Saturday, March 5, 2011

Headlines - Saturday March 5

 
And here he finds out about the Prank Call to Governor Walker
 
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The Cure for Hurt Feelings
 

After a $100 million donation to MIT, which prompts some serious ass kissing, David Koch's boo-boo is all better:

"I read stuff about me and I say, 'God, I'm a terrible guy,' " he said. "And then I come here and everybody treats me like I'm a wonderful fellow, and I say, 'Well, maybe I'm not so bad after all.' "

And don't tell me that a college won't whore itself out for money:

His gift here means that one of the biggest donors to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, home to some of the top climate scientists in the nation, is an owner of a company that Greenpeace called "a kingpin of climate change denial."

Koch Industries — which owns oil refineries, pipelines and consumer brands like Dixie cups and Lycra — responded that "it is Greenpeace that is the denier here — denier of any rational and honest dialogue on the underlying scientific debate regarding climate change."

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Does it bother anyone else that a former Deputy Defense Secretary is now some crazy dude with a bullhorn and a trenchcoat shouting in the park?
 
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The Republican rule: always do the opposite of what the Democrats want 

These guys simply never pass down an opportunity to be a jackass:

West Virginia's two Democratic senators blamed House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday after their hopes of having the remains of World War I veteran Frank Buckles honored in the Capitol Rotunda were dashed, at least for now.

Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin III both released statements saying the Ohio Republican had blocked the Capitol honor. Asked if that were true, Boehner spokesman Mike Steel said the speaker and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would seek Defense Department permission for a ceremony for Buckles at Arlington National Cemetery.

Buckles died Sunday on his farm in Charles Town, W.Va., at the age of 110. He had been the last surviving American veteran of World War I.

The episode turned what West Virginia lawmakers had hoped would be easy approval for the rare honor for Buckles into a finger-pointing dispute with partisan overtones.

It just never fails- Cleek is right.

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Please read this post written by Emily and then share it with whomever you can.

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All the Huckleberry coded talk about Natalie Portman's bastard love fetus, Newt Gingrich's non-announcement announcement website, and Sarah Palin's continuous dribble of Facebook sharts are obscuring a fundamental fact. Obama is facing the worst economy since the Depression, the biggest continuous onslaught of lying propaganda in the history of the nation, and a major midterm reversal, yet none of these clowns, or even the "serious" Emmett Kelly-style clowns like TPaw and Mittens, can come close to beating him next Fall.

That means that birth certificates, his fat wife, the broccoli agenda, death panels, his palling around with Mubarak and Khadafi, Bill Ayers, his Kenyan anti-imperialist Muslimism, and everything else Glenn Beck and Roger Ailes have thrown at him hasn't stuck.

The first Republican debate is on May 2. Tick-fucking-tock.

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You have to be brave and smart to be an abortion provider. Here's a story from one (in training), about how they helped another brave woman:

[..] Couple days later one of our patients was a soldier from Afghanistan. [...]

No contraception around (she was stationed pretty far out) meant that she got pregnant. "Regulations require that a woman be flown home within two weeks of the time she finds out she's pregnant, a particular stigma for unmarried women that ends any future career advancement." [...] For my patient, that meant that she had to figure out how to make it back to the states on her own. [...] So even though she knew she was pregnant almost immediately, it took eight weeks to make arrangements, travel plans and raise all the money. That means by the time she walked in our door, she was beginning her second trimester, which is a way more expensive and invasive procedure. She also had to spend eight more weeks than she had to miserably pregnant. In Afghanistan.

Her procedure went well with no complications (notice trend) and before she left, Dr. S took her hand and said, "Thank you for saving us out there." She responded, "Hey, thanks for saving me over here today." As I watched them the thought that someone somewhere had to be scripting this appeared and then immediately burst. Here's the policy that you can get pissed about, and now here's the person you were pissed for. I see a lot of people get frustrated and huffy about stuff, and you can, but then you have to promise to actually do something about it. I have the privilege to be reminded that this is someone's life, not the New York Times Most Emailed Article. And it is an honor to be reminded. It makes me work harder. Being an abortion provider has meant that I drive home from work knowing I did something, actually everything in my power, to support people who needed it. It's a privilege and it's fucking awesome.

