Friday, September 3, 2010

Headlines - Friday September 3

Judge rules against U.S. government on oil drilling - A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the U.S. government's request to dismiss an industry lawsuit challenging its deepwater oil and gas drilling moratorium, dealing another blow to the Obama administration.
 
No need to stop the drilling, BP's gusher was rare. Oh wait...
 
Another oil rig explosion in the Gulf. Of course, like the first explosion, they're saying it isn't leaking oil.
 
Update: A mile long sheen
 
Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about 100 feet wide, was spotted near the platform, 200 miles west of the site of BP's massive spill. Firefighting vessels were battling the flames.

They say the sheen is a mile long. Fortunately they were supposedly able to shut down the active wells shortly after the explosion. In other words -- yes -- the platform was sucking oil, as opposed to early reports that it wasn't producing.

We're a very stupid people. 

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TEHRAN (AFP) – A hardline Iranian daily stepped up its attack on France's first lady Carla Bruni, saying on Tuesday the "Italian prostitute" deserved to die for supporting an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning.
 
After watching The Stoning of Soraya M. the other night, I guess I too am a prostitute for thinking it's barbaric to stone someone to death. 
 
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Mosque protesters now pointing old, rented missiles at Park51

Mosque Protesters Now Pointing Old, Rented Missiles at Park51

Fast Company's Mark Borden tweets this terrifying photo of a rented, decommissioned missile that "Ground Zero" "Mosque" protesters are driving around the proposed Islamic community center site today, and perhaps indefinitely. Take that, "productive interfaith dialogue" prospects!

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Wisco: It's a lot easier for the rich to get richer without democracy. 

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Large amounts of oil skimmed from sewers being used in China's food system. http://jonathanturley.org/2010/09/02/report-large-amounts-of-oil-skimmed-from-sewers-being-used-in-chinas-food-system/#more-26308

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Attention oldster tea party people

The Republicans are threatening to shut down the government if they manage to take back Congress in the November election. Hooray! It's the 1990s all over again, but this time in the middle of a slow-growth jobless economy. Really smart, Republicans.

Oh, and all of those older tea party members who can't wait for the Republicans to take over? They're totally screwed.

The first, and most immediate effect of a shutdown is furloughs -- hundreds of thousands of workers sent home without pay. That has ripple effects across the country.

Shalala ran down the list of functions that would be stopped.

"Social Security checks, Medicare reimbursements...welfare checks to the state, Medicaid checks to the state."

If the government shuts down, the Republicans will have created hundreds of thousands of newly unemployed people.

And, more importantly for the old tea partiers, no Social Security and no Medicare payments for you. But at least they were able to stop that evil black guy in the White House. That's got to be worth the price of a few Social Security checks, no? Who needs to pay the rent or buy food anyway? Loud noises and all that.

Vote wisely, old people.

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Apparently the Mexicans who write Jan Brewer's opening statements all got deported!

Gov. Jan Brewer, "We have did what was right for Arizona."

OK, so that didn't go so well. You'd think her staff would've clued her in on the fact that you have to actually say things at debates. Dead air and an embarrassed grin don't exactly inspire confidence. Still, as much as it seems like it, time has not stopped and she runs out the clock. Success!

Then the debate turns to her irresponsible "ARIZONA IS A VIOLENT HELLHOLE! PANIC! PANIC!!" messaging and things go from bad to worse. She dodges a question about her
beheadings lie, but good questions never actually die. They just lay in wait outside the studio doors like a mountain lion, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting Jan. She leaves the studio and is met by reporters with one subject on their minds -- beheadings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL5KQ4Ao0ro&feature=player_embedded#at=32

Yup, she pulls a Sharron Angle and bolts. You get the feeling that, if she knew where the light switch was, she would've thrown the room into darkness. See, this is why supervillains carry those flashbomb things. When things get dicey, you throw one and escape in the smoke, leaving only your sinister cackle behind. So, on this point too, Jan Brewer came unprepared.

So, when all is said and done, who won this debate?

Jan Brewer, of course.

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In a completely unsurprising move, Stephen Hawking has made it clear that we have no need for the god hypothesis.

Modern physics leaves no place for God in the creation of the Universe, Stephen Hawking has concluded. Just as Darwinism removed the need for a creator in the sphere of biology, Britain's most eminent scientist argues that a new series of theories have rendered redundant the role of a creator for the Universe. In his forthcoming book, an extract from which is published exclusively in Eureka, published today with The Times, Professor Hawking sets out to answer the question: "Did the Universe need a creator?" The answer he gives is a resounding "no". Far from being a once-in-a-million event that could only be accounted for by extraordinary serendipity or a divine hand, the Big Bang was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics, Hawking says. "Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing.

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In the exclusive premiere of "Betwixt The Music", Jewel tells the story of the band she formed with Sarah Palin and what led to their eventual break up.

And Imam Hitler Learns of Ground Zero Mosque's Downfall…

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Marc Perkel:

Right wing commentator Ann Coulter is now saying that Obama isn't a Muslim, he's an Atheist, as if being an Atheist is a bad thing. As an Atheist myself I don't have an invisible friend telling me to fly planes into buildings or to invade Iraq after fabricating false reasons for the invasion. So if Obama actually were an Atheist I wouldn't have a problem with that.

However, it makes me wonder if Ann Coulter is an Atheist. If I believed in God I certainly would not be using the Lord's name in vein to make a cheap political point. When I see those who call themselves Christians do bad things and use God's name as a cover, one can only conclude that they don't really believe in God. After all, if God is in your heart, transformed your life, and God actually means something to you, you simply would not abuse his name as a tool to foment hatred. Ann Coulter is admitting through her conduct that it she is the Atheist.

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Revisionist Historian Strategery - by digby

If you have a few minutes, it's quite pleasurable to see Keith Olbermann and Jeremy Scahill make mincemeat out of those who are demanding that Junior Bush be given plaudits for ending the war in Iraq:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFxlxIrcVEQ&feature=player_embedded

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Those crazy bankers really are a funny bunch. What part of "nobody cares if you fail because the industry lined its pockets with bailout cash" have they missed? Let them fail.

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Trig Palin is a hot commodity, and when you say he's at places he's definitely not, you have to answer to Ben Smith! Ben Smith did not care for the Journalism in that Vanity Fair Sarah Palin piece, as we noted yesterday, but now he has done some digging and found out Trig wasn't even at an event the piece said he was at. It turns out the Down Syndrome baby at that event was just some random Down Syndrome baby, and not Trig, who commands a hefty $100,000-a-pop speaking rate and won't even step foot in Missouri and risk being compared to his political rival, Roy Blunt. READ MORE »

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The Mormons, who baptize the non-Mormon dead, have promised (again) to stop doing it to Holocaust victims. See, this has been an ongoing problem.

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The Teabagger call to violence continues.

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What makes you think they will use this money for hiring?

So President Doing The Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting a Different Result still thinks  that more business tax cuts are going to spur hiring.

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Shorter BP: Give us everything or the Gulf of Mexico dies.

We used to call this "blackmail". And it used to be illegal.

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Same shit, different guy: http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/2010/09/same-shit-different-guy.html

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Louisiana Democrats have just released a movie documenting the tragic tale of born-again Republican David Vitter, whose blessed, pure heart was once contaminated with an insatiable lust for hookers. In the new film, Vitter doesn't fall in love with any of his prostitutes — he just gathers up his clothes and used condoms, and scoots on outta there. It's not a very romantic way to approach extra-marital relationships, if you think about it. READ MORE »
 
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Glenn Beck's God is not my God -