Weiner, Boehner, Frank and Cox

Yeah, I think Weiner Tweeted his Boehner. To be Frank, men given a lot of power and too much importance have a hard time keeping their Cox in their pants. So let's take them down a notch. Term limits, no more perks and an end to congressional pensions. Theoretically they are supposed to be working for us.

Update: I just heard Dennis Miller refer to "girthers."

Deranged minds

The pleasant midwestern town of Joplin, Missouri was devastated by a tornado yesterday. Upwards of 100 people were killed and much of the town is in ruins. Over at the LA Times, some sick people are commenting on the tragedy for cheap political hits:

artm1971 at 2:50 AM May 23, 2011
Maybe these redneck republican evangelicals will wake up and realize that global warming is the cause of the recent destruction in MO and the flooding in the south. Keep voting for people like Mitch McDumbell who wants to eliminate the EPA so that his coal company masters can more freely pollute the air and water and have more money to donate to his campaign. Why do you think he has brainwashed you idiots into believing that global warming is a big lie?

2-2060133-576407-963876_t
Republican Shame at 12:42 AM May 23, 2011
How long will it take? how many more cities will be leveled before the dumb stupid ignorant backwards illiterate bone head idiot Republicans who mock environmentalists see the light and finally realize GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL.

Like I said, pretty sick. More:

Now we are all learning what it's like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--(edited storm) is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children.

Oh, wait. That was Robert F. Kennedy Jr., gloating about death and destruction on the Mississippi Gulf Coast from hurricane Katrina. He posted this literally moments before the New Orleans levees failed.

Just checking in

Is everyone still here? I know it's not 6:00 pm US central time yet, but I have friends in Australia who should have experienced the end times by now.

Perry/Romney 2012

Not my ideal choices (I am a fan of Chris Christie), but with the latest buzz it seems that the Red Team may be able to field some viable candidates. Rick Perry and Mitt Romney also have really nice hair. Not John Edwards Pretty Pony hair, but manly Dutch Reagan hair.

Both carry baggage. Perry with the Trans-Texas Corridor, the stupid "Texas can secede" comment and his expensive cervical cancer vaccination proposal; Romney with his Massachusetts medical insurance program. But unless the economy turns around pretty quickly, Obama/Biden will be finished after one term.

For Perry doubters, do not be fooled. He is not a mangler of the English language like Bush and is quite capable of debating a very glib Obama.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Spitzered?

Funny how these things come out at critical junctures. But I don't think he was Spitzered. I think he felt invincible.

Adios, European dream

If you look closely, it appears the dreams of a unified European super state are falling apart at the seams.

(AGI) Copenhagen - Denmark has suspended the Schengen treaty and re-introduced controls at its borders with Germany and Sweden.

Business Week - Riot police made heavy use of tear gas and stun grenades to disperse youths throwing stones and petrol bombs as thousands of demonstrators marched through central Athens on Wednesday to protest the Greek government's harsh austerity measures.

"Go to hell, hippy."

Some guy at LSU decided to burn an American flag, then had second thoughts when he realized he didn't have a burn permit.

Crowds wearing red, white and blue and chanting “U-S-A” threw water balloons and ice at Benjamin Haas, a communication studies graduate student (my editorial comment: now there's a winning graduate studies program), while he tried to read a prepared statement in front of an estimated crowd of 1,500 to 2,500 students and community members.

Unless I am mistaken, this is the same Benjamin Haas.

Mr. Haas looked rather pathetic out there in that field. In fact, I felt sorry for him. Thousands of outraged, screaming people surrounding some misguided 60's throwback. Instead of making this guy a martyr, I think the more effective response would have been to ignore him.

Summers in Garbage Grove

Garden Grove was a great place to be as kid in the 1970s. I can remember the summer when I was 9 quite clearly. Sitting out on the driveway with my best friend and watching the fireworks every night over Disneyland, walking to Atlantis (a proto water park, still there!) via the tunnel under the Garden Grove Freeway, wandering a few blocks up Magnolia to a shopping center for a movie and ice cream, enjoying a minor earthquake at the local Sears, playing army with the neighborhood kids in the new subdivision being built around the corner where the last dairy farmer in Garden Grove sold out the year before. Endless days of perfect weather, people were friendly, it was safe for two 9-year-old kids to go on excursions by themselves.

Man, southern California was great back then. I am not sure what happened.

(This is the street today.)

Osama death porn

I don't think there is any conspiracy. I think we are witnessing a White House in total disarray, unable to form a coherent message. They have lost control of the narrative.

I do think these death photos exist, and I think I understand why Panetta and others promised the photos yesterday, only to be rebuffed by the president today. Presidents Clinton and Bush would have released these photos. With Obama, I think he ordered the photos to be withheld due to personal issues. He went from being a non-descript community organizer from Chicago to personally ordering a hit. I think Obama doesn't want the photos released because of the fact that he personally approved the greasing of another human being. OBL needed killing but it still weighs heavily on his soul. Which may be a good thing if you think about it.

Doesn't matter, really. These Osama death photos will leak out pretty soon.

Meanwhile, here's my immediate solution to defuse this. The White House should call a summit and invite influential bloggers, reporters and family members of 9/11 victims (who want to see). No cameras allowed. Show them the videos and photographs.

Oh, boy.

Truthers.
Birthers.
Deathers.

Just release it all and nip this in the bud before we get 10,000 bad YouTube videos and Alex Jones rants showing how it was all a fake.

Update: Yikes!
Update 2: Taiwan's NMA.tv yanked the video.
Update 3: Someone has a copy.

H.P. Lovecraft

I bought a Kindle a few weeks ago and I have been reading a lot of free/cheap books. H.P. Lovecraft's stories have always creeped me out, but now that I can read them en masse I can say that he had one good idea and everything that followed was a hack. I actually started to chuckle about Cthulu.

BTW, Mark Twain's stuff is pretty good and it doesn't cost a cent. The Innocents Abroad, which I've never read until this week, almost reads like a modern-day travelogue. Obnoxious, naive Americans and smelly Frenchmen who don't know what soap is, circa 1869. Some things don't change.

Osama bin Laden is dead!

My Facebook page just came alive. Obama says Osama Bin Laden is dead! Well, duh. He's been dead for almost a decade now. OK, can we get our men out of the ME now? Thanks.

Yeah, it was funny.

Donald Trump doesn't like being the punchline. But I think it's well-deserved. Trump was a Democrat until this year, now he's suddenly a Republican. And a "birther" to boot. You're a punchline, Donald, and you always have been. It takes a special skill to inherit wealth, then lose it by investing in casinos of all places, and not just once. How many times have you gone bankrupt over your casinos, Donald? "Self-made millionaire" my ass.