Friday, May 28, 2010

Until I Return...

Hopefully when I return on June 5th, the gusher will be plugged, the super tankers will be in the Gulf vacuuming, Sarah Palin will have rode her snow machine back to the Tundra, Rand Paul will be serving drinks to the Black Caucus, Faux Newz will have gone under, the Red Sox will have obtained Adrian Gonzalez,and my fantasy baseball team will have less than 5 players on the DL, etc...Hey one can dream!

As I say until next week, I wanted to leave you with this disgustingly cute video.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

"The War is Making You Poor Act" by Alan Grayson

As I'm about to embark on a much needed vacation, I don't have much time to write my thoughts, but I wanted to pass along this interesting tidbit found via Alternet and change.org.  I like the way this Alan Grayson guy thinks!  I hope this is successful.

"For too long the true cost of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan has been hidden by procedural gimmicks. For the past nine years, funding for these wars has been passed as an "emergency supplemental" to avoid the normal budgeting process. Next year's cost will be $195,000,000,000.

Rep. Alan Grayson, one of the boldest progressive voices in Congress, has a plan to change all that. He is introducing a new bill called "The War is Making You Poor" Act. It eliminates separate funding for the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and eliminates federal income taxes for everyone's first $35,000 of income ($70,000 for couples). And it pays down the national debt.

Sounds like a much more sensible way to allocate our tax dollars, doesn't it? Rep. Grayson needs your support to make this happen.  Sign our petition to your representives in congress urging them to vote for "The War is Making You Poor Act."

Thanks for all you do,"

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

BP's Latest "Idea" Underway as Wildlife Continues to Perish

As I type this, BP is attempting the much talked about Top Kill. As I understand it, the top kill involves pumping enough mud into the gusher to overcome the flow of the well. Engineers plan to follow it up with cement to try to permanently seal the well. Evidently it will take couple of days before they know whether the procedure is working. BP told President Obama it has a 60-70% chance of working while admitting it's never been tried in water this deep. Yeah, we can trust BP, they've been so forthcoming and helpful so far. As more and more information about the shortcuts and infighting prior to the explosion come to light, it's clear that a lot of people should be doing jail time when all is said and done.

CBS has caught this depressing footage of a deep sea eel checking out the oil gusher. The animal seemed to be inspecting it before seemingly getting sucked in. I was going to try to write something profound about how the eel can only look on without fully comprehending the magnitude of the impending death pouring forth from that ginormous hole. Then I thought about it and realized that's pretty much what most of us are doing too. I hope that the poor thing will make it after getting into to the oil gusher, although I'm sure his/her chances aren't very good.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

ABC Dives into Oil Gusher Disaster..literally

We're now into day 36 with no end in sight. I commend Good Morning America for showing viewers this ongoing devastation. Sam Champion, along with Philippe Cousteau and a team of specially-trained divers, reported from under the water and oil in the Gulf of Mexico. As I said yesterday, this can not continue to be called a leak, it must be referred to as a gusher. If the media continues to understatedly refer to this as a "leak", people are going to move on to the next important thing...like who the finalists for "Dancing With The Stars" are. I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that it's been over a month and not one useful solution has been tried. If we're such a "power" and assuming what Mike Papantonio said yesterday is accurate, we should be demanding those tankers waiting for "market change" be unloaded and shipped to the Gulf. If that is a legitimate solution that no one wants to do because of greed, shame on every single person tied to this disaster including our government.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Stop Calling This a Leak - It Is A Gusher!

