September 02, 2009 08:30 PM
Open Thread
Pashmina fight! From the dear departed "Smack The Pony" Channel 4 British sketch comedy show.
h/t Monkey Muck
Open thread below...
About Bluegal aka Fran
Executive Producer of The Professional Left Podcast. On staff at Crooks and Liars since 2007. Master's degree from Harvard. Happy wife of Driftglass. Mother of three geniuses. Obsessive knitter. Blogs at http://bgalrstate.blogspot.com. .
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Raúl Zibechi c/o Socialist Worker here
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Hugo Chávez Frías c/o Global Research here
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As noted by others here it is past time for much wider attention to the Sibel Edmunds story.
Brad Blog here
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
smedley butler.
Some stuff you can't make up!
Columbia as well as Nicaragua?
Jim Monroe the 5th could attest to that if he were alive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine
Any President can invoke it at will to make sure that Plantation Politics carries on
Sign these petitions
http://www.change.org/actions/view/i_demand_c...
http://www.change.org/actions/view/rep_mike_r...
http://healthcare.change.org/actions/view/con...
http://www.change.org/actions/view/we_the_und...
I'm surprised Sibel Edmonds is still breathing...she has info about so-oo-o many Congress-critters and others. A very brave lady!
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
But I think you're missing the larger picture, eg Obama bemoaning China's growing influence in Latin America during the campaign, the Obama administration naming Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia and I forget who else as threats to the world economy, the Obama administration having a hissy fit over Lula meeting with a Chinese government official and declaring that it would behoove them to switch to a different reserve currency.
I'm sure oil is part of it, but also about projecting force to those democracy hating countries (ie countries with real leftist leaders), plus maybe have a branch campus of the school of the Americas to take the spotlight off them for a bit thanks to their involvement in the Honduran coup.
How would any of you react to this?
Man Busted For Slapping Stranger's Crying Child
very badly.
Some stuff you can't make up!
It might be a good idea to dig a few hole in the guys backyard.
Although annoying, it is illegal to shoot crying babies. It is just a part of the human experience.
In a humane society, it might be a good idea to have this guy tested for presenile dementia and get treatment for him. It is absurd that a grown man doesn't think of duct tape as the answer to his prayers.
Though technically it evolved that way to produce exactly the opposite reaction that the violent asshat had.
i wouldve stomped him into the ground, and gladly accepted the consequences
then...Tim's justice be done.
Don't tread on me and all that.
Just briefly googling, whats the odds that mother and baby we not the same colour as Roger, he found an outlet for his latent racism.
BillO, Beck and Faux trained this one well, he saw what looked like the atypical single mother and child, something snapped and his Faux conditioning snapped into action.
latest edition (#8) of "Auto-Tune the News," by the extraordinarily gifted nutballs known as The Gregory Brothers. Enjoy...
Some stuff you can't make up!
Yer a sick man.
Good.
n/t
Sometimes I listen to Coast to Coast at night while I'm dozing off. Then, in the morning I'll sometimes listen to the same station as I try to wake up. They used to have a couple of far right local room tempers on that would make me laugh at their ignorance. Monday they were gone and a newbie had taken their spot. His name is Kevin Miller and you have to experience his rant to believe it. I googled him up and he was fired from his last gig for racist BS (he played the theme from the Jeffersons when talking about Obama). His style is a stream of consciousness, talking point ramble with complete bullshit sprinkled in. What got me was his reference to.....DEATH FARMS. Death Farms? Yes, Death Farms, I guess the panels were only the beginning. This guy is something, and it is no surprise he ended up in Boise after his fall. Wow. This AM I heard him call himself "K Money". Where do they find them?
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, College Humor style. Something Awful tackles the public option. Kerry is trying to fill Ted's shoes. Hopefully, he'll do a better job at health care than he did in the '04 races. The National Guard suddenly gets standards. Blackwater gets its contract extended, anyway. The GOP prefers an inactive approach to health care reform. Meanwhile, Pfizer gets fined for $2.3 billion of "free" market fraud. Over one million workers laid off since January. Male chicks are "disposed" of in grinders while alive, and are even used as packing material for the female chicks. Obama tries to get us to look at the bright side, which is that manufacturing is up. Thanks NRA. A teen girl nearly hijacks her school bus. The Bible gets revised to be less sexist-if possible.
Pfizer agrees to 2.3 bln dollar drug dispute settlement
Published: Wednesday September 2, 2009
Pfizer has agreed to pay a record 2.3 billion dollars to settle a dispute with the US government over the marketing of medicines for off-label purposes, the company said Wednesday.
