Black People Scary

This article showed up on my FB feed today.

Dozens of heavily armed Black Panthers rallied at a Texas jail Wednesday to protest the jail cell death of Sandra Bland — and oinked their anger at police.
...
About 25 demonstrators led by the New Black Panther Party marched in the two-hour protest.

Well, shit, I guess that could be pretty intimidating.

Wait..."About 25?" Okay, I suppose that technically is more than one dozen, though "dozens" brings up a much larger picture in my head.

But "About 25?" Maybe they were jumbled about and a little unruly and therefore difficult to count. Maybe all the guns and other weaponry was getting in the way. Let's go to the video!




The video shows what's really going on here. 13 Black Panthers, less than half with a firearm, were peacefully protesting without incident.


Which shows what's really going on here. In a conservative rag, the only time you'll ever see an OVERestimation of how many African Americans are gathered for protest is reporting on the Black Panthers. This is a NY Daily News report using a Brietbart video, sensationalizing a story and outright lying about who was gathered and what they were carrying.

Black People Scary. That's the conservative race card. The real story is the tragedy of Sandra Bland's death. But conservative media is more than happy to twist it into the subversive and disgusting narrative that white folks should be scared. There are radical blacks out there, toting weapons, probably coming to your neighborhood tomorrow. That is institutionalized, conservative racism. And nothing less.

Don't Debate Me, Bro!

About the debate:

I think most of the post-debate speculation/analysis was and continues to be red meat hyperbole catering to the barking masses on both sides and about as useless as the campaign commercials. I think Obama phoned it in. I also think that if it had been Obama acting in Romney's role, the right wing headlines would be crying about how petulant, disrespectful, disruptive, staggering, and out of control he was with a touch of something about how he changes the rules to fit his "agenda." We'd certainly get at least one pundit pushing out an "angry black man" claim. I think Romney controlled the debate (or was perceived to do so), but my take was of a socially awkward teen not sure quite how to do so. "Shut up, Dad!" At several points watching both candidates I was questioning if I was watching Saturday Night Live.


Also, did Mitt just call Obama "bro?"

Drudge's Pitchfork & Reagan's Corpse: Tonight We Eat Newt

Awww, shit. It was to happen eventually: the powers that be on the Right would have to make a move to determine their candidate outside the electoral process. As the above image shows (click to embiggin), a stand has been made. Drudge has picked up the pitchfork (or had it handed to him) and figuratively killed the Gingrich campaign by invoking the Holy Ronald and calling up from the depths the Newt-flavored betrayals on the "Real Conservatives'" hallowed Saint. Drudge is the Kraken and he has been released.

They couldn't shut him down personally, could not point out his multiple stands on multiple issues, could not address his personal manifestation of the antithesis of morality. They had to say "Dude dissed RayRay!"

The supposed high-brow political discourse that Gingrich stood for is dead. Long live low-brow political discourse.

Now, about that Romney fellow...

FOX News Aaaah! Angry! Yelling! Stuff!

All the world's news agencies had about the same story going earlier today:

BAIL MADE: Assange granted bail, but Swedish authorities have since appealed the bail, and Assange must remain behind bars until he returns to court on Thursday.

Okay, not so crazy, not wacky or nutty. Ah, but then there was FOX News' headline this morning on "Fox and Friends":

AMERICANS HATING AMERICA: Michael Moore offering bail money to Wikileaks perpetrator Assange.


Note to FOX: Assange, as much as it makes you so shake-your-fist squint-your-eyes clench-your-firearm angry, is not in jail for anything having to do with Wikileaks, nor has he been charged, censured, censored, or spanked on the bottom because of Wikileaks.

"But he's gots a Fernch-soundin' name and pretty hair and he's givin' away our sekrets on a Wiki and ...what's a Wiki anyways?!"

Second note to FOX: Even Secretary of Defense Gates doesn't think the whole "leaks" issue is anything to worry about. At all:

Now, I’ve heard the impact of these releases on our foreign policy described as a meltdown, as a game-changer, and so on. I think – I think those descriptions are fairly significantly overwrought. The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets.