Hey MSM - call this disaster for what it is. This is not an oil leak, it's an oil gusher! The term "leak" is understating the ongoing and long term disaster to our environment. An oil leak drips out of an older cars' oil pan and can be absorbed with kitty litter; a gusher is an underground volcano full of dirty crude that no one knows how to stop. This oil disaster isn't ending any time soon. I get more angry every single day and I'm not sure if it's due to BP's initial arrogance and current incompetence, our government not putting the boot heel on BP's neck sooner or the plain disgust that nothing has gotten better in 35 days. I don't live there and I'm not a seafood eater and I'm pissed. I can't even imagine how the people this really affects are feeling. Mike Papantonio passionately describes his position on Chris Matthews' Hardball earlier today. Seems like we could learn a lesson from Saudi Arabia where they had a disasterous spill in 1994 and sucked up roughly 85% of the crude. Wait until you hear why we're not in a position to do the same.
Hint: It starts with a "G" and ends with a "D".

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Sunday, May 23, 2010

The War on the Middle Class Continues...Quietly

I saw a report on the Nieman Watchdog entitled "Has Obama created a Social Security death panel?" this week that has me extremely concerned. Evidently the Obama Administration and the leadership in Congress have empowered enormous and unaccountable authority to 18 unrepresentative, excessively wealthy white men. These guys could quite possibly decide the financial future to some degree for every single one of us. They are the members of President Obama’s newly-formed National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The fact that they lack any type of diversity is abhorrent, but more worrisome is they lack variance of opinion. While claiming "everything is on the table" (*wink*), one of them is the CEO of a major defense contractor.

One area that they're in agreement on -- targeting programs that help the middle class and those Americans who are the most vulnerable. Erskine Bowles went on record before the North Carolina Bankers' Association saying that if the Commission doesn't "mess with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security ... America is going to be a second-rate power" in his lifetime. It's been suggested with regard to Social Security that it doesn't affect anyone over 60. Well that's very nice, but what about those of us in our 40's and 50's who have been paying into the system our entire lives? Tough shit? We all knew 20+ years ago the we had to supplement our social security earnings with IRA's and later 401K's after Reagan made it vogue to start union busting and encouraging companies not to offer pensions to their loyal employees. However supplementing something and suddenly losing a decent amount of your own money that you were expecting (and faithfully paid into) returned should be considered grand larceny. At the very least, they should pay us out for our "contributions." I could begrudgedly live with that, even with interest lost - at least it's not the entire "contribution." My guess is that they'll raise retirement age again to a point where they'll be comfortable knowing most of us won't collect a red cent of our own money. Eventually we'll have a society of paupers and wealthy pricks who took our homes when we couldn't afford health insurance or our property taxes as we get older. Maybe I'm cynical, but the rules are skewed to the wealthy who will destroy anything and everything in their quest for power and domination. When will we collectively ask in earnest, how much is enough?

So, that begs the question; Why bother fighting to elect Democrats when they're just more polite versions of the Republican agenda? In some ways it's worse because we got our hopes up..."change we can believe in" and all that jazz. At least Republicans make no bones about the fact that they're corporate loving assholes. Even Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) who I thought was on our side said, “the bleeding-heart liberals have to make real sacrifices to strengthen our nation.” Why? Why can't the wealthy or the corporations make sacrifices? Why do "we the people" allow them to treat every individual as dispensible? Is what we're facing right now due to years of destroying education in this country. People blindly follow their party without questioning their motives. I think the time has come for a real third party, one that really works for the people. I know in time they'll become corrupt as well, but at least "we the people" might get a honeymoon. I'm not talking about Libertarians, they're just Republicans who smoke pot; I'm not talking about the Green Party who just worry about one issue; albeit an important one. I'm talking about a real Independent Party; a party that does the people's business. There are only 2 or 3 current Senators that might fit that mold in my opinion; Bernie Sanders of Vermont, possibly Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and I think Ohio's Sherrod Brown has potential. When they vote no on bills that are sometimes wanted by the Democratic Party, it's because the bills haven't gone far enough for their consituents...not just to say no. President Obama has done numerous things that concern me, but this alleged backroom deal may actually be the most upsetting to date. Apparently the war on the middle class is one that they're comfortable putting into the win column.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Rand Paul Can't Make Himself Stop Talking, So GOP Does It For Him

