Saturday, December 1, 2007
Dog walkers ...
NYC is full of 'em, 5, 6, 10 dogs at once, a mass of bark and fur coming down the sidewalk dragging a human. Except, when it's Judy Nathan(pre-Giuliani)'s dog, the walker is a New York City policeman.
Tip o' the Brain Bucket to Watertiger.
Wake up!
If you're dumb enough to listen to these Jesus freak preachers, or just think you're young and invincible, and engage in unprotected sex with multiple partners or those whom you don't know their sexual history, you'll want to stop here and get an education.
It's World AIDS Day. Get informed and stay safe. I've seen too many bright, productive lives wasted to this horrible disease.
It's World AIDS Day. Get informed and stay safe. I've seen too many bright, productive lives wasted to this horrible disease.
Repuglitards are DESPICABLE!
Like, DUH! The freeper trolls are already having at Hillary about yesterday's hostage situation, the bastards. At The Nation with links:
I dare ya to come try and supervise me, asshole, not that you're an adult.
I feel for the poor tormented gent that did that hostage deal. When I was drinking, I felt like doing shit like that a time or two, and but for the grace of God might have. He didn't hurt anybody, and I hope he gets the help he needs.
Look on the bright side of the incident - he did it on the premises of a Democratic candidate. If he'da tried that at a Repug facility, they'da had him shot and killed for interfering with the process of their failing attempt to hang on to power.
The vile Freeper commentary continues on and on, and grows progressively more revealing of the pathology of the Republican base. The tone of commenters over at Politico is no less despicable. But according to Joe Lieberman flack and Politico contributor Dan Gerstein, left-wing bloggers are the ones who need "some adult supervision."
I dare ya to come try and supervise me, asshole, not that you're an adult.
I feel for the poor tormented gent that did that hostage deal. When I was drinking, I felt like doing shit like that a time or two, and but for the grace of God might have. He didn't hurt anybody, and I hope he gets the help he needs.
Look on the bright side of the incident - he did it on the premises of a Democratic candidate. If he'da tried that at a Repug facility, they'da had him shot and killed for interfering with the process of their failing attempt to hang on to power.
You're taking your vacation where, Mom?
Tony Peyser
I don't think ya need to bring back any souvenirs, thanks...
If this interests any of you,
then ya
Better start Googling about
Kenya.
I don't think ya need to bring back any souvenirs, thanks...
Magic Carpets, Maybe?
From McClatchy, AKA 'real journalists':
News Flash: Every missile on the planet is a descendant of the V-2. Captured German rocket scientists were a war prize for both us and the Soviets and both sides' first missiles looked suspiciously like the V-2 these guys already knew how to build. With a different paint scheme, of course.
Ah, bullshit. The real reason is to line the defense industry's pockets with yet still more of our money. And to make an inadequate little twerp feel like a big man, of course.
Here's the money shot:
They know damn well what would happen to them. "Gee, let's lob a rock at the giant sitting over there on that big pile of rocks and make him run away!". I don't think so.
With absolutely no sense of history himself, and a brain full of holes instead of a memory, Bush probably thinks no one will remember.
Got news for ya, Egypt Man - we couldn't afford the first one, either. We'll be paying off on this subprime president for generations.
CAIRO, Egypt — Yes, Iran has medium-range ballistic missiles that could reach American air and naval bases in the Persian Gulf and possibly hit Israel or southern Europe.
The Iranians may have some longer-range missiles. Or maybe their arsenal contains little more than faulty North Korean, Russian and Chinese knockoffs, some of which are descendants of Germany's World War II V-2.
News Flash: Every missile on the planet is a descendant of the V-2. Captured German rocket scientists were a war prize for both us and the Soviets and both sides' first missiles looked suspiciously like the V-2 these guys already knew how to build. With a different paint scheme, of course.
President Bush repeatedly has pointed to an Iranian ballistic missile threat as the main reason for building a billion-dollar missile-defense system in Eastern Europe to protect Europe and the United States.
Ah, bullshit. The real reason is to line the defense industry's pockets with yet still more of our money. And to make an inadequate little twerp feel like a big man, of course.
Here's the money shot:
Critics of the U.S. proposal to build a ballistic missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic describe the project as, in Coyle's words, "a system that doesn't work for a threat that doesn't exist." They say the shield would stop only an "unsophisticated threat," meaning one or two missiles that were launched without decoys.
