Mike's Blog Round Up
Hi, it's Actor212 again, of Simply Left Behind 
It's Monday. I know, sucks doesn't it? As many Republican politicians have said to themselves while drunk, "I wish I could unsuck it." I'll do my best.
- First off, a bit of nasty business from, of all people, Joel Stein at Time Magazine and the LA Times. Our intrepid reporter, Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo tips us off that "joel stein, big mucky muck columnist has obviously taken media bloodhound's hilarious idea for "ann coulter mad libs" and actually had the audacity to not only use it, but to claim that he invented it himself." You can see for yourself: stein's nov. 2 column and here is media bloodhound's piece from two weeks earlier. No jokes are directly taken, but the entire premise is nearly identical in each piece. I have an email into Stein. I'll update in comments should he or the LA Times respond.
- From Les Enrages: your primer on waterboarding. - Right wingers have had a field day with this story, as noted by Betsy Angert at My Left Wing. But she makes several good points in her rebuttal, and we might even begin to wean some kids off Ritalin, so that they don't end up hooked on OxyContin later in life.
- Did the US nuke Syria? Gun-Totin' Liberal thinks so, and was the first place I saw the actual evidence (albeit in Arabic). Personally, I doubt it. The Jerusalem Post pulled the story on Saturday (at least the links I saw) and Al Jazeera made no mention of it on their English language website. But you decide.
- As Mad In The Middle shows us, if you want to live like a Republican, vote Democratic.
- From First-Draft.com, Texas has paid federal hurricane aid to just 13 families....Governor Perry blames Mississippi and Louisiana????
My blog, Simply Left Behind, is locked in a tight battle for a 2007 Weblog Award. Your vote could make the difference. If you like what I've posted here today, please vote for Simply Left Behind. Two clicks, ten seconds, and you've voted. Thank you, for your time and your vote.
Great job!
It is impossible for a nuke attack to go undetected, even a "tactical one". There is no way this would go unreported. Whatever you may think of our media, Russian and Chinese media would have had a field day with this one had it actually occurred. Crap like this just gives liberals/progressives a bad name and should not be encouraged.
I keep hearing the phrase "tactical nuclear weapon" but I don't know that it means. Pardon my ignorance, can someone explain to me what a "tactical" nuclear weapon is? Does that mean it has an on-board guidance system?
Did Bush/Cheney give Musharraf a tutorial on how to turn a democracy into a dictatorship? Fighting a war in Iraq to get rid of a terrible dictator? Really, I think the jig is up for BushCo. Every American ought to be following the situation in Pakistan minutely. This is the country that Bush chose for one of his closest allies, and then he's killing our people in a country that wasn't any worse and probably better.
Mr. Bush: explain that.
drtoxic @ 3:
Tactical probably means it could reach Israel.
Interesting:
- Did the US nuke Syria? Gun-Totin’ Liberal thinks so, and was the first place I saw the actual evidence (albeit in Arabic). Personally, I doubt it. The Jerusalem Post pulled the story on Saturday (at least the links I saw) and Al Jazeera made no mention of it on their English language website. But you decide.
Clear Channel Communications should change their name to "Clearly Reich Wing Propaganda":
Glenn Beck Reportedly to Get Deal for $50M Over Five Years (NYT)
Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, is expected to announce today that it is extending Beck's contract. Two sources with knowledge of the deal said it was valued at $50 million over five years, through a combination of salary and profit-sharing from syndication.
kaT @ 4:
Musharraf's gone from being the Bush/Cheney poster-boy for a democratic Muslim country to what he really is; e.g. strongman with beat & 'em and lock 'em up if they protest tendencies.
Mike, thanks. That means a lot to me.
drtoxic @ 3:
From Wiki:
A tactical nuclear weapon (TNW) refers to a nuclear weapon which is designed to actually be used on a battlefield in military situations. This is as opposed to strategic nuclear weapons which are designed to threaten large populations or to generally deter attacks. Tactical nuclear weapons are generally considered part of a strategy of limited, rather than total, nuclear war.
drtoxic @ 3:
It means small. To use on a small scale, tactical level. In the context of Tactical vs. Strategic. ICBMs = Strategic weapons. Smaller, "battlefield weapons" = Tactical.
Walker @ 2:
Exactly. Lunacy. There's no way it was a nuke, especially considering a Nuke would be overkill.
November 5- Guy Fawkes Day. Get out your copies of V for Vendetta. More timely now than ever:
Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot ;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
‘Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God’s providence he was catch’d,
With a dark lantern and burning match
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!
Hip hip Hoorah !
Hip hip Hoorah !