Rand Paul was supposed to appear on Meet The Press Sunday, but canceled - only the third guest ever to do so. His handlers claim it's do to exhaustion, but internet rumors claim that the GOP told him to stop talking! As bad as his interview with Rachel Maddow was, he wasn't finished. The next day he went on Good Morning America to cry that he wasn't getting a honeymoon and whined that Obama was un-American in his criticism of BP by putting his boot heel on the throat of BRITISH Petroleum. He added that the President's reaction is "part of this sort of blame game society" where "it's always someone's fault. Maybe sometimes accidents happen." He actually included the recent mining "accident" where 30 miners were killed do to unsafe working conditions as part of his "shit happens" interview on GMA. When will the GOPers learn that when they say something stupid, it's very likely going to be on video?

Back to the nest: So RaPaul slept on TRMS interview and realized what an asshat he made of himself on her show Wednesday night so he did what every foot-in-mouth politician does, run to the womb of safety and shoot the messenger! He went on Laura Ingraham's radio program crying what a mistake he made going on Rachel's show and mama countered with a mild swipe at Rachel exclaiming, "What did you think you were going to get when you go on Rachel Maddow's show, that's the kind of question you're going to get." Seriously? She asked him to clearly state his positions. The nerve! I'm sure Fox News would've asked the important questions that people really want to know of their right wing politicians: Coke or Pepsi? McDonald's or Burger King? Maryanne or Ginger? The fair and balanced network, they report, you decide.

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I have to say that Chris Matthews was a class act in his praise for Rachel after her interview with Rand Paul. He discussed the controversial remarks on the Civil Rights Law and Obama's handling of the Gulf oil spill with Clarence Page and Jonathon Martin.

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Thursday, May 20, 2010

So You Think You Can Dance? Rand Paul Does It Better!

Rand Paul won a decisive victory Tuesday night in Kentucky for the right to run in November as the next Republican senator from that state. Unfortunately for him, he blew a tire on his victory lap. He went on NPR radio to discuss how he's "troubled" by certain parts of the Civil Rights Act...no worries, just the one where it says you can not discriminate! Then on the very same evening goes on The Rachel Maddow Show and seemed surprised that she wanted clarification of his stated position. It was also enlightening to find out that he's against The Americans With Disabilities Act! As I was watching TRMS, I thought an episode of "So You Think You Can Dance" broke into the coverage as he spent 20 minutes dancing around Rachel's basic question which was essentially, "What exactly did you mean?" His positions may play very well in Kentucky, but not nationally.



How do you equate having to serve a black person with having to serve someone carrying a loaded firearm. Um, call me crazy, but it seems to me that you can choose to carry a weapon, you can't change the color of your skin. Congratulations teabaggers, you've found a male Sarah Palin...maybe a bit more polished, but just as clueless. Originally I had pinned that label on Scott Brown, but this guy makes him look like Abraham Lincoln.

One more thing: He also stated that segregation in Boston ended in 1840? Really? Weren't there riots in the mid 70's? Busing issues? One thing I noticed even as a child was that the Red Sox and Celtics were always the whitest team on the field and on the court.  This famous Boston Herald photo looks pretty 1970's to me!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Rachel Maddow Addresses Smith College Class of 2010

I just wanted to share the video of 2010 Smith College Commencement Speaker Rachel Maddow's address. She rose to national prominence as a political commentater after launching her career on local radio. Rachel received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree prior to the address. I can tell you from first hand experience that every single person in attendence was impressed and honored to listen to such an amazing woman. Enjoy!