The settlement ends criminal and civil proceedings against the pharmaceutical giant arising from its advertising of four drugs, including the since-withdrawn painkiller Bextra, for unapproved purposes.
"Pfizer Inc today announced that it has finalized a previously reported agreement in principle with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle an investigation regarding past off-label promotional practices related to Bextra, which Pfizer voluntarily withdrew from the market in 2005," the company said in a statement.
Thats almost what it sounds like. And a bigger pharma company went running to the FDA crying 'nasty nasty Pfizer, please help us'
So much for free markets and competition.
and at the end during Kent's bit they ran a clip from Austin Powers where Dr. Evil lets the F Bomb fly. Was i hearing things?
Dr. Evil says, "frickin'."
for the clear up. h/t.
hilarious!
The U.S. sucks at child welfare. Maybe we should stop wasting tax dollars trying to ban violent video games? Older Americans are forced to stick with their jobs. Waiter, there's a frog in my Pepsi. Ben + Jerry create a gay marriage-themed ice cream flavor. Think that will be available at Wal-Mart any time soon?
because, despite being in the 21st century, many states still view children and women as property...or pwns to be used in political games, the way loofa boy does
oh, and as a result of that horrible case in northern cali, look for some state senator or congressman to kneejerk some useless laws
it was all the fucking laws we have in our state, that turned that part of antioch into a haven for child molestors
and not one law passed could have improved the performance of the contra costa pd or the parole dept
the entire force should be terminated
What, the fat fucks couldn't fit into the narrow, tarp-draped passageways? Where the hell else would a child molester hide victims??? I've known P/Os who have collected ashes off counter tops to have them analyzed to see if parolees were smoking pot instead of cigarettes. But these morons were too lazy to comb the entire place? WTF? The State Attorney General needs to investigate ASAP!!
Antioch isn't too bad a place, from what I've seen. Spent a few weeks in nearby Oakley last winter.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Its the Redstates that spend the least on their poor and the resources they need for a minimum standard of everything. Economic apartheid based on race and economic status, is still alive and kicking in large parts of the US.
Gotta love them contractors!
Keepin' our embassies safe!!
‘Lord of the Flies’ at U.S. Embassy in Kabul?
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EU Finance Ministers Take On Wall Street:
EU Finance Chiefs Back Plans to Curb ‘Bonus Culture’
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Did Israelis Capture Secret Russian Arms Shipment To Syria and Iran?
Was Russia's 'Hijacked' Ship Carrying Missiles to the Mideast?
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When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
CNN poll by Opinion Research, 1,010 adults, 8/28-31, +/- 3 pts (pdf):
Now thinking specifically about the health insurance plans available to most Americans, would you favor or oppose creating a public health insurance option administered by the federal government that would compete with plans offered by private health insurance companies?
Favor - 55%
Oppose - 41%
No opinion - 4%
They basically admit the only reason they're doing it so is because their actions could be viewed as criminal. But then that's not exactly a first for that organization, so this must be pretty brutal stuff to top their greatest hit lists. Fortunately, a court refuses to back down on demanding the release of those documents, and expects them on Monday, or a good reason for not being on Monday. No reason yet, but the agency managed to make a funny: "The CIA, in fact, has a record for openness that no other intelligence organization can match..."
Weak.
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/02/pastor-ji...
Only Stores!! For the last two weeks now, the store here in Canoga Park has had the best f'ing raspberries--a six-oz basket of red raspberries with not a bad berry in the tray! Grown in the US (probably Oregon), it don't get much better than this for a buck, folks...Get 'em while you still can!
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Aryan Nation/White Power fuckhead these days. I mean, their deity, Adolph Hitler, is being mocked openly as the equivalent of the "m*d people" whom they despise for contaminating the Aryan purity. AND by no less than the Rethug Party, with whom they've heretofore most closely aligned themselves!! Waaaaahh!
Talk about being thrown under the bus! And, if a bus does get blown up in the near future, 10 to 1 it'll be one of these assholes who will pull it off.
Strange days indeed...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
These are strange times.
far left loon >.<
people are taking his name in vain...
Is smacking the pony anything like spanking the monkey?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Its a common and long running joke in British comedy to name a show with a name that could be mispronounced in error by a continuity announcer.
Comedy people were trying these word games to beat the morality censor and make people chuckle, in the UK back in the early 40s.