"Woll, then Michael Moore likes doughnuts ...cause he's fat and Assaounnnge's a fag and Obama's a stupid ni-- naughty stupid head and that makes you a fat gay dummy."

Yeah, that's kinda where the arguments always end up, isn't it?

Drudge is an Ignorant, Racist Goon

From Matt Drudge's headline site:



That's right: "They." And by "they" he's referring to all them dark-skinned folk protesting the new law in Arizona.

If you claim to be a media mogul, please don't claim to be completely ignorant of the "they" rhetoric, the "they" that are the minority, the "other," the "under." You are either a moron or a racist. I'm putting my money on both.

And the Right wonders why the "unfair" racist rap?

Short News: G-Spot, Have a (Secret) Smoke

Um...Gee...

Do you have a G-spot? If you're British, you may not.

A bunch of British scientists did some sexy science and decided that the G-Spot does not really exist. And then the French scientists were like "Oh non, tu fais pas!" because they're the masters of their own baters and their own sexual destinies. Best quote:

The angry French gynecologists said they’d found the real problem with their British counterparts: that they're British.

Ah, those Brits and Frenchies. Always scrappin'.


Put That Out, Drew!

Oh, no. Not in Parma, Ohio! On March 1st, Parma Community General Hospital will begin a new policy: They will not hire smokers.

Okay, so we knew this was coming. No one is surprised.

But the reality of the situation is now wildly apparent. We are heading towards a society where you punch in to your job by standing on a scale and taking a quick blood test to check your cholesterol, drug content, triglycerides, and stress hormones.

Is that okay?

Just wondering.

Some Days on Facebook...

I read through the posts and the absurd, trite, hollow people that I have somehow decided it was important to friend, and wonder how they live their lives. And it's worse because I regularly think that about strangers, every time I see a nasty, sour face on the street or in a store - a lone wanderer in the UDF completely void of any feeling or zest for life, a man walking his child down the street with a "what the fuck did I do with my life?" blankness on his face, every single person working at or shopping in Walmart. But this is worse. These are people I know. People I at least did know in some capacity at one point in my life. And they're playing Mafia Wars or Farmville and requesting friends pitch in and going shopping or watching sitcoms and the terrifying part is that they are happy doing that.

And it makes me sad because they don't create anything, only consume, and - for fuck's sake! - have no passion for making the world a better place, or at least a different place. They laugh at canned laughter and devour terrible reality television and thrive on it - but only enough to consume more canned laughter and ingest more reality television. And shopping. And stuff. And more stuff.

One thing: if I get to the point of actually laughing at sitcoms and watching reality TV on MTV and finding any joy in shopping in the mall (other than book stores and GameStop), then they have replaced me with someone else. Put a bullet in my head.

I'll be one less ignorant person absorbing media I refuse to think about and voting for what I do not understand.

We've got enough idiocy in America already.

In Short: Silly CEO, It's Free!

That silly rabbit, News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch (Fox News?), was talking about how he plans to be paid for all digital content. For those of you new to the internet, digital content is generally free and news digital content is ubiquitously free, so he's having some 2 girls 1 cup wet dream that he's going to change the paradigm of the interwebs.

"Quality journalism is not cheap," he said.

My immediate thought was: Okay, so how much is your kind of journalism then?

Brazil Talks Pee Pee

Today Mrs. Shambles sent me this link from CBS in which, well:

New TV ads are encouraging Brazilians to save water - by urinating in the shower.

Brazilian environmental group SOS Mata Atlantica says the campaign, running on several television stations, uses humor to persuade people to reduce flushes.

The group says if a household avoids one flush a day, it can save up to 4,380 liters (1,157 gallons) of water annually.

SOS spokeswoman Adriana Kfouri said Tuesday that the ad is "a way to be playful about a serious subject."

The spot features cartoon drawings of people from all walks of life - a trapeze artist, a basketball player, even an alien - urinating in the shower.

