Archive for January 27, 2012
Shopping at the Pentagon
Yep, it’s true. There are shops at the Pentagon. Given the nature of the corporatocracy we live in, I don’t know why I’m surprised:
America’s Most Dangerous Mall: Going Shopping at the Pentagon
Take a tour at the link above.
Here are some of the high low lights:
Chocolate Rain (of Terror)
If it has patriotic value, the Edward Marc candy shop can make something chocolatey out of it. (The Marine Corps logo? Semper Fi, fat boy.) Inexplicably, the chocolatier is one of the first things a visitor sees after coming up the escalator from the Metro entrance. This edible model of the building costs only $1.95.
The World’s Deadliest Tchotchkes
By far the most meta store in the Pentagon. From windbreakers to shot glasses to snapback baseball caps, the gift shop turns the movie version of the Pentagon — the fantasy one where it’s all war-planning, all the time — into cheesy collectables to hawk to the out-of-towners and class trips that take the daily guided tours. If only they made a sweatshirt with an image of an idle lieutenant colonel waiting to be promoted.
Filed under: We the People, Wars, Terror, Financial Crisis, Corporatocracy, Fear and Our Tax Dollars.
Obama Sits Down With George H. W. Bush and Jeb Bush in the Oval Office
You can be absolutely, positively, 100% sure you won’t see this on Fox:
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
President Barack Obama meets with former President George H.W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the Oval Office, Jan. 27, 2012.
(Via the White House/Flickr.)
A Desperate Romney Now Claims He Pays Closer to 50% in Taxes
The fact is, Mitt Romney paid 13.9% on his 2010 income. We found that out on Tuesday when he released that year’s tax return and a “projection” for his 2011 tax liability.
Fast forward three short days:
Romney: Actually, I Kind of Pay 50% Tax
I’m pretty surprised that Mitt Romney’s team let their guy go down this path. Or maybe it’s just him. Stung by the 13.9% tax rate story and goaded on by some conservative columnists, Mitt Romney is now saying that his actual tax rate is “really closer to 45 or 50 percent.”
[...]
Romney’s argument is that even though he pays only 13.9%, he’s really paying something like 45% to 50% because the investment income he lives on comes from corporations who in turn also pay taxes.
This is silly. Investment income is taxed at 15%. End of story. You can see how stung he and his campaign must be by this story that they’re actually trying to make this cockamamie argument.
Folks, it’s January. January! Come November, if Romney gets the nomination, his tax liability will be 7,000% and he and his “people” will have us believe he’s homeless and living on the street. Ugh. Just think. We’ve got nine more months of this bullshit to slog through.
Sunday’s Face the Nation — Six Republicans, One Democrat
Ah yes, the “liberal media:”
I don’t know who “Barry” is but Debby Wasserman Schultz is the only Democrat among Newt Gingrich, Reince Priebus (the head of the RNC), Michelle Bachmann, Rep. Allen West of Florida (R-Insane), Donald Trump and Diaz-Balart (there are several prominent people in Florida’s Diaz-Balart family. I don’t know specifically which one will be on on Sunday, but they’re Republicans.
Anyway, this is CBS. Righties point to CBS as one of the most liberal outlets in the nation.
Yeah. Right.
The Coalition of the Withdrawing
Maybe the US should take a lesson:
Photo: Philippe Wojazer/AP
France Will Speed up Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan by One Year
France said Friday that it will accelerate the pullout of its combat forces from Afghanistan by one year, to the end of 2013, and in concert with Afghanistan urged NATO to hand over all combat operations to the Afghan army by the same date.
President Nicolas Sarkozy made the unexpected proposal with the visiting Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, standing at his side. The French-Afghan initiative, which would speed up the agreed NATO timetable by one year, dramatized growing uncertainty—in Afghanistan as well as NATO countries—over the wisdom and effectiveness of the U.S.-led military campaign to force the Taliban to submit to Karzai’s U.S.-supported government.
Ah, This is the Life
Look at that face; those eyes:
Photo: Sergey Gorshkov
This bear looked the picture of contentment as he relaxed in what appeared to be a bath of bubbles.
The animal was caught on camera as he submerged himself in the foam that had been produced by a nearby waterfall.
Sergey Gorshkov risked life and limb to get up close and personal for the shot.
The photographer, from Moscow, Russia, spent seven years among the bears near Kamchatka, Russia.
He even braved a month living in a tent in order to be closer to the group of animals.
He said: ‘This is one of my favourite images of the bear.
What a beautiful animal.
Political Cartoon of the Day
The political cartoon featured in my local newspaper today is great. It guesses at the conversation Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and President Obama had in Tucson earlier this week during which Governor Brewer stuck her finger in Obama’s face.
Check it out here. The first line is from Brewer: “Welcome to the Mecca for hate. Just kidding! How was the flight from Kenya?”
Love it.
