.C. which has resulted in hundreds of arrests. Whilst the presstitutes in the lapdog media chase their own tails covering a story about a missing attractive white-woman in Aruba (note to hot white chicks, don't go to Aruba), and get themselves all a-lather about a "massive" 5.8 earthquake on the East Coast (note to East-coasters, the California sub-strata farts bigger than 5.8), normal, average citizens along with a few minor celebrities, have decided to protest a trans-continental pipeline that some have called the "end-game" for the planet's climate.

Among those arrested is a personal hero of mine, Bill McKibben, a tireless advocate for the environment and founder of 350.org. He also authored one of the most startling and 'un-put-downable' books about global climate change that I have ever read. The book's title is 'Eaarth' and I highly recommend to all of my reader that they get their hands on a copy as soon as possible, to get a real clue as to what is going on, and where we are headed.

Make no mistake, this pipeline would be an environmental disaster, not only along it's entire length (pipelines tend to break - just look at the recent disaster in the Yellowstone River in Montana if you don't believe me), but from it's source too. This isn't drilling, it is something much nastier and quite possibly the least 'clean' method of recovering oil known to man. The only thing more damaging to the planet would be to just open up the wells and let the oil belch out...oh wait...B.P. did that in the Gulf last year, and Shell did that earlier this month in the North Sea...Never mind.

But here's where the rubber meets the road. The company that wants to build this pipeline is Canadian, and as such they have to ask the U.S. State department permission to go ahead. This is not something that is up for congressional debate, conveniently side-stepping the inevitable hostage crisis that the rethuglicans would manufacture, but something that the Obama administration has the final word on, end of story. If Obama says yes, it goes ahead and once again the environment (and the entire planet) gets screwed, if he says no, it is dead in the water. Done. Finito. The question is, what will he say?

This is a defining moment in his Presidency. Some may argue that whacking OBL has the 'it' moment, or the collapse of Tripoli and Libya was the 'it' moment that vindicated his foreign policy and therefore cemented his legacy in the history books. I disagree. I think this decision is what will define him and his Presidency. Obama swept into office promising us that he would increase the efforts to "heal the planet", and try to strengthen environmental protections and invest heavily in 'green, sustainable' energy. Sadly he has fallen woefully short on all three promises. He was bullied into allowing more deep-sea drilling even as the Gulf was still being poisoned by BP, he has steadfastly refused to protect endangered animals, and he has proposed building more nuclear power plants (hello Fukushima) and invest in "clean-coal" (the single greatest example of corporate-speak ever). Wind power? Solar? Naaaah, faaaak orf mate, that's tree-huggin' hippie-shit...

Here's the bottom line: Obama can, with a single stroke of his pen, stand up for the environment and kill this project stone-fucking-dead, or he can do what he has done for almost the entirety of his Presidency, and continue to kowtow to the bidding of big business.

Sadly, I think I already know which way he will go.

Here's my pledge to you: If he does the former I will send a donation to his re-election campaign (even though I have said in the past I wouldn't).

If he does the latter I will send a donation to 350.org and hope that Obama's corporate benefactors send him enough money to get re-elected, because he will have seen his last dime from me.

Quite simply, it's time for him to put up, or shut up.

This is what being number one in the world looks like....

Congratulations to the entire team, especially their coach Andy Flower, who has instilled such a tremendous work ethic/ team-focus that they have been able to beat the convicts home and away in back-to-back Ashes victories, and whitewashed the former number one test team in the world 4-0...

Well done boys, you've done us all proud!!

Monday Morning Mutterings: I'm stumped...and no, that's not a lame cricket joke...

I find myself in a most unfamiliar and rather peculiar position this morning: I am not annoyed by anything much. I had a great weekend with my ladies, the weather was bloody gorgeous, the England cricket team is rampant, the Cubs continue to suck, Da Bears will probably blow, Da Bulls will probably amaze, the Blackhawks will likely kick some ass, and I am a week away from going on vacation.

So i'll save my snark about the fickle and insulting M$M coverage of another (potentially) dead white girl in Aruba, some vapid bubble-butted bitch's attempt to upstage the recent royal nuptials with her own exchanging of vows (for the second or third time - i'm not sure which), and the total lack of coverage of an environmental protest in D.C. until later in the week...

Have a great week you all...

Friday Follies: This time they're funny...I promise...

In the midst of all of the dire political news this week (and for a progressive, trust me, it was pretty bloody bleak) as the crazies in the gop presidential nomination contest try and out 'moron' each other in their race to the bottom, comes some news from the entertainment world that made me seriously laugh out loud. So I thought I would share it with you.

