Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Headlines - Tuesday

 
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"May New Jersey Senate office phones ring off the hook today as God-fearing citizens call upon their Senators to represent say "NO!" to same-sex marriage! (Ps 94:14-23; 110:3; Pr 28:4; Is 6:8; 50:7-10)

May God grant favor to pro-family lawmakers in Trenton and impart to them strength, courage, and stamina. May they speak boldly and with power and effectiveness to stop this measure (Josh 23:6-13; Acts 14:3; 19:8; Gal 6:9; Eph 6:10, 19-20).
May this bill die in committee, in both the New Jersey Senate and House, never to rise again (Gen 19:13; Ex 15:1-21; Ps 9:1-6; Is 10:1-4; 26:13-14; Am 8:14)."
 
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"These things happen in such small numbers. It's marvelous when you think of the hundreds and hundreds of priests and how very few have ever been accused, and how very few have even come close to having anyone prove anything. Claims are one thing. One does not take every claim against a human being as a proved misdeed. I'm interested in proved misdeeds." -- New York Cardinal Edward Egan, in a deposition for 23 lawsuits against seven priests Link  

He seems to be saying Catholics should feel "marvelous" that more rapes didn't occur.

Or is he ordering his priests to film their rapes as they occur?  

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Why won't he just go away?
 
Senator Hatch's solution for the economy: 'Put the country back into Conservative Republican hands'
 
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"This year, the Christmas lights in Rockefeller Center will be partly lit by the sun, in an effort to pretend to care about the environment. Here's an idea - if you really care about the environment, don't chop down a giant, 70-year-old tree." Jimmy Kimmel
 
Amen to that.
 
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Activists Are Giving Obama a Pass

As President Obama quietly watches Senators undermine health care reform, redirects over $30 billion annually from domestic programs to expand the Afghanistan war, and sounds like the Concord Coalition in prioritizing deficit reduction over job creation, we hear little activist protest. Nor have activists publicly mobilized in response to Obama's caving in to anti-democratic forces in Honduras, his astonishingly low number of judicial and U.S. Attorney appointments, his failure to secure key appointments at the Department of Labor, and other non-progressive actions.

While many compile long lists of Obama accomplishments that they believe reflect an extraordinary first year, such cataloging of signed bills, implemented policies and unveiled plans misses the forest for the trees.

 
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                       I believe I dropped my peanut.
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Hold your loved ones close, because the end of the world as we know it may very well be tonight, as a giant, gaping, black vortex of stupid is generated at the Mall of America:

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is set to meet Sarah Palin tonight, Minnesota Public Radio reports.

Palin is in Minnesota today for her book tour, and is scheduled to attend a private fundraiser where Bachmann will also be showing up. "I hope I can get a book and maybe get it signed," Bachmann told reporters

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Rudy Giuliani literally wins the Olympics.
 
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The Healthcare Reform Pony

It's so pretty and bright but you can't ride it and it doesn't do any tricks except the one where it rubs itself against a tree to brush you out of the saddle. It may be expensive and largely useless - 

It's not just that single-payer was off the table from the git-go - it's that the public option wasn't even really on the table.

And it still isn't. A public option that isn't available to everyone just isn't an option at all, it's just what's left when they already know you have nothing left to take.

But think about this: The administration said publicly that they had no intention of passing a public option. They said it where the insurance companies could see it. They started from the weakest possible negotiating position. And the only reason we are still even talking about the public option is that enough people decided to push back.

- but that hasn't stopped the Democrats from working it like it's a sure cure for cancer.

Keep reading: http://casadelogo.typepad.com/factesque/2009/12/the-healthcare-reform-pony.html#more

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                                            Nation rejoices that there's no withdrawal timetable for the Afghanistan war. 

Meanwhile, in the other war:

AP BAGHDAD — A series of coordinated attacks struck Baghdad Tuesday, including two suicide car bombers and another vehicle that blew up near government sites. At least 118 were killed and hundreds wounded in the worst wave of violence in the capital in more than a month, authorities said.

A total of five attacks, which also included a suicide car bomb on a police patrol, showed the ability of insurgents to strike high-profile targets in the heart of Baghdad and marked the third time since August that government buildings were targeted with multiple blasts that brought massive bloodshed.

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Birther issue won't go away

Among the stereotypically crazy wingnut beliefs is birtherism - the idea that Barack Obama is really an illegal alien, making him constitutionally unqualified to be president. It's been so widely debunked that there's really no point in doing it again here. Suffice it to say that, if you still buy into this thing, you're either 1) astoundingly ignorant, 2) a gullible ass, or 3) an astoundingly ignorant gullible ass. At this point, it takes a real effort to buy this urban legend. Apparently, there are still plenty willing to make the effort.
 
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Jesus' General: Invisible Texans protect us from evil.
 
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Fox goes there
 
If the government doesn't pay for poor women's abortions, that means even MORE black and brown babies! What to do?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBMB9-R6wD8&feature=player_embedded
 
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Just how badly is President Obama's $75 billion foreclosure program working out? Consider these newly-released numbers: Out of every 100 homeowners who came to JPMorgan Chase for help under the program, just 15 have or will likely receive a permanent payment reduction.

What happened to the other 85? For every 100 trial plans initiated from April through September 2009 under the Home Affordable Modification Program:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/07/anatomy-of-a-failed-forec_n_383326.html

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Margot Kidder: Time to Declare War on Democratic Blackmailers

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USA Today: When the swine flu vaccine was most scarce, health officials gave thousands of doses to corporate clinics at Walt Disney World, Toyota, defense contractors, oil companies and cruise lines, according to a USA TODAY review of vaccine distribution data from three states.