The whole thing is worth reading – there are more stories like this one. (via)

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Blair River, Owner of Heart Attack Grill, Dead at 29

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The un-benevolent ruling regime in Wisconsin got tired of those working people occupying the capitol, so this week the Republican authorities brought in new police officers to enforce the new, made-up occupancy limits. How strict is this enforcement? Firefighters responding to an emergency call in the capitol building weren't allowed inside, either. Somebody could have died in there, but firefighters are not Republican legislators or Republican staff members, and saving people's lives seems like a suspiciously pro-union thing for these thug union firefighters to do. READ MORE »
 
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Dishonorable conduct
The Marine Corps brig in Quantico is continuing its campaign of harassment of Bradley Manning.

This brings no honor on the Corps.

It is "Catch-22" level irony that the Marine Corps will not discuss their campaign of harassment and psychological torture of Manning under the guise of protecting Manning's privacy.

Some day the commanders of the Marine Corps brig and the commander of the Charleston Naval Weapons Station brig when Jose Padilla was held there may be called to account for their actions. But probably not, as we are no more willing to confront our own war criminals than Japan was.
 
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Charlie White, Indiana Secretary of State, has been indicted on seven felony counts, including voter fraud, perjury, and theft.  And, yes, he's a Republican.
 
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Weepy finds a way to add jobs ...

…for GOP attorneys, anyway. Weepy is going to have the Congress defend DOMA, now that the White House has said it will no longer have the Justice Department do that:

I will convene a meeting of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group for the purpose of initiating action by the House to defend [DOMA], which was enacted by a bipartisan vote in Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton.

For the record, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group is composed of: Weepy, Dopy (Eric Cantor), Sleezy (Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy) as well as Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, giving the GOP a clear majority to move forward with their own legal defense of the law.

I'm sure he'll find something for the other Dwarves to do.

(TPM)

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How rogue does Arizona have to go before the feds step in? "Arizona's GOP-run legislature has taken to marginalizing and villainizing the immigrant population with zeal - be it through SB 1070, HB 2191, or SB 1070 "on steroids." Now, the Pheonix New Times reports that state Sen. Sylvia Allen (R-AZ) is pushing a bill to give Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) a "blank check to establish a 'state guard' that would do her bidding, whatever that bidding might be." ... Allen's SB 1495 not only establishes a "state guard" independent of the national guard and finances that guard with national guard funding, but it allows Brewer to created this "Armed force" for "any [] reason the governor considers to be necessary.""

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Racist Kid Pundit Has Opinions On Guns In Arizona, Schools

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Wisconsin Democratic State Rep Tackled Trying To Enter Capitol

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Two Kochs, One Cup.

Famous people like Howard Stern and Rahm Emanuel have "verified" Twitter accounts, meaning they get a little green checkmark next to their name on the Twitter. This serves some purpose, we suppose, for those Twitter users who require assurance that the banal "tweets" from whatever public figure are truly from that public figure (or the public figure's publicity people or personal assistants who actually type the Twitter nonsense). But guess who was refused a Twitter Celebrity Verification? Wisconsin kochsucker Scott Walker, that's who! READ MORE »

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Bwahahahahaha!

Regulators reject proposal to bring Fox "News" to Canada:

Fox News will not be moving into Canada after all! The reason: Canada regulators announced last week they would reject efforts by Canada's right wing Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to repeal a law that forbids lying on broadcast news.

Oh, my sides... Lots more good stuff here.

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Hillary: "Viewership of Al Jazeera is going up in the US because it's real news," unlike the pathetic screaming, lying, biased commentary our own media provides.

"In fact viewership of al Jazeera is going up in the United States because it's real news. You may not agree with it, but you feel like you're getting real news around the clock instead of a million commercials and, you know, arguments between talking heads and the kind of stuff that we do on our news which, you know, is not particularly informative to us, let alone foreigners," she added.

Absofuckinglutely. Maybe CNN will let us vote on this? ; )

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Hey creationists, blow me.