"Do you think Iran would attack Europe or the United States with just one missile and sit back and see what happens?" Coyle said.
They know damn well what would happen to them. "Gee, let's lob a rock at the giant sitting over there on that big pile of rocks and make him run away!". I don't think so.
The Bush administration's fixation on Iran also worries Western officials eager to avoid the embarrassment of another Iraq-style preemptive strike based on incomplete or bogus intelligence, some of it from exile groups with obvious agendas.
With absolutely no sense of history himself, and a brain full of holes instead of a memory, Bush probably thinks no one will remember.
"Nobody is going to believe that hogwash about WMDs, not anymore, not after Iraq," the senior Egyptian diplomat continued, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss Iran publicly. "The U.S. would be alone on this one. Nobody can afford another such dangerous adventure."
Got news for ya, Egypt Man - we couldn't afford the first one, either. We'll be paying off on this subprime president for generations.
Later, man ...
He was the guy who inspired me to do stupid shit with motor vehicles. I owe him a lot for the fun I've had over the years. We'll hoist one when I get there, Evel.
Cross-posted @ F&G.
Saturday whorage
Yes, another chapter of Thirty Days at Zeta is up at The Practical Press.
And just a reminder, if you're interested, The Captains and The Fourth Estate are still available.
As usual, if you got something you want our readers to know, leave it in comments.
And just a reminder, if you're interested, The Captains and The Fourth Estate are still available.
As usual, if you got something you want our readers to know, leave it in comments.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Victoria's Secret, Slave Labor
HuffPo
Ladies, change your Christmas wish lists accordingly.
You know, it's what's inside the garment that's important. A flannel shirt and a come-hither look work for me.
Of course, if Mrs. G catches me posting about naughty ladies' sexy lingerie, it won't matter much...
D.K. Garments is a subcontract factory with 150 foreign guest workers (135 from Bangladesh and 15 from Sri Lanka), which has been producing Victoria's Secret garments for the last year. None of the workers have been provided their necessary residency permits, without which they cannot venture outside the industrial park without fear of being stopped by the police and perhaps imprisoned for lack of proper documents.
The Victoria's Secret workers toil 14 to 15 hours a day, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 or 10:00 p.m., seven days a week, receiving on average one day off every three or four months. All overtime is mandatory, and workers are routinely at the factory 98 to 105 hours a week while toiling 89 to 96 hours. Treatment is very rough, as managers and supervisors scream at the foreign guest workers to move faster to complete their high production goals.
Workers who fall behind on their production goals, or who make even a minor error, can be slapped and beaten. Despite being forced to work five or more overtime hours a day, the workers are routinely shortchanged on their legal overtime pay, being cheated of up to $18.48 each week in wages due them. While this might not seem like a great deal of money, to these poor workers it is the equivalent of losing three regular days' wages each week.
Workers are allowed just 3.3 minutes to sew each $14 Victoria's Secret women's bikini, for which they are paid four cents. The workers' wages amount to less than 3/10ths of one percent of the $14 retail price of the Victoria's Secret bikini
Ladies, change your Christmas wish lists accordingly.
You know, it's what's inside the garment that's important. A flannel shirt and a come-hither look work for me.
Of course, if Mrs. G catches me posting about naughty ladies' sexy lingerie, it won't matter much...
Leahy: White House aides must comply with subpoenas
CNN Politics
Note to Senator Leahy: All these former White House criminals think their shit don't stink and they're above the law. They're just gonna keep shinin' you on like they've been doing. Grow some balls and put some teeth into getting them to appear in front of you or they won't do it. Hint: Bench warrants, U.S. Marshals, handcuffs, orange jumpsuits.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected White House claims of executive privilege and demanded Thursday that key White House aides testify in the case of the controversial firings of U.S. attorneys.
Sen. Patrick Leahy ruled that president has no claim of executive privilege protecting Karl Rove and others.
The committee's investigation has found "significant and uncontroverted evidence that the president had no involvement in these firings," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said. Thus, the White House can't claim executive privilege or immunity, which are meant to protect private communications between a president and White House aides, he ruled.
The committee has issued subpoenas for White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former political adviser Karl Rove, among others.