5/16/2010 at "The Quad"

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Beyond Belief - The Disaster Continues

Video has been released of the oil leak that‘s still gushing, and I mean GUSHING a mile beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. This is the main oil leak on the ocean floor that is the cause of the environmental disaster emerging over the entire Gulf region. It is one of the two leaks from the Deepwater Horizon well that has resulted in millions of gallons of oil being dumped into the Gulf of Mexico so far. Until this video was released, most of what we‘ve seen are images of oil slicks on the surface of the water, but BP released this video apparently under pressure from federal officials. The Deepwater Horizon‘s rig sunk on the ocean floor about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana. And they still don't know how to stop it! Keep this company away from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska! Do not allow them into environmentally sensitive areas like the Atlantic Frontier or the foothills of the Andes. This will likely go down as the worst environmental disaster in history. It's pretty obvious that big oil had no disaster plan ready to enact. Very sad.



According to information learned watching TRMS; the company that owns the rig, Transocean, is based in Switzerland. The company that leased the rig and is trying to clean up the mess is, as we know, BP. “B” as in Britain. They‘re headquartered in London. These offshore rigs are technically ships since they can move around. So, even though they‘re "anchored" on water, they have to be flagged as if they are ocean-going sea vessels. That means they have to say what country they‘re coming from. Guess where this Swiss rig leased by a British company to drill American oil is flagged? The Marshall Islands! Why does this giant oil rig from the flag of this tiny, totally unrelated country? Because the Marshall Islands have lax maritime regulations. Apparently, where you‘re flagged isn‘t just a matter of what sort of taxes you pay, it‘s a matter of what sort of safety regulations you are held to. The U.S. Coast Guard, which goes around inspecting vessels in U.S. waters for obvious reasons, inspects foreign-flagged rigs a little differently. Nah, we don't need regulations or any kind of worldwide standard, do we?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

In Maine, the inmates are now running the asylum

Last weekend, at the Maine Republican convention, a majority of the gathered delegates voted to scrap the state party's old platform and replace it with whatever teabaggers wanted. Some examples: they're against The Fairness Doctrine (they only want to hear their point of view), EFCA (fair wages and workplaces are for commies), ACORN (I guess they haven't heard), "Reassert the principle of 'Freedom of Religion' (I didn't realize it left), "Marriage is an institution between a man and a woman." (big government intrusion into the personal lives of selected taxpaying citizens is okay.) Defeat climate change scientists (Polar Bears are dangerous anyways), and my favorite - eliminate the Department of Education (when it's obviously needed more than ever)! Read more at Salon.
By the way, notice the age of the folks deciding the future of Maine's Republican Party.
Good luck navigating these waters, Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

CW Roberts Says Hay is for --- Oil?

I love this idea, but I'll bet it won't be tried on a large scale because it's not going to be taken seriously. A Florida contracting company with a simple "green" idea will not overcome the greedy people making a ton of money off the BP oil spill. The chemical companies and oil barrier companies will be upset and we can't have that. I'm still confused as to why the chemicals in the ocean are any better than the oil either. Out of sight, out of mind? Why not give it a try? Nothing else is working. Sometimes the simplest solutions make the most sense. Call me cynical, but the chemical companies are probably fighting the idea. $$$

CW Roberts employees demonstrating the use of hay to assist in a defense against the oil spill in the Gulf. This is the method that is included in the Walton County Plan of Action.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Drill Baby Drill Song -- Ronnie Ray Jenkins