Amongst all of the vast variety of godawful dreck and santorum* currently on the American television airwaves, there is one particularly unappealing 'reality' show called 'Jersey Shore', that stands out as one of the absolute worst. I must confess that I have never actually watched this skid-mark of a show, but I have heard enough about it to know that I would hate everything about it. (For those of you that are saying to yourselves "If you've never watched it, how can you say that it sucks?" I say this, I have never had a red-hot-poker colonoscopy either, but I don't need to have one to figure out that it sucks, okay?) The premise, apparently, is simply following a bunch of unemployed Nu Joisey twenty-somethings around (alright, I assume they are unemployed...I mean I have never heard that they actually have jobs and I'm not sure that McDonald's allows cameras in their food-preparation areas anyway) in their never-ending quest to tan, go to the gym, shop, drink, shout, swear and fuck.

I know, sounds great doesn't it?? Ugh, kill me now.

Anyhoo, apparently one of the 'stars' of the show, a douche-nozzle who calls himself 'The Situation', has been approached by a clothing manufacturer with a rather large cash offer. Ordinarily this is what reality 'stars' are ultimately after, fame and fortune, you know, so that they can continue to tan, go to the gym, shop, drink, shout, swear and fuck, but this offer is a little different. You see, in this instance the clothing company (Abercrombie & Fitch) are willing to pay this mashed-up bag of stupid a very large amount of money NOT to wear their clothes. Yup, you read that right, they think he is soooooooooo toxic to their company image that they are willing to pay him, NOT to be associated with them in any way whatsoever.

The problem is, this dumbass will probably take it as a compliment.....but it is refreshing to see that at least one company out there has drawn the line as to just how low they are willing to go...


Which brings me to this question; look, I know that the money is still green, and it will still spend the same, but holy cow, just how bad do you have to suck to have someone offer to pay you NOT to use their product??


..............

Okay, I lied...there is going to be one tiny little bit about politics. Just in case you haven't seen it yet because you were vacationing on Pluto or something, here is the funniest picture of Batshit Bachmann you are ever likely to see....

I guess that's what she really meant when she said she was more than capable of handling President Obama...

Have a great weekend kids!!!





*Look it up - it's disgusting and funny at the same time, especially when you realize it's also the surname of one of the most rabidly anti-gay republicans currently on the campaign trail for the Whitehouse...

More proof that Global Climate Change is a vast hippie conspiracy theory...

....or not

I swear, the deniers won't believe it (as though climate change relies solely upon the belief of morons to actually exist) until they see all of Floriduh under water...which, come to think of it, might not be such a bad idea...

Too bad none of them can do the math...

Monday Morning Mutterings: The Mormon, the Moron and the Mouthpiece...

With deepest apologies to C.S. Lewis, but that line just popped into my head this morning as I digested the results of this weekend's Iowa Straw Poll . The three front-runners for the republican nomination became a little clearer, and it is not encouraging for those of us that like to be able to go to sleep at night knowing that when we wake up we will still be in a free and democratic republic. Mitt Romney skipped the whole thing so as not to have his media-gifted title of 'front-runner' tarnished by an ass-kicking from the crazy broad from Minnesota, and Rick Perry was a no-show as he only just jumped into the race and therefore wasn't on the ballot. I am not sure what illness afflicts the poor souls that decided that Michelle Bachmann was a better choice than Ron Paul or any of the other rethuglican crazies, but I sincerely hope it isn't contagious.

From a progressive's standpoint what took place this weekend was merely a precursor of teh stoopid that is about to befall this country over the next year and a half, and it doesn't make for pretty, or soothing reading.  The presstitutes in the M$M were falling all over themselves to cover this extravaganza of hatred, fear and bile, and they went orgasmic following Rick Perry's announcement that he is throwing his (ten-gallon) hat into the ring. Yeah, that's just what this country needs, another fucking Texan in the Whitehouse....

Now I know it's early days, but this field is so utterly and completely dreadful that you can't help but be scared at the thought of ANY of these certifiable lunatics making it into the Whitehouse. As a progressive, Obama has done a decent impression of a moderate republican (yes, they did exist at one time) and he has been little more than a series of let-downs and disappointments when it comes to sticking to liberal ideals, but shit, at least he's sane...The same can't be said about his potential opponents.

Ordinarily I would sit back and laugh at the crazy people playing at being grown-ups, but with the Corporations newly emboldened by the Citizen's United ruling, allowing them to spend untold millions on their favourite whore candidate, and the lapdogs in the media willing to do their bidding, I fear that there is a very real chance that one of these psychopaths could very well end up in the Oval Office.