Narrated by children's voices, the ad ends with: "Pee in the shower! Save the Atlantic rainforest!"

Sure. Fine. I can pee in the shower and start saving myself some water money to save up for the toilet with the Pee/Poo buttons. But what made this postworthy was not the story about peeing in the shower, though it did make me giggle.

It was this unfortunate juxtaposition:



So, so wrong. Next up: a public service announcement that amateur golden shower porn actually take place outdoors or in the bathtub to save the water that would be used to clean up that stank.

Project Censored - Ignored Stories

As much as I love commenting on political commentary and opining on opinion, there are some that dedicate themselves to exposing things that are in plain sight, even if just for a moment. This is where Project Censored comes in, presenting "the news that didn't make the news." Check out their site. In the meantime, check out some clips from the most recent newsletter:

American School Segregation

For example, current research indicates that public schools in the United States are more segregated today than they have been in more than four decades. According to a new Civil Rights report, published at the University of California, Los Angeles, schools in the US are 44 percent non-white, and minorities are rapidly emerging as the majority of public school students in the US. Latinos and blacks, the two largest minority groups, attend schools more segregated today than during the civil rights movement forty years ago. Millions of non-white students are locked into “dropout factory” high schools, where huge percentages do not graduate. The most severe segregation in public schools occurs in the Western states, including California—not in the South, as many people believe. Most non-white schools are segregated by poverty as well as race. Schools in low-income communities remain highly unequal in terms of funding, qualified teachers, and curriculum.

1 Million Dead Civilians in Iraq - Confirmed

Other taboo stories include civilian death rates in Iraq and questions on 9/11. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and a professional survey company in Great Britain, Opinion Research Business (ORB) report that the United States is directly responsible for over one million Iraqi deaths since our invasion six and half years ago. In a January 2008 report, ORB reported that, “survey work confirms our earlier estimate that over 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the conflict which started in 2003…. We now estimate that the death toll between March 2003 and August 2007 is likely to have been of the order of 1,033,000.” A 2006 Johns Hopkins study confirmed that US aerial bombing in civilian neighborhoods caused over a third of these deaths and that over half the deaths are directly attributable to US forces. Iraqi civilian death levels in the summer of 2009 likely now exceed 1.2 million.

9/11 Called Back Into Question

Former Brigham Young University physics professor Dr. Steven E. Jones and some 700 scientific professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, and physics have now concluded that the official explanation for the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings is implausible according to laws of physics. Especially troubling is the collapse of WTC 7, a forty-seven-story building that was not hit by planes, yet dropped in its own “footprint” in 6.6 seconds in the same manner as a controlled demolition. To support this theory, Jones and eight other scientists conducted chemical research on the dust from the World Trade centers. Their research results were published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal Open Chemical Physics Journal, Volume 2, 2009. The authors write, “We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the samples. The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The red portion of these chips is found to be an unreacted thermitic material and highly energetic.” Thermite is a pyrotechnic composition of a metal powder and a metal oxide, which produces an aluminothermic reaction known as a thermite reaction and is used in controlled demolitions of buildings.

Conservatives: This is Why You Can't Have Anything Nice

Hey, guess what?

Jay Severin, the fiery right wing talk show host on Boston's WTKK-FM radio station, was suspended yesterday after calling Mexican immigrants "criminaliens," "primitives," "leeches," and exporters of "women with mustaches and VD," among other incendiary comments.

I guess he missed "lazy." Oh, sorry, that's black people. (that was a joke, folks)

It is people like this - and the fact that they keep showing up (or cracking their shimmery outer crust) - that detracts from ANY argument that minorities should be on the side of conservatives or Republicans.

And who says shit like that except raging, seething racists? Oh, and while I realize conservatives read this blog, please refrain from telling me "he's just racist against Mexicans." I've heard that argument before and it's a complete retardation of thought, like saying "That guy's just a pedophile for blondes." (No, I am not calling Severin a pedophile.)

