Archive for December 13, 2010
Richard Holbrooke — Fair and Balanced
Richard Holbrooke, President Obama’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, died today at the age of 69. Way too young. My condolences to his family and friends.
The corporate media is lauding Holbrooke as a hero. For example, Andrea Mitchell, Alan Greenspan’s wife, was on The Rachel Maddow show a few minutes ago touting Holbrooke’s accomplishments. Granted, they were friends so I understand but while you listen to D.C. insiders talk about how wonderful Holbrooke was, you might want to balance their words with insights from the likes of Jeremy Scahill.
More perspectives on Holbrooke’s life will surface as people feel free to come out of the shadows which will, of course, take time.
UPDATE #1: Kwangju Declassified: Holbrooke’s Legacy — the part that won’t be mentioned.
Climate Change — Facts are Facts
Yeah, I know, Fox is screaming about how the snow and cold in the northeast is “proof” that climate change is a hoax.
That said, I’m in Boulder, Colorado where we haven’t had any snow (or rain) to speak of yet this fall. Not only that, it was 68º today compared to something like 47º in Tampa, Florida so what’s happening doesn’t seem very hoaxie to me.
Anyway, check out this NASA site where they’ve got every graph you could ever want showing things are not at all good. (Facts are facts folks.)
For example:
A State Bird? A State Flower? How About a State GUN?
The #1 issue Americans are worrying about these days is jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. But hey, a winger in Utah can’t wait to get to the statehouse next month so he can propose legislation to designate…a STATE GUN!
Virtually all states have a state bird, a state flower and a state motto. But Utah soon could be among the first to have an official state firearm — the Browning model 1911 .45-caliber handgun, designed by Utah gun maker John Moses Browning.
State GOP Rep. Carl Wimmer, a former police officer, a life member of the National Rifle Association and an instructor for concealed weapons classes, wants to take a shot at creating that designation when the Legislature convenes next month.
Yep. Republicans: Facing those hard issues head on.
Hate Paying Taxes?
To anyone who visits this site who hates paying taxes, I hope you’ve hired your own private firefighting service in protest over the fact that your local fire department is probably funded by YOUR TAX DOLLARS. Not only that, firefighters are “government employees” so they’re undoubtedly making waaaaaaay too much money, especially if they belong to a commie union.
Oh, and do you believe in American exceptionalism? Yes? Well, God can’t do it all by herself:
(Via.)
Hey, I have problems with how some of my tax dollars are spent too but come on.
2,400-Year-Old Pot of Soup Unearthed
I have got to remember to follow up on this. I would love to know what the ingredients are.
Chinese archaeologists have unearthed what they believe is a 2,400-year-old pot of soup, state media report.
The liquid and bones were in a sealed bronze cooking vessel dug up near the ancient capital of Xian – home to the country’s famed terracotta warriors.
Tests are being carried out to identify the ingredients. An odourless liquid, believed to be wine, was also found.
The pots were discovered in a tomb being excavated to make way for an extension to the local airport.
“It’s the first discovery of bone soup in Chinese archaeological history,” the newspaper quoted Liu Daiyun of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology as saying.
“The discovery will play an important role in studying the eating habits and culture of the Warring States Period (475-221BC).”
Judge Who Shot Down Health Care is a Walking Conflict of Interest
Earlier today Henry E. Hudson, a federal court judge in Virginia who was appointed by George W., ruled that the portion of the health care “reform” bill that requires individuals to purchase insurance or be penalized, is unconstitutional. Given his total, unmitigated conflict of interest (no question the guy should have recused himself), it’s no wonder:
Henry E. Hudson, the federal judge in Virginia who just ruled health care reform unconstitutional, owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform. You don’t say! As the Huffington Post and others first noted last July, Hudson’s annual financial disclosures show that he owns a sizable chunk of Campaign Solutions, Inc., a Republican consulting firm that worked this election cycle for John Boehner, Michele Bachmann, John McCain, and a whole host of other GOP candidates who’ve placed the purported unconstitutionality of health care reform at the center of their political platforms.
Nothing undermines trust in the rule of law more than appointing corrupt judges like Hudson who rule not based on fact and precedent, but on political preference. Oh, and isn’t it telling that rulings the right wing doesn’t like are made by “activists judges” but rulings they do like, like this one, are heralded as upholding the Constitution.
Guess I’ll Cancel My Car Insurance
Healthcare: U.S. Judge Rejets Key part of new Healthcare Law:
A federal judge in Virginia on Monday rejected part of the new healthcare law, becoming the first court to rule that Congress had placed an unconstitutional requirement on Americans to get health insurance.
The core of the state of Virginia’s lawsuit is the unprecedented insurance mandate in the new law, which will require most Americans to get health insurance starting in 2014 and penalize those who do not.
Since When Are Republicans “Deficit Hawks?”
Apparently the folks over at the “paper of record” — the New York Times — have already forgotten that George W. Bush entered office in 2001 with a balanced budget and by the time he left, had run up a huge deficit: The New York Times: Republicans are “Deficit Hawks:“
There’s simply no justification for a neutral-voiced article calling the incoming Republican majority “deficit hawks.” Republicans do claim to be for a balanced budget. So do Democrats (and dissenters are, as far as I can see, more or less equally distributed between the parties). Republicans did not run on a budget-balancing, or even deficit-reducing, program. To the contrary; the two major and significant budget-related planks of their platform, tax cuts and repealing ACA, would both enlarge the deficit significantly. (And do note that Republican campaign rhetoric targeted Medicare cuts — or, as Dems would put it, savings — not new government costs in the ACA).
The Times should also perhaps be reminded that there was a recent deficit-reduction commission. It failed to produce a recommendation, in no small part because the three House Republicans on the commission voted against the final product. Nor did they produce an alternative proposal that closed the deficit in a different way, at least not according to neutral scorers.
When, oh when, are we going to have a better media?
The Weeper of the House
Check out this video history of John Boehner’s crying jags.
If you watch and listen to what he’s saying here while bearing in mind that he is owned by corporations, you realize he’s a total, TOTAL phony.