Note to Senator Leahy: All these former White House criminals think their shit don't stink and they're above the law. They're just gonna keep shinin' you on like they've been doing. Grow some balls and put some teeth into getting them to appear in front of you or they won't do it. Hint: Bench warrants, U.S. Marshals, handcuffs, orange jumpsuits.
Bush: We'll be in Iraq forever and ever, amen and fuck you
Click to magnify the problem
Tomgram. Take a lunch. Long informative article, but here's the crux of the biscuit:
Finally there is that unresolved question of developing Iraqi oil reserves. For four years, Iraqis of all sectarian and political persuasions have (successfully) resisted American attempts to activate the plan first developed by Cheney's Energy Task Force. They have wielded sabotage of pipelines, strikes by oil workers, and parliamentary maneuvering, among other acts. The vast majority of the population -- including a large minority of Kurds and both the Sunni and Shia insurgencies -- believes that Iraqi oil should be tightly controlled by the government and therefore support every effort -- including in many cases violent resistance -- to prevent the activation of any American plan to transfer control of significant aspects of the Iraqi energy industry to foreign companies. Implementation of the U.S. oil proposal therefore will require the long-term suppression of violent and non-violent local resistance, as well as strenuous maneuvering at all levels of government.
Shorter: We're trying to loot their oil and they want to keep it so we must shoot them or bribe them until there's no one left who doesn't see it our way.
Market forces, peak oil, competition? Bah! We're the baddest motherfucker on the block, so we'll just take it. We're bullies for the bottom line.
That's what America has become under Cheney/Bush. I don't like it one bit.
So surge "success" doesn't mean withdrawal -- yes, some troops will come home slowly -- but the rest will have to embed themselves in Iraqi communities for the long haul. This situation was summarized well by Captain Jon Brooks, the commander of Joint Security Station Thrasher in Western Baghdad, one of the small outposts that represent the front lines of the surge strategy. When asked by New Yorker reporter Jon Lee Anderson how long he thought the U.S. would remain in Iraq, he replied, "I'm not just blowing smoke up your ass, but it really depends on what the U.S. civilian-controlled government decides its goals are and what it tells the military to do."
As long as that government is determined to install a friendly, anti-Iranian regime in Baghdad, one that is hostile to "foreigners," including all jihadists, but welcomes an ongoing American military presence as well as multinational development of Iraqi oil, the American armed forces aren't going anywhere, not for a long, long time; and no relative lull in the fighting -- temporary or not -- will change that reality. This is the Catch-22 of Bush administration policy in Iraq. The worse things go, the more our military is needed; the better they go, the more our military is needed.
Don't expect this to change if Hillary or Obama are elected, either.
"Headwinds"
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday hinted that another interest rate cut may be needed to bolster the economy. The worsening credit crunch, a deepening housing slump and rising energy prices probably will create some "headwinds for the consumer in the months ahead," he said.
...
Mr. Bernanke, I may not be an economist, shit, I'm not even good with money, but even I know the "headwinds" already are a-blowin'. It's not the fact we might have a recession, the only question is how bad it will be.
...
Bernanke said he expects consumer spending will continue to grow and suggested the country can withstand the current problems without falling into a recession. But he indicated that consumers could turn more cautious as they try to cope with all the stresses.
...
One question, sir. How? How can you expect the average American to absorb all the hits to their income they're taking (with wages remaining stagnant) and still spend like demons. Don't any of these idiots understand that a lot of the money being pumped into the economy by Joe Six-pack is the result of all that low cost money floating around thanks to cheap home loans? The days of cheap credit are gone for the foreseeable future. People ain't flipping their mortgages every couple years to draw more and more equity out of their homes, that well has dried up and now the bills are coming due.
Gas prices are going up daily and in turn, so are the prices of everything else. The dollar is worth less and doesn't buy what it used to. Do they make these predictions based on fantasy?
...
"I expect household income and spending to continue to grow, but the combination of higher gas prices, the weak housing market, tighter credit conditions and declines in stock prices seem likely to create some headwinds for the consumer in the months ahead," Bernanke said in his speech.
...
Because everything I've been hearing says this shit will get worse before it gets better:
LOS ANGELES -- U.S. foreclosure filings nearly doubled in October from the same month last year, the latest sign many homeowners are falling behind on mortgage payments and increasingly losing their homes, according to a mortgage research company.
...