Very high-end Republicans with NO record of bigotry need to stand up and repudiate stuff like this. Although the former end of the last sentence may leave a VERY small pool. Ah, well. Good on us liberals then.
___________
UPDATE: Rep. Steve King calls Black and Hispanic Congressional Caucuses "separatist groups" and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released a fearmongering video juxtaposing Chavez and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Not Exactly "Just" In...

Caught this on the teevee a few minutes ago and because MSNBC doesn't have a live online feed, took a picture.



The first problem is with the verb agreement: "Centers for Disease Control Holds" does not fly with me. Centers hold; centers do no holds. "for Disease Control" is a prepositional phrase. CDC holds. "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.."

The Gestalt of the language is also problematic. "This Just In" connotes news that has just popped up. "Centers for Disease Control Holds Press Conference on Swine Flu Outbreak" did not just pop up. A press conference is an ongoing event; just in means a punctuation. If you had news that they were "going to" hold a press conference, that would be just in. But by the time the CDC guy at the podium starts speaking, you must alter your "Just In" subtext to the contents of the news he is delivering as the press conference is already going on.

Just a thought.

Storm o' Gay Commin' ta Getcha

National Organization for Marriage has put out this video because in the last week both Iowa and Vermont have made the very rational decision that "separate" is not "equal" when it comes to same sex marriage.

[UPDATE (thanks, Namoi!):the District of Columbia's City Council approved, 12-0 (w00t!), that the District will recognize same-sex marriages from all 50 states.]

Some people are afraid of teh gay, and because they can't just say "we just don't like them queers" they want to make you afeared as well so everyone can be scared together and blame a common gay enemy. So their argument is by giving same sex couples the same rights as straight couples, straight people will lose their rights. What rights? Well, don't worry about that. Explanations are just for those elitist homos anyway.

Try not to throw up in the back of your throat while being slathered with mediocre production values and ignorant bigotry.



[UPDATE AGAIN!]: Think Progress packed in a couple of the Anti-gay screen test auditions for those fake doctors and mothers reading thorough the scripts. Yes, it will make you even madder.

ShamWow: You'll Say "Hooker, Gimmie My Fucking Tongue Back" Every Time

The Smoking Gun is my hero today.

You know Vince from ShamWow, right? How about a refresher on the mug:



Wait! Holy asshats, Vince? Why do you look so disheveled?

Turns out that Vince picked up this girl:



Wait! Why does she look like that?

Can I tell the fucking story? Cause ya know we can't do this all day.

Vince was propositioned by the girl above, took her back to his hotel, gave her $1000, and apparently at first kiss, she clamped down on his tongue which prompted him to struggle and then repeatedly beat her about the face and head at which point she finally let go. Vince ran down to the lobby, bleeding, cops got involved, and they were both stitched and booked. Not surprisingly, it appears they were both drunk.

Ah, Vince, 15 minutes can be so short. Ya won't find Billy Mays whoring it up like that.

Censored

I've been a fan of the Project Censored emails I receive in my inbox from time to time for a couple years now. So I was quite surprised to see that they had a blog, The Daily Censored.

The Daily Censored focuses on under-reported stories and generally features a liberal tilt, which is why it's so lovely.

What's on the front page: Bill O’Reilly Show looses UPS advertising thanks to Think Progress Bill O’Reilly Show looses UPS advertising thanks to Think Progress, CIA Reports Predicts Israel Will Fall In 20 Years: Zionists to emigrate from Israel to US, Europe and Russia, and G20 protests: Cry havoc - and let slip a rainbow alliance of summit protesters.

Blogroll soon. Take a look. It's some seriously good reading.

What They're Saying About High-Fructose Corn Syrup

If you've seen the ads put out by the Corn Refiners group where some actor-playing-douchebag says "Well, you know what they say about high-fructose corn syrup" (apparently aware of all foods that contain it but not what the concern is) but cannot come up with one thing that "they say" and the other person intelligently and succinctly states some crap about it being natural, you might have had two thoughts concomitantly: 1) What is it who's saying about HFCS? and 2) Ooh, it must be natural and ignorant whackos are causing a fuss.

And that's what the Corn Refiners group would like you to think.