USA TODAY examined how state health departments distributed H1N1 vaccine after public outcry last month over Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs receiving doses while doctors and hospitals encountered shortages. 

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Five senior executives at AIG told the bailed-out insurer last week they may quit if their compensation was cut significantly by the U.S. pay czar, the Wall Street Journal reported.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34309703/ns/business-us_business/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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This is one of the more encouraging moves by the Obama administration to date. With the loony teabaggers working themselves into a frenzy over science and Big Energy terrified of change, Congress can easily revert back to it's normal, do-nothing existence, so Obama is bringing the EPA back on track to regulate emissions in Congress's stead.

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Millions worth of gear being left in Iraq - some of which could be used in Afghanistan.

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I'm calling bullshit:

Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican.

In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate picks up 23%, and Republicans finish third at 18%. Another 22% are undecided.

Rasmussen's raison d'être in between elections is to push the overton window to the right. The way they make their money is telling wingers what they want to hear for 46 months, then they swing back in line for one month every two years so they don't look like total idiots and retain some credibility. They are the echo chamber's official polling place.

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More family values:

In an incident in which the perpetrator should have considered that he would become a household name on Wonkette before going through with it, former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton is facing assault charges for allegedly beating the shit out of his mistress while having sex. His ladyfriend had not uttered the "safe word," probably because Jetton was beating her unconscious.

Allegedly, the safe words were "Say no to gay marriage."

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funny pictures of cats with captions

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Another passenger is considering boarding the Republican clown car for 2012:

Former Sen. Rick Santorum has some more political travel on tap this week, with a trip scheduled for South Carolina to follow recent visits to Iowa and Michigan -- fueling speculation about 2012 that he isn't shying away from.

Can you imagine? This bozo and Sarah Palin squaring off in a primary debate? It would be hilarious if it weren't so utterly pathetic. Do these people have any idea what they're talking about? Are there any actual ideas behind what they say, or is it just a bunch of buzzwords strung together?

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For All Of the Moaning From the Right Over Obama's Afghanistan Speech

When you hear Republicans such as Grampa McFuckwit Sen. McCain decry that Obama, by announcing a withdrawal date, is not committed to victory, keep one thing in mind:

Bush did the very same thing in Iraq. Only Bush was not honest about it.

When Bush announced his surge, one thing was clear to the casual observer, and that was that Bush's surge had a limited lifespan. Despite extending tours to fifteen months and grabbing up reservists and national guardsmen for repeated tours, everyone who paid any attention could see that there were no available troops in the pipeline to replace the surge troops once those guys were rotated home. To get enough troops to do a rotation and keep the level of troops in Iraq up at surge levels, they would have had to strip other overseas commitments, including probably most of the American ground troops in Korea.

Everyone knew this. Anyone who could read and had an internet connection could find that out. There was no shortage of discussion about it. The only difference between then and now was that Chimpy pretended otherwise and nobody effectively called him on it. The Democrats were largely too frightened to talk about it (par for the course) and the Republicans played along as the loyal ass-fuckees that they are (standard operating procedure). Not a word was heard about it from Sen. John "Did I Tell You I Was a POW" McCain or any of the rest of the pack of brain-washed sycophants that made up the Republican caucus in the Congress.

At least President Obama is admitting what everyone knows is true: We can't keep a large presence of troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq. But that's a level of adult thinking that is simply lost on the juveniles in the GOP and their parrots on Fox News.
 
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That's gonna cost you, Mayor McCheese
 
A transgender teenager says a McDonald's restaurant in Florida discriminated against her when managers refused to interview her for a job, according to a complaint filed Monday. ... One of the managers also left her a voice mail saying: "We do not hire faggots."
Almost every place that there is a McDonald's, there is a Wendy's or Burger King just up the street.
 
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Well, thanks for the confession:
 
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Boxer's message to men who support abortion riders: how would you like it if we singled out Viagra
 
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Brownie's new heckuva job: teaching law school

Michael Brown with President Bush 

On Friday, the University of Denver law school announced the newest addition to its faculty: disgraced former FEMA administrator Michael Brown, forever remembered for doing a "heckuva" (i.e. incompetent) job during Hurricane Katrina. This spring, Brown will be teaching students about the Patriot Act.

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/07/brownie-law-school/

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A never before seen event: a Democrat will say mean things about Republicans, today, in real life. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer will explain why he thinks Conservatives are to blame for every single problem in America. Center for American Progress Action Fund

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Congress' #1 asshole, Rep. Steve King, made his first trip to a non-Iowa/DC place on Earth this weekend: Afghanistan. Whoa hey didn't anyone tell him there was an insane war going on there?? So dangerous. On this four-day "facting-finding" mission, he learned all sorts of crazy facts, too: the President of this particular Muzziestan is named "Muhammed Karzai," and he is a human! [Media Matters]

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Abusive lying cheating C-streeter Chip Pickering does hilarious new thing

Gross

Former Mississippi Congressman Chip Pickering, an ex-C-Streeter who cheated on his wife relentlessly in that house until declining to run again in last year's elections — to spend more time with his divorce papers — is getting violent at sports games. Again. But this wasn't simply some Mexican or another in the Congressional Baseball Game crowd. This was the coach of the team playing Pickering's son's team, in soccer. Why does Chip Pickering force his child to play the gayer of the two Fall athletic options? MORE »