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Not getting enough fruit in your diet/

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Wisco: Republicans' love/hate relationship with democracy

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Trump: Gays Deserve No Rights At All

We already knew Donald Trump opposes same-sex marriage, but now we learn just how far his animus towards gay people extends.
After indicating to the Des Moines Register that he will compete in next year's Iowa caucus should he decide to seek office, Trump was questioned on his stance concerning same sex marriages. "They should not be able to marry," the Celebrity Apprentice star asserted. Trump also admitted that he hasn't developed a "fully formed" opinion on extending medical and civil benefits to gay couples, but he added: "As of this moment, I would say no and no." The TV personality has suggested that he will announce his final decision on whether to launch a presidential bid in the coming months.
GOProud will be so pleased.

 
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OHIO: Drunk Driving Catholic Priest Offers Blowjobs To Arresting Officers
 
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Californians Ed Watson and Derence Kernik have been together for 40 years, but Ed has been been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and the couple is desperately hoping to marry while he can still recognize Derence. In a totally fucking related development, today the American Family Association denounced attempts to have the stay on Prop 8 lifted, using the headline, "Patience Is Not A Homosexual Virtue."
 
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Nutcase Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, who was booted from the military for being a douchebag, wants God to rebuke our lawless president for his decision on DOMA. Also Lord, please smite those Maryland state senators while you're at it.
 
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Tony Perkins: Gay Rights Cost Christians Their Freedom To Be Bigots

"In perhaps the greatest irony, this couple was trying to give children what homosexuals cannot--a loving mother and father. But Europe is so enslaved to 'tolerance' that it's willing to leave children homeless to make a point. Meanwhile, believers across the U.K. are stunned. 'Christianity isn't dying,' wrote one. 'It's being eradicated.' And if Americans think the same thing can't happen here, they're mistaken. Every special 'right' or concession we make to the homosexual community, Christians pay for in freedom. That's a major reason why Catholic Charities had to end its adoption program in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. They never wanted to be in the position of choosing between their faith and their freedom." - Family Research Council spokesbigot Tony Perkins, who says that last week's British court ruling against anti-gay foster parents is a harbinger of what's to come for America.

 
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Are Whites Racially Oppressed?

That was the headline today at CNN. A headline which would seem more fitting on The Daily Show or The Onion News Network.

Perhaps someone forgot to inform CNN that whites are still the majority in this country and that during times of class warfare, which we are living in right now, no one cares what color your skin in, only what your net-worth is.

(CNN) -- They marched on Washington to reclaim civil rights.

They complained of voter intimidation at the polls.

They called for ethnic studies programs to promote racial pride.

They are, some say, the new face of racial oppression in this nation -- and their faces are white.

"We went from being a privileged group to all of a sudden becoming whites, the new victims,'' says Charles Gallagher, a sociologist at La Salle University in Pennsylvania who researches white racial attitudes and was baffled to find that whites see themselves as a minority.

"You have this perception out there that whites are no longer in control or the majority. Whites are the new minority group."

All I could think of after reading that was this.

Follow #cnnheadlines on twitter for extra laughs.

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Republican sabotage - JM Ashby

Governor Rick Scott of Florida has adamantly opposed over $2.4 billion dollars in funding for high-speed rail projects since taking office and now his wish has finally come true -- the money will go somewhere else.

WASHINGTON -- Putting a formal end to attempts to satisfy his concerns with the project, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has rejected a last-ditch effort by the Department of Transportation to build a portion of a national high-speed rail system in his state.

Scott had what an official described as a "not long" phone conversation with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Friday morning, informing LaHood that he would continue to refuse $2.4 billion in federal funds for the project. The money will likely now be available to other states.

Rick Scott's plan to reject the money was recently challenged in court by his own Republican party in the state of Florida. Senator Thad Altman (R-Melbourne) said "I believe that he exceeded his executive authority and in a very strong sense we have a constitutional crisis on our hands." U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa said she would be "devastated" by losing the rail-project.

Those efforts were put to rest by the Florida Supreme Court when it ruled that Scott has the authority to refuse the money.

The Supreme Court issued a brief but unanimous decision siding with Scott less than 24 hours after hearing oral arguments. The unsigned opinion said the senators did not show they were entitled to an emergency court order that would have required Scott to accept the money.

Scott spokesman Brian Burgess said in a statement that Scott was pleased with the court's decision.

"He is now focused on moving forward with infrastructure projects that create long-term jobs and turn Florida's economy around," he said.

"He is now focused on moving forward with infrastructure projects?"

The state of Florida just learned what it's like to be Teabagged.

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