Understand, in a 'fair' fight, with no interference from either Big Biz or a bent media machine this wouldn't even be close, not by a country mile, but that is not the case anymore, and there is a concerted effort by the right-wing and their Corporate paymasters to make sure that Obama is the first Black President not to get re-elected.

If this was just politics as normal, if this was just political gamesmanship and D.C. insider-type bullshit I would say 'so what' and move on, but the agenda proposed by these lunatics in the gop is so radical, so destructive, and so frightening to any non-crazy, freedom-and-liberty-loving person, that we have to suck it up and back the President, however let-down we may feel by him. Why? Because the alternative is simply too terrifying to contemplate.

Sinclair Lewis famously said "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross". Take a look at the current republican candidates and tell me which one that doesn't apply to....

Not the best start to the week I know, but hey, I calls 'em as I see 'em....

Peace y'all.

Friday Follies: Sometimes there is a little justice in the world.

As many of you may not know private prisons, i.e. ones that are not run by the State, but run by corporations on behalf of the State, for profit, are an up and coming industry. Their insidious growth in the United States is staggering, and as more and more States look for ways to cut their budgets by paying corporations to run their State Penns for them, their growth is going to continue.

If that doesn't make you nervous, the fact that a judge in Pennslyvannia has just been sentenced to 28 years behind bars because he was taking kick-backs from the developer of one of these for-profit detention centres to send kids his way, should chill you to the bone.

This miserable, greedy, evil bastard ruined the lives of thousands of kids over the years by sending them to jail, rather than giving them more appropriate sentences, and in the process pocketed over a million dollars. I can think of nothing more despicable, and nothing more terrifying, than a system that allows a judge to have a financial interest in the outcome of criminal proceedings.

This country has already re-started de facto debtors prisons, and with the teabag terrorists rush to stem the flow of money going to the States from Washington, more and more States are going to have to cut ever-deeper in their own budgets. This in turn, will encourage the growth of more Corporate Prisons, and thereby increase the risk that life-ruining scams like this one, may happen again.

Thankfully, this particular corrupt bastard was caught, prosecuted and jailed, but one has to wonder if there are more of his kind out there right now, ruining countless lives whilst lining their own pockets...

Land of the free? Sure, if you have enough $$$$$$$$

Have a great weekend folks!

Riots and recalls and downgrades oh my!!!

The world seems to have slightly lost it's mind since the end of last week. In the UK, London (and several other cities) appear to be on fire. The reason (apparently) is that the Black community still has an issue with The Fuzz shooting unarmed men to death. Seems a bit strange bearing in mind that is an almost weekly occurence here in the land of the free* (actual 'freedom' may vary based upon religious belief, sexual orientation, colour of skin and/or State of residence)...

In the US of A the debt was downgraded, the stock market lost it's fucking mind and crashed out the nearest window, and the Speaker of the House (Sir John of Orange) got temporary amnesia. How else do you explain his press release after the news came out about S&P's downgrade that it was 'because the Democrats are in control in Washington'? Either he quit his job, there was a secret election and the Dems took back the House and no-one noticed, or he's a bald-faced fucking liar. (Hint, for those of you playing along at home, the answer is 'he's a bald-faced fucking liar').

But with all of this madness and mayhem going on there may be a small glimmer of hope. In the State of Wisconsin, which was Koch-punched last fall by a bunch of teabagging neanderthals that tried to roll that state's labour laws back to the 18th century, they are holding recall elections today of 6 republican State Senators. Despite the best efforts of the right-wing Koch-suckers in the Cheesehead State, who were unsuccessful in derailing the primary efforts of the Wis. Dems by running "fake" Dem candidates, today could mark the day when some semblance of sanity returns to that State. If the recalls are successful, a major road-block will be thrown up against the Tea-bagging agenda of the boss-eyed git that currently occupies the Statehouse there.

Here's hoping we finally get some good news on the political front, and get solid proof that the average Joe has had just about enough of these Teabagging morons and their self-defeating, extremist agenda.

Let's go Wisconsin!!! Recall them all!!!!

Monday Morning Mutterings: We're gonna need a bigger boat...

...so, after the market on Friday last, S&P decided to downgrade the credit rating of US Govt debt, even though the teabagging terrorists failed in their attempt to have the U.S. Govt default for the first time in history.

Quite naturally markets around the globe have used this as an excuse to collectively wet themselves and massive sell-offs have ensued.

They are forgetting one important thing: gettting downgraded by S&P, one of the rating agencies that is up to it's contingency fees in the CMO/CDO meltdown debacle that nearly caused the last crash in 2008, is rather like being told by Rupert Murdoch that you have no journalistic integrity. In other words, you have to consider the source. (Don't forget S&P made a $2 Trillion dollar error in their calculations and that still didn't deter them from making the downgrade anyway, and why would it, what's a couple of dozen zeros before the decimal place between friends?)