Is beating the morality censor anything like polishing the helmet?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
For whatever reason morning joe decided they too needed to show a clip of Van Jones, made before he was even a part of the Obama team, saying that republicans were "ass holes". I guess the morning joe team is taking their talking points from Glenn Beck. What dumb fu*k made that determination? Do they feel compelled to stick up for Beck?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Jeez and to make things worse, C-span found it necessary to give a whole lot of air time to the vice president of the tea bagging party express this morning. Why?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
The Republicans are dead in the water, somebody seems to think they need a replacement. So we have all this airtime and promotion of the crazies to see who emerges as the top dog.
Notice we hear almost nothing from the supposed head of the RNC Steele, he is too busy trying to save his job and fighting off internals to appear or be a leader.
The good ship SS Republicanana is rudderless, taking in water, running out of food and fresh water, and the rats have mutated and started eating its crew and passengers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b21nxQ6nffE
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3845
Highlights -
When a director from one company sits on the board of directors of another company, that’s known as an interlocking directorate
A recent FAIR study of nine major media corporations and their major outlets, Disney (ABC), General Electric (NBC), CBS, Time Warner (CNN, Time), News Corporation (Fox), New York Times Co., Washington Post Co. (Newsweek), Tribune Co. (Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times) and Gannett (USA Today) found connections to six different insurance companies. Five out of the nine media corporations studied shared a director with an insurance company; two insurance companies—Chubb and Berkshire Hathaway—were represented by more than one media corporation director.
In all, though healthcare reform has been mentioned thousands of times in the output of these media corporations’ major outlets, single-payer was mentioned in only 164 articles or news segments from January 1 through June 30, 2009; over 70 percent of these mentions did not include the voice of a single-payer advocate. Over 45 percent of the pieces that did include a single-payer advocate were episodes of the Ed Show, an MSNBC program whose host, Ed Shultz, frequently advocates for single-payer healthcare. Without the Ed Show, just 19 percent of articles or news segments that mentioned single-payer would have included an actual advocate of the plan.
The study also found crossover between these media corporations and several large pharmaceutical companies, such as Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis, whose profits would also likely be negatively impacted by a single-payer system. Out of the nine media corporations studied, six had directors who also represented the interests of at least one pharmaceutical company. In fact, save for CBS, every media corporation had board connections to either an insurance or pharmaceutical company.
corporate media and the insurance and pharmaceutical industries’ interests are fundamentally aligned!
Most of us pretty much knew this in general, but good to see the exact connections.
Thanks for shinning the light of day on 'interlocking' interests and their cause. Corporatism stinks!!! as much as the 'Free Market'.
A better world, hopefully: Will Congress Be Pushed to Act on Climate Change? EPA to Declare CO2 and Other Greenhouse Gases Pollutants - http://blog.buzzflash.com/greenisgood/009
After two years of waiting, it looks like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finally trying to spur some real action in Congress on slow-moving climate change legislation. A 2007 Supreme Court ruling found that greenhouse gases are considered air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act, and could be regulated if the government determined they were a threat to the public. This week, the EPA took the first step.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced in a press conference on Monday that the agency would undertake a formal endangerment finding within the next couple of months on greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that threaten public health and welfare. Those under scrutiny include methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride and... carbon dioxide.
Yes, carbon dioxide. Regulating one of the most common gases on the planet might seem strange. But the EPA is doing it with good reason: Congress is taking too much of the earth's time to pass the necessary legislation, and carbon dioxide is one of the main greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere due to human activity.
Engineering Earth 'is feasible' - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/823...
Amy Goodman: New Light on Copenhagen - http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090901_...
Best News in a long time! Protesters Outnumber Attendees At Ohio GOP ‘Energy Summit’- http://www.desmogblog.com/protesters-outnumbe...
A ‘GOP Energy Summit’ held today at Ohio State University attracted more protesters outside than those attending the event hosted by Ohio Congressman Bob Latta inside a campus building.
The group no doubt hoped to demonstrate public support for their Bush-inspired ‘alternative bill,’ but the poor turnout demonstrated the opposite, with protesters easily outnumbering attendees.
"I wish I knew how to quit you!" Duke Energy Quits Controversial Coal Lobby Front Group - http://www.desmogblog.com/duke-energy-quits-c...
WTF? Is Obama Dumping the Public Option? It Will Split the Democratic Party Again Just After It Reunified if, As It Appears from White House Leaks, He Does
- http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/09/obama...
Picking the wrong fight....WTF is wrong with the Democratic 'leadership' in this country????? Inept is being far too kind...
How to be a one term president: By Barack Obama...foreword by Rahm Emanuel
His own fault: Obama's approval rating tumbles to lowest point at 53%; Single payer would pump those numbers up - http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/arti...