Anyone that knows me, knows I'm a sucker for anything animal related. Watching the dead sea turtles washing up on shore, a dead alligater, the oil soaked birds, all the dead fish, etc...literally brings tears to my eyes. So many people in this country are so removed from what is really important. Sadly, the majority thinks it's all about me, me, me and what else can I get for myself. And we're getting worse. The United States is it's own worst enemy. We don't care about one another, we care about accumulating the most cheap shit to outdo the Jones's. We are destroying ourselves with greed; the radical Islamists have done nowhere near the harm to us than we've done over the past 30 years in particular. People bitch about what they perceive as the lazy unemployed, yet do their shopping at Wal-Mart thereby supporting the Chinese economy, not factories here. They scream "protect the family farms", yet don't understand that dairy farmers actually lose money for every gallon they sell and will go ballistic if the price of milk goes up.  They say screw the homeowners who've lost their jobs and eventually their homes because "heck, if they can't pay for a mortgage by getting a part-time minimum wage job, they should expect to lose everything." The conservatives want off-shore drilling because they've been brainwashed into thinking that it will wean us off foreign dependence. The oil (not spilling) is going into cargo ships and sold on the open world market!  The off-shore oil is NOT staying in the U.S.! How the hell can we get that through their heads? This is about Big Oil making a buck, damn the environment! We're not learning a damn thing and it's becoming more and more obvious what a heartless population by and large we've become. Big Oil and Wall Street are laughing their asses off at us, especially at the morons who actually believe they've got what's in our best interests at heart. People were angry at the government for loaning money to GM, but didn't get really pissed at Wall Street until word of their fat bonuses leaked. These wingnutz didn't seem to understand that Wall Street had become a giant casino using our money until recently! If these megacorps didn't stand to lose something significant, why are they fighting reregualtions? Don't these anti-regulation idiots understand that? All this stuff is related. Say what you want about former President Jimmy Carter, but he "got it." And to top it off, I've actually begun reading snipes that this disaster is getting too much coverage! How can you be so blind to not understand what the stakes are?

Ronnie Ray Jenkins has posted a video song on his youtube channel and I was impressed by the message. I actually have contacted him that I'd like the CD when it becomes available and he said he'll let me know. Maybe it's not much, but I'd like to believe every little bit helps. I also texted REDCROSS to 90999 for the $10 donation for not just this disaster, but the underreported flooding in Tennessee...and yes I did the same for Haiti.  I know my donations aren't life changing, but I'm also not inclined to just blindly bitch about something without doing some small part. Below the video, I'm going to post a few of ronnierayjenkins youtube posts because I think what is going on is so important and he's taking the time to do his part. I have no doubt that the one from yesterday is the spot-on truth. I'm also posting a link to his youtube channel and website.



Ronnie Ray Jenkins on Youtube
Zephyrs Through The Hills

ronnierayjenkins So the big steel condom they tried to use to stop ejaculation isn't working. It bought them time to confer with their lawyers though. 5/8
ronnierayjenkins Sunday is scheduled for the CD...I'm going to work hard to get it out to you fast. Keep your eyes peeled, and ears open. 5/6
ronnierayjenkins I'm heading to the studio today to work on this song. When I'm done, it will be just what I'm looking for with chattering dolphins, shorebirds. It has to be done folks. Anyone who knows what this means to our world will understand. It has to stop folks. Help me help the Gulf with this one. Please. It's our world. RRJ. 5/5
ronnierayjenkins @uniballpenman they are beyond accountability Penman. Until the people as a group are relentless in exposing what they are doing to a living planet, it will just continue on , and on...until.....there is no (on) left to meet. 5/5
ronnierayjenkins  Well, the first line of oil has hit Louisianna folks. There is dead wildlife, oil covered birds, and dead sharks. 5/5

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

America's Sad Cycle of Drilling and Spilling is Destined to Continue

Another night in Louisiana! Rachel reviews America's History of oil disasters and the impotence of the political response which always includes a token vow to reduce the nation's dependence on oil - though even in the face of the current calamity in the Gulf some politicians are advocating for more drilling. As I said on the weekend, the drill baby, drill crowd is somewhat quiet. Will this disaster get the dangers of off-shore drilling through their thick skulls? Do they understand that the oil drilled off our coasts are sold on the open market, that it doesn't stay in the U.S.? And um, doesn't hurricane season officially begin June 1? What if these gushes are not stopped by then? Sadly Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is willing to protect big oil instead of all the little guys whose livlihood is directly tied to the fishing industry. I hope she's not too attached to her senate seat.

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Monday, May 3, 2010

As Louisiana's Underwater Volcano Continues...