Bottom line, it's all a tempest in a teacup and the sign that you really ought to worry is if the Chinese suddenly stop buying dollars and switch to something more reliable. Like seashells, or magic beans.

Have a great week you all!

Friday Follies: Are you F*cking mad?

The markets quite comprehensively shit the bed yesterday as further proof that as economists, republicans make excellent truck drivers....In other news water is wet...

Baton down the hatches, keep your eyes open, and with any luck we'll all make it to happy hour....I'm buying...

Cheers!

Fukushima...yes it's still glowing...

I'm not deliberately trying to be a downer here, but just because the presstitutes in the M$M got bored with the story many weeks ago, doesn't mean it isn't still going on. The fact that TEPCO lied through their teeth when the spotlight was on them, means that now that the world media focus is elsewhere they can lie with fewer worries about being caught. That's a big problem when the lie isn't an oil-slick, or a phone-hacking scandal, but nuclear radiation.

One thing we should all take away from that article I linked is this: these massive new readings are as high as they are, solely because that's as high as the metering device can register. What that means is that the actual levels are likely several times worse, but they don't have anything that can measure that high....

So much for "clean" power...

Good thing President Obama doesn't want to build more nuclear power plants in the U.S......oh wait.....

Of debt ceilings and compromise...or why I wouldn't want Obama as a hostage negotiator..

The Scene: Washington D.C. Twilight. The Capitol Building is surrounded by hundreds of cop cars with their lights flashing brightly as the day gives way to night. A lone Sargeant has been using a megaphone to talk to some right-wing desperados that have holed themselves up in the Capitol Building. He has been talking to them for hours and been getting nowhere, so he calls for a hostage negotiator to back him up....

The hostage negotiator strolls up...

Prez:  "What's going on here Sargeant?"

Sarge: "There's a bunch of crazy-ass republicans in that building and they've taken the US economy hostage. They say they're going to kill the hostage unless they get 2.3 trillion in cuts."

Prez: "What? Gimme that megaphone (snatches megaphone from Sargeant's hands). Republicans, I agree with you that you should have the 2.3 trillion in cuts, let me go to my rich friends and get the money from them."

Republicans: "Fuck that, they've suffered enough. Get it from the poor and middle class."

Prez: "Let's be reasonable, I can get the money more easily from my rich friends, and they won't miss it as much as the poor and the middle class".

Republicans: "Are you fucking deaf? We said get it from the poor and the middle class, there's more of them than there are of us, um, the rich, so they have more to give."

Prez: "Hahahaha, a deaf joke? Is that because of the size of my ears?"

Republicans: "No you fucktard, if we wanted to make fun of your ears we would have called you Dumbo...now GIVE US THE CUTS OR THE HOSTAGE GETS IT!!!"

Prez: "Whoa now....let's calm down, I'm sure we can work things out. How about I give you your cuts and make the poor and the middle class pay for them, AND let you call it a victory for your side, AND piss off everyone that voted for me the last time? Would you agree to let the hostages go then?"

Republicans: "Only if we get to publicly laugh at you and call you Dumbo from now on."

Prez: "Deal!"

Republicans: (under their breath) "Shit that was too easy, we should have asked for naked pictures of Jill Biden as well. Never mind, we'll get that in a few months time when we 'negotiate' the budget, hehehehehehehe."

Sargeant: "All due respect Sir, but you suck as a negotiator. They got everything they wanted, PLUS some."

Prez: "My dear Sargeant, no-one really got hurt and the hostage made it out alive. That's what compromising is all about."

Sargeant: (under his breath) "Whatever, you clown, all I know is I don't want you negotiating when it comes time to renew my contract....seems to me I can't afford that much compromise..."

The End

Monday Morning Mutterings: More religious hypocrisy...Missouri High School Bans 'Slaughterhouse Five'...

In a country that seems increasingly to be governed by the religiously insane, a high-school in the ultra-red state of Missouri has banned Kurt Vonnegut's 'Slaughterhouse Five' because "it's principles are contrary to that of the bible". Not surprisingly the zealots doing the banning don't see the blindingly obvious cononundrum that they are creating by banning one piece of fiction because it doesn't agree with another piece of fiction. Of course the bigger non-surprise is that none of these invisible sky-daddy worshippers see the similarity between what they are doing and what the Taliban did when they destroyed centuries-old statues of Buddha for basically the same fucking reason. Must be because those folks were brown-skinned and worshipped the wrong invisible sky-daddy...

Oy vey...

Have a great week y'all!