Tighter lending standards and the ongoing housing slump are making it harder for homeowners who can't afford their mortgage payments to sell their homes or refinance.
...
One alarming trend in October was an increase in the number of homes that were repossessed by lenders after they failed to sell at trustee auctions.
Well yes, because if you ask a real estate agent who'll tell you the truth, they'll tell you they are holding the largest inventory of unsold homes ever. That's affecting the trades.
...
Now, there are fresh doubts about how solid the labor market will remain. Economists expect November payrolls to increase by just 87,000, or about half the gain in October. So far, job losses are centered in the residential construction, other housing related areas and manufacturing. In the service sector, hiring has held up fairly well, although the pace of job growth has ebbed. However, with businesses feeling and acting less confident about economic and financial conditions, a broader slowdown in overall hiring is likely. [all ems mine]
...
While the stock market weenies might love this temporary reprieve, lowering interest rates is only a band aid measure, one that will have other implications down the line, like inflation and an even lower dollar. It's time to take our medicine now but, like everything else this administration does, the collapse will be pushed off as long as possible, hopefully (for the Rethugs, on many levels) onto a Democratic President.
Your liberal media ...
Mrs. Dan Senor is touting the party line and CNN is paying her to do it:
Yeah, that liberal bias. If the news media ('news' being a very loose connotation of the word in this case) were biased to the left, do you think we'd be in Iraq right now? Do you think the chimp would have won in '04?
The wife of Dan Senor, who served as a spokesperson for Bush in Iraq, is now working for CNN. Normally, who a reporter's spouse wouldn't and shouldn't matter. And, it wouldn't if Campbell Brown didn't show an obvious bias. Last night, in her first week on the job, she attacked MoveOn:
Yeah, that liberal bias. If the news media ('news' being a very loose connotation of the word in this case) were biased to the left, do you think we'd be in Iraq right now? Do you think the chimp would have won in '04?
Rudy in bracelets?
No, he's not crossdressing again, but TalkLeft blogs about what I was thinking when I heard about Rudy 'n Judy using the NYPD as a car service:
Needless to say, Hevesi is a Dem. Think Rudy'll be stepping out of the race anytime soon? Yeah, me neither.
[NY State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's] decision to step down came as Albany prosecutors were preparing to ask a grand jury to indict him on charges of defrauding the government and on other felonies stemming from his use of state employees as chauffeurs and aides to his wife ...
Needless to say, Hevesi is a Dem. Think Rudy'll be stepping out of the race anytime soon? Yeah, me neither.
Tip o' the Brain Bucket to JasonC for the link.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Bush's Next Preemptive Strike
WaPo
Well, if it gets the goddam Repugs out of power, drape away. Note to Dems: start looking for a way out of the permanent quagmire King George is fixin' to get us into. I don't think criminally insane sociopathic dry drunk warmongering traitors' signatures on a contract are valid, just for starters.
If we had any say in the matter, Bush, Cheney, the lot of warmongering, lying bastards would be in prison as we speak.
George W. Bush is focusing now on his legacy. Duck. Run. Hide.
What Bush will almost surely be pushing for is permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, enshrined in a pact he can sign a few months before he leaves office. And here, as they used to say, is the beauty part: As far as Bush is concerned, he doesn't have to seek congressional ratification for such an enduring commitment of American force, treasure and lives.
But if Bush tries to lock the next president into permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, he may also be locking in a Democrat as the next president. Ironically, just when events on the ground in Iraq aren't looking as disastrous as they did six months ago, Bush's efforts to make the U.S. presence permanent would drape the necks of the Republican presidential and congressional candidates with one large, squawking albatross.
Well, if it gets the goddam Repugs out of power, drape away. Note to Dems: start looking for a way out of the permanent quagmire King George is fixin' to get us into. I don't think criminally insane sociopathic dry drunk warmongering traitors' signatures on a contract are valid, just for starters.
The president who waged a preemptive war now wants to lock in place a preemptive occupation. Only this time, instead of preempting a foreign nation, he is seeking to preempt Congress and his successor. It's the logical conclusion for his misshapen and miserable presidency, and I doubt the American people -- if they have any say in the matter -- will stand for it.
If we had any say in the matter, Bush, Cheney, the lot of warmongering, lying bastards would be in prison as we speak.