But here's just one of the things "they're saying" about why HFCS is some funky shit:

A new study in mice sheds light on at least part of the reason for the insulin resistance that can come from diets high in high-fructose corn syrup, a sweetener found in most sodas and many other processed foods.

Fructose is much more readily metabolized to fat in the liver than glucose, and in the process can lead to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. NAFLD in turn leads to hepatic insulin resistance and type II diabetes.

Researchers showed that mice fed a high-fructose diet could be protected from insulin resistance if a gene known as transcriptional coactivator PPARg coactivator-1b (PGC-1b) was "knocked down" in the animals' liver and fat tissue. PGC-1b controls the activity of several other genes, including one responsible for building fat in the liver. This suggests an important role for PGC-1b in the pathogenesis of fructose-induced insulin resistance.

But, hey, what's so bad about insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease?

Anyone else find it weird that people who are supposed to sell corn are selling medical advice that benefits their bottom line?

MSNBC and Ed Schultz? Tasty!

Speculation abounds about Ed Schultz getting his own show on MSNBC:

Speculation about Mr. Schultz’s future role at MSNBC has focused on two time slots: the 6 p.m. hour (currently anchored by David Shuster) and the 10 p.m. hour (which currently features a repeat of Countdown with Keith Olbermann).

I think it would be a fine addition to the rapier wit of the current Olbermann/Maddow lineup. He's one of the few radio hosts I can listen to - on either side - on a regular basis.

Keep your fingers crossed; this could get tasty.

T-Shirt Hell Shutting Down

I've been a fan of T-Shirt Hell for many years now and am sad to see they are closing their doors.

We're sorry to bring the news that T-Shirt Hell will be closing its doors on Tuesday, Feb 10, 2009. Everything is now on sale during our final days.

For a message from the creator of TSH, Sunshine Megatron, go here. To view our final new shirts, plus 14 shirts we are bringing back as a thank you to everyone (including some of the best of our old Worse Than Hell section), go here.

It's been a deliciously wicked ride. Devilspeed to all who supported us.

(Customer service on all orders will continue for 60 days beyond our close date.)

Visit. Purchase. Weep.

And, hey, my birthday's coming up. My fav?



(and the obligatory social marketing one as well)

XL on black ;)

T-Shirt Hell, you will be missed. Never forget. :'(

Inauguration - Bestest So Far

Eh, we're at about 4:40 EST right now and I've been witness to over six hours of awesome, some by audio, some by television. And there's still more to go throughout the evening, balls and what-not. Olbermann at 8 should be good.

But I wanted to break in because plopping this down on a Tweet is just not enough.

History, pshaw! The best part of today was when the Bush chopper, Executive One, was circling over the National Mall, and Chris Matthews, the Constant Constitutional Tool, decided to pine poetic and went with "besides seeing so many teeth of happy people smiling today" and continued to speak of the minority makeup of the crowd, voicing amazement that no one seemed pissed or short-tempered that it was cold and everything was taking so long.

Yes, Chris, it's all teeth and eyes and watermelon in a sea of black like that, sippin' on some Courvoisier. And those people would, of course, treat world-history caliber news and being there for that event like they would a long line at an un-air-conditioned BMV. WTF?

Best Matthews gaffe evar.

Joe the Plumber Collapses McCain's Good Leg

If you watched the last debate, you are more than aware of St. Joe the Plumber, the Hail Mary that John McCain just tossed out there.

It was intercepted.

McCain could've gained some points on this if Joe buried himself after lying to Obama. But he wanted his 15 minutes.

He owes back taxes. He is not a licensed plumber. And it turns out that Wurzelbacher makes less than $250,000 a year, which means he would receive a tax cut if Obama were elected president.

As radio talk show host Ed Schultz just said, Joe is the "poster child for a low-information voter."

To paraphrase Stephen Colbert, Joe didn't realize that during your 15 minutes of fame, 12 of that is a media anal probe.

UPDATE: Joe's also apparently a cousin of Charles Keating’s son-in-law.