McU.S.A.

Because we have 5 very activist conservative judges on the Supreme Court, our Democracy will very soon be sold to Corporations.

Colbert, a comedy show, the only source addressing this crucial issue.

Colbert Goes There - Only Media Figure In America To Openly Discuss Corporate Control Of Gov't

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I feel your pissed off-ness.

Dear Dems, Feed me a Sh!t Sandwich on HCR and I'll BURN THIS MFing TENT TO THE GROUND

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What Duncan says

Eschaton:

"Here's A Crazy Idea

Instead