Its not the right wingnuts doing....Obama has always been down 28% (the Busheviks)....its because progressives & 'moderates' are getting tired of waiting for action....its just that simple...
Reverse bank robbery -- No wonder America's banks are making profits again: the U.S. government is bribing them to borrow its own money - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifam...
Many people are outraged that the banks intend to pay their top executives large bonuses. But these unthinking populists simply don't recognize these people's extraordinary talent. After all, it is not everyone who can get the government to subsidise them to the tune of several billion dollars a year. These people may not fare very well in a market economy, but these bank executives get huge rewards in an economy like the one we have in the US.
You have to go to England to get the real news about this country.....sad but true....
The 'so-called' liberal network by the right wingnuts: Buchanan: Hitler Didn't Want War -- MSNBC Mum On Employing Hitler Sympathizer - http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/200...
Wolf Season Begins - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/opinion/02w...
Sarah Palin to spontaneously combust in joy! Pathetic & sad....greed & killing...
Bailed-out bankers to get options windfall: study - http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE5...
As shares of bailed-out banks bottomed out earlier this year, stock options were awarded to their top executives, setting them up for millions of dollars in profit as prices rebounded, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The top five executives at 10 financial institutions that took some of the biggest taxpayer bailouts have seen a combined increase in the value of their stock options of nearly $90 million, the report by the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies said.
"Not only are these executives not hurting very much from the crisis, but they might get big windfalls because of the surge in the value of some of their shares," said Sarah Anderson, lead author of the report, "America's Bailout Barons," the 16th in an annual series on executive excess.
As I've said before....there are two economies....
Speak of the Devil: Jim Hightower: Holding Wall Street Bankers Accountable - http://www.creators.com/opinion/jim-hightower...
Don't you wish that someone in authority, someone with an ounce of chutzpah, someone with his or her head screwed on right, would direct a few obvious, pointed, even rude questions to the Wall Street honchos who have ripped off America? Questions like: Who, exactly, in your bank directed the rip-off? Who made these stupid decisions?
Who — by name — is accountable for this mess? The White House really doesn't seem interested in pressing these questions. The chairman of the Senate finance committee and the head of the house banking committee have been too polite to keep probing them. And, of course, Republican leaders don't even want to know the answers.
Profiles from fantasyland: Forced Circumcision: The New Right Wing Meme - http://discuss.epluribusmedia.net/content/for...
Perhaps disappointed that death panels failed to frighten the tar and feathers out of the average American, the right wing appears to have settled on a new meme to undercut healthcare reform: the CDC will force males to undergo circumcision.
If you believe this...you shouldn't be allowed to procreate, operate a machine/vehicle, or go outside....
Attytood: A new front opens in the GOP's war on sanity! - http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/A...
I wish this was from 'The Onion'...but its actually real....republicans and their magic beans...
House investigators target 6 health insurance companies for additional data - http://thehill.com/homenews/house/56871-house...
Cleaning some of the Fox off of Van Jones - http://www.grist.org/article/2009-09-02-clean...
"A while back I lampooned a Glenn Beck segment on Van Jones, who’s an advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
According to Beck, Jones is the man on the inside for a vast cryptosocialist conspiracy involving the Apollo Alliance, Color of Change, the Center for American Progress, George Soros, ACORN, Al Queda, and the Trilateral Commission. Everything that goes bump in Beck’s closet at night."
Grist has Van Jones' Back As Beck Continues His Smear Campaign - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/grist...
This is the same coked up shock jock that wanted to boycott a childrens movie 'Happy Feet' because it had some indirect nods to climate change....and he has 3 million idiots tuning in? I guess you can sell stupid...
Larisa Alexandrovna: The Torture Apologist's Fallacy - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandr...
WSJ: U.S. Economy Gets Lift From Stimulus - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1251853792184...
The Wing-Nut Code: What Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin Are Really Saying to Their Followers - http://www.alternet.org/rights/142333/the_win...
Besides right wingnut morons....only animals & small children can see it...
Wendell Potter: Rally Against Wall Street's Health Care Takeover - http://www.prwatch.org/node/8532
Obama's Best Answer to GOP's Hypocritical 'Seniors' Health Care Bill of Rights' Would Be Medicare for All -- BuzzFlash News Analysis - http://blog.buzzflash.com/analysis/896
Goldman Sachs, the US Treasury, and criminal corruption - http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Non...
Political Irony: http://politicalirony.com/2009/09/02/the-link...
http://politicalirony.com/2009/09/03/inquisit...
We don't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children - Native American proverb
If being cold means there's no such thing as global warming, does being full mean there's no such thing as world hunger?
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