A penny loaf to feed ol’Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar,’
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we’ll say: ol’Pope is dead.
Walker @ 2:
Yeah, it really is impossible for a nuke to go off without anyone noticing. The typical way to detect such a detonation is by seismic waves, which ripple all the way around the world... after all, this is how we suspected that Pakistan tested a nuke back in 1998, a day or two before they made an announcement.
Not only that, but the JP article that GTL cited just says that they bombed a suspected nuclear facility. Bombing a nuke facility might spread radioactive material all over the bomb site, but it will do jack shit as far as creating a nuclear explosion: a precise explosion pattern is required to create a critical mass and chain reaction... after all, that's what made it so difficult to develop the nuclear bomb in the first place during WWII.
Walker @ 2:
I agree with you, however, it had flung around the blogging world enough times that I thought people would be interested to see the actual information the story was based on, so I included it.
Roll Call is reporting Dems about to cave-in on war funding.
Big surprise!
Walker @ 2:
I agree for the most part. However...just to play devils advocate here...what if the countries you mentioned were frothing at the mouth for mideast oil as well? But looking at those pics...the area around the where the building was, looked relatively intact...I'm no spy photo expert, but it didn't look like a nuke was used...
drtoxic @ 3:
All "tactical" means, in this case, is "portable". A tactical nuclear weapon or "suitcase nuke" is something small enough to be carried and set up by one or two people, or fit on the end of a standard missile of a fighter jet.
Walker @ 2:
1. I completely agree. The international community would be going ape sh*t if herr dubyah dropped a nuke.
2. This was also "reported" [sic] by Stalkn' Malkin.
redratio1 @ 14:
I just expect it anymore. The Dem's lied out of their asses to get elected last Nov then completely reneged on their promises.
My comment on this being Guy Fawkes Day still in moderation. It's the ditty from the movie, guys. Better moderate V for Vendetta & the Wachowski Bros. as well...
Another trillion dollars pissed down the toilet... this time not on Iraq.
In the midst of Citigroup's CEO resigning in disgrace today, some analysts say that the fallout from the subprime mortgage collapse will cost around $1 trillion.
Meanwhile, our shambles of an infrastructure is going to cost $1.6 trillion to fix.
Regarding the Joel Stein Coulter Mad Libs -
I write comedy for a living. And I've discovered that the more you write, the more likely it is that you will have a similar idea to someone else's. I actually came up with an Ann Coulter mad libs idea myself a couple of years ago and didn't do anything with it. So I wouldn't be so sure that Stein plagarized the idea. Great minds think a like. It happens.
GTL:
It aint "noocleer" ... listen carefull:
its "new--cu--lar".
Jeez.
-- Your President, George.
Blue Buddha @ 20:
Put up your umbrella
Blue Buddha @ 16:
Tactical does not mean portable in this or any case. It has to do with the size and intended use. That they might have been in a suitcase or on a small missile is irrelevant.
We'll be greeted with "Flowers and Candy"
Tactical means its a battle usage weapon whereas stategic weapon tries to influence a war.
redratio1 @ 26:
Yes indeed. We all need to study death instead of life I suppose at this point.
25 L.A. Confidential Says: We’ll be greeted with “Flowers and Candy”
___________________________________________________________
The flowers will have thorns, and the candy coconut.
ysbaddaden @ 28:
Ragweed and chocolate covered cherries
alancross @ 21:
I agree with you, Alan. There are a couple of my fellow blogmates with whom I sync A LOT! In initially reading the story on Joel Stein I thought the same thing. Then I noticed the little TM sign. Why the trademark?
And Yet... @ 19:
OK. The same traditional Guy Fawkes Day song was posted @ firedoglake.com this a.m., which is where I got the idea to post it here in honor of the Brit holiday.
Is it the word "g_np_wder" the problem that stuck it in moderation?
29 Fanon Says: ysbaddaden @ 28:
25 L.A. Confidential Says: We’ll be greeted with “Flowers and Candy”
___________________________________________________________
The flowers will have thorns, and the candy coconut.
Ragweed and chocolate covered cherries
______________________________________________________
Pubic hair covered cherries.
this story only has legs to present the viability of bunkerbusters against Iran. no more. its source is questionable at best and it can simpley be added to the litany of 'alleged events' that took place on 9/6/2007. the pictures presented of the alleged 'target' area show no damage of the expected kind.
when is this crap going to stop. it's just a side door to the plausibility of nuking Iran.
Veteran investor calls Bernanke `a nut' over rate cuts
BLOOMBERG
Sunday, Nov 04, 2007, Page 11
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is "a nut" and interest-rate cuts by the central bank are harming the US economy by fueling inflation, investor Jim Rogers said.
"Bernanke loves printing money," Rogers said in an interview in New York. "This man is a nut. The dollar is collapsing, commodities are going through the roof, which means inflation's going through the roof. These people are leading us to terrible problems down the line."
Rogers, the 65-year-old chairman of Beeland Interests Inc, also said he was selling short shares of Citigroup Inc, the biggest US bank, and Fannie Mae, the largest provider of money for US home loans.
Investors should buy commodities and the Chinese currency, Rogers said.
The Fed this week cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to 4.5 percent. Policymakers have now lowered their target rate for overnight loans between banks by 0.75 percentage points in six weeks, the most aggressive easing since the economy was emerging from its last recession in 2001.
Blue Buddha @ 20:
what's the problem? can't we print more money? = *purely angry sarcasm*
the us didn't used a nuke. they probably used a moab bomb GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOAB_bomb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lppFyLKDRck
kaT @ 4:
Well, don't forget, it didn't really do so well as a democracy either. Pakistan is by far the most dangerous country in the area: tottering dictatorship clinging to power, huge population, loads of insane radicals, lots of out-of-control regions, AND nukes. Wonderful combination.
BaScOmBe @ 35:
Ah yes... we all know how well that worked for Zaire in the final days of Mobutu. :rolleyes:
You're damned if you do and damned if you don't with Coulter. If you just sit there and let the insults roll off, you're a weeny liberal without the balls to defend yourself like a Red Blooded Red-Stater would. But if you take the bait and actually object to being called traitorous and godless, of applauding the death of American troops, and of being un-American for voting for democrats, you've either got no sense of humor or you've got "Bush Derangement Syndrome."
It cracks me up when Coulter talks about "human shields," since she herself is the prototype for this strategy. It's obvious that if the wingnuts sent a man out there to say these things somebody would have knocked the guy's teeth out his asshole a long time ago.
Why are conservatives so into Left Behind? I thought they liked both cheeks.
Blue Buddha @ 20:
That's not entirely true.
That loss is not comprised only of the sub-prime mortgage debacle, but also includes foreign currency arbitrage taking advantage of the differential in prime rates, as well as real property inflation only partially created in the sub-prime lending scandal. In other words, some of them mortgages that are about to go kablooey to the tune of $1 trillion would have been made under any circumstance, and even without a sub-prime trigger, go bust because Americans were sold on the proposition that realty=wealth=spending.
Right now, Citibank on its own books admits to something like $11 billion dollars in mortgages and mortgage-backed securities that it might end up in default on. They've already written down $7 billion in the past quarter. There are an additional $2 billion in ARMs that, in the next two months, will have their interest rates adjusted upwards by over one percent.
That's not going to be pretty.
ysbaddaden @ 41:
Beats me, I'm still trying to figure out what it is about porcelain that makes Republicans go out-of-the-closet gay...
alancross @ 22:
Sorry, not all that "great". I read the Joel Stein LATimes column, and found myself trying to guess what the original Coultergeist column had actually said. Stein's column was "eh-not all that funny." As a matter of fact, while Stein is funny 70% of the time, he's not consistently riveting, which is the reason given by the LATimes several years ago when it sacked a really excellent writer, Jonathan Gold.
Re: Joel Stein. I'm with Alan Cross. I'd be very careful about throwing around the plagiarism charge. He clearly writes his own stuff, and has no reputation for stealing. While steal now? And honestly, agreeing with Alan's second comment, this is not a great idea (I'm a retired comedy writer) and not all that well executed. So, I'm betting this is not a rip-off. I'd certainly give him the benefit of the doubt before an angry, possibly unwarranted campaign begins.
As for the trademark, that's either there to cover himself for using the MadLibs name, or for comedic value to make the "Ann Coulter Mad Libs" look authentic.
L.A. Confidential @ 24:
Remember, bailing out major corporations for their crap-ups is just the trickledown effect at work. It looks a lot like the masses getting urinated on, but really, it's good for you!
Great minds, indeed. I was trying to push Dennis Miller Mad Libs back in February. Not as early as the first commenter's Coulter mad libs, but then, I think Dennis is the real thing when it comes to writing his material and then filling in the blanks with obscure allusions that are probably lost on much of his new audience.
Wordsmith @ 31:
i write comedy for a living myself. and i know that getting the same idea within a matter of days of each other, especially when the first instnace of an idea was published and available for public consumption before the second instance was published a few days later, smells.
and the tm sign didn't help.
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