Rachel Maddow was in Venice, Louisiana this evening covering the BP oil disaster and I think tonight's telecast was amongst her finest hours. She discussed efforts to deal with the expanding slick with NBC's Brian Williams, she discussed the clean-up roles of BP and the government with EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, she spoke with Senator Bob Menedez about raising corporate liability and she spoke with fisherman Josh Bodenheimer who fears for his way of life. I'm a bit pressed for time these days, but I wanted to at least share the last part Monday's show. Larry Schweiger, president and chief exectutive Officer of the National Wildlife Federation, spoke with Rachel about the extent of damage to the gulf coast wildlife expected from the oil spill disaster and the anticipated long-term impact on the ecosystem. The long-term damage to the wildlife really is bothersome.




With Brian Williams
With Lisa Jackson
With Bob Menendez
With Josh Bodenheimer

Sunday, May 2, 2010

The View From The Deck - Week Ending 5/2/10

I'm confused...a month or so ago, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen were saying it is time to remove Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Both expressed their opinions eloquently with true passion and resolve. Now they're saying in regards to any legislation that would actually remove it, "I hope Congress will not do so, as it would send a very damaging message to our men and women in uniform that in essence their views, concerns, and perspectives do not matter on an issue with such a direct impact and consequence for them and their families." WTF!? Who got to them? Women serving on a submarine...no problem! Yahoo! says the Navy (boys will be boys and rape will not be a crime under water...don't you know). But, let gays actually be open about who they are, hell no! The little homophobes need to adjust because in their own paranoia, they think every gay person wants to look at their pee pee. This country is so f***ed up, I'm starting to lose any way to describe how f***ing ignorant we are as a group. I actually let some moron on Huffington Post have it the other day (and was fanned twice) who seems to think gay people can't control themselves and the gay community will demand open displays of affection. Who the hell believes that? Any ass hole who seriously thinks anyone in the military who has been trained in disipline of every nature would put anything at risk makes GWB look competent. All of our allies have already dealt with this issue and have had no problems with disipline or morale. Another difficulty the gay community faces is our own media. People like the idiot I responded to see the Pride Parades on tv once a year and think all gay men wear feathers and leather and all gay women have shaved heads and wear construction boots. The msm didn't cover the hearings in California over Prop. 8 where you would've actually seen gay couples...who look just like everyone else. The media loves making gays a freak show. Liberal media, my ass. It's 2010...grow up America!

In case you missed the snafu in Bristol Palin's sworn testimoney in the Knoxville, TN trial of the college student who hacked Sarah Palin's email account, here's the gist. Bristol said under sworn testimoney that she was distressed to see pictures of "her" baby that were in her mothers email account being circulated! The snafu? Sarah Palin's email account was hacked on December 15th 2008: Tripp Palin, son of Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston wasn't born until December 28th 2008! It appears that Bristol Palin, under oath inadvertently gave up the goods on Mommy Dearest while unknowingly admitting that she (Bristol) is actually the mother of Trig Palin. One more clue that the whole pregnant Sarah thing was a LIE! Abstinence only really seems to be having some setbacks in Alaska.

While I'm sure my past articles have already made my opinion pretty clear, let me make it crystal clear - corporate America sucks. We live in a world where job well done means, "if you pulled it off, we can do it cheaper and screw you deeper." I hate this newfangled world of "lean." Good people don't matter, we are an end to their means. The only thing these jerks look at is their bottom line...on their non-reality based spreadsheet. It doesn't help when candyass "managers" think that obeying and bowing to their superior lords' every whim, without question will solidify their own security. I doubt it. Maybe I'm wrong, but my personal opinion is that I'd have more respect for someone who stood up to me than just said, "yes master" at every turn. If there really was a God, these creeps would be paying for their destruction of the American Dream and their own self-interests. We are doomed.

Did I mention the Red Sox still suck?

Just because ---

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