Waterboarding Ashcroft
Think Progress
OK then, as soon as he says that, handcuff and blindfold him. Strip him naked and put him in a too-large jumpsuit that someone else has worn for about a week, without any underwear. No shoes. March him onto a corporate-type jet (a simulator will do). Fly him around for about ten hours without letting him go to the bathroom, but feed him a nice greasy meal and all the water he can hold. March him out into some place that smells funny, maybe some guttural-sounding foreign language in the background, and directly into a dank concrete room with an agricultural stock tank as its only furniture. Take off the blindfold and introduce him to a coupla large, sweaty, hairy-chested, stubbly chinned bozos wearing some light bondage gear who then strap him to the board and elevate him, head down, over the watering trough. A little alcohol on their breaths wouldn't hurt, nor would visible foot-long gaggers of meth on a mirror and white circles around their nostrils and a little crazy in their eyes. When he says "but you're not going to kill me, right?", the answer should be "We'll try not to, but you get the same guarantee everybody else gets. We're getting better at it - haven't lost one all week."
By this time he will have soiled the GI jumpsuit with about everything he's got. Hey, a little dramatic effect can work wonders!
NOW ask him what he thinks of waterboarding. I guarantee you he will think differently about it already, and they haven't even done it yet. For a bonus, ask him what he thinks of 'rendition' as well.
Then go ahead and waterboard his ass just fer grins. The asshole deserves it for saying it's OK. Ten seconds oughta do it. Then march him into the next room where the Fourth Estate has gathered, with lotsa lights and cameras, for a press conference. The look on his face would be priceless, not to mention the flop sweat and, er, aroma. Film at 11.
Ah, to dream...
By the way, if that happened to me, all they would have to do is show me the waterboard setup and I'd tell 'em anything and everything I thought they would like to hear. And then some. They'd think they'd hit the Mother Lode of intel. Be more like the Mother Load. Might come up with a big stinky one of those for 'em too.
Last night, former Attorney General John Ashcroft delivered an address on national security at the University of Colorado. [...]
During the speech, Ashcroft caused an uproar when he declared Guantanamo Bay was a “good place” for detainees. In addition, he defended the torture tactic of waterboarding:
Ashcroft also responded to questions from the audience. The first question came from a woman who asked if Ashcroft would be willing to be subjected to waterboarding.
“The things that I can survive, if it were necessary to do them to me, I would do,” he said.
Ashcroft apparently believes that torture should be allowed as long as it doesn’t kill him.
OK then, as soon as he says that, handcuff and blindfold him. Strip him naked and put him in a too-large jumpsuit that someone else has worn for about a week, without any underwear. No shoes. March him onto a corporate-type jet (a simulator will do). Fly him around for about ten hours without letting him go to the bathroom, but feed him a nice greasy meal and all the water he can hold. March him out into some place that smells funny, maybe some guttural-sounding foreign language in the background, and directly into a dank concrete room with an agricultural stock tank as its only furniture. Take off the blindfold and introduce him to a coupla large, sweaty, hairy-chested, stubbly chinned bozos wearing some light bondage gear who then strap him to the board and elevate him, head down, over the watering trough. A little alcohol on their breaths wouldn't hurt, nor would visible foot-long gaggers of meth on a mirror and white circles around their nostrils and a little crazy in their eyes. When he says "but you're not going to kill me, right?", the answer should be "We'll try not to, but you get the same guarantee everybody else gets. We're getting better at it - haven't lost one all week."
By this time he will have soiled the GI jumpsuit with about everything he's got. Hey, a little dramatic effect can work wonders!
NOW ask him what he thinks of waterboarding. I guarantee you he will think differently about it already, and they haven't even done it yet. For a bonus, ask him what he thinks of 'rendition' as well.
Then go ahead and waterboard his ass just fer grins. The asshole deserves it for saying it's OK. Ten seconds oughta do it. Then march him into the next room where the Fourth Estate has gathered, with lotsa lights and cameras, for a press conference. The look on his face would be priceless, not to mention the flop sweat and, er, aroma. Film at 11.
Ah, to dream...
By the way, if that happened to me, all they would have to do is show me the waterboard setup and I'd tell 'em anything and everything I thought they would like to hear. And then some. They'd think they'd hit the Mother Lode of intel. Be more like the Mother Load. Might come up with a big stinky one of those for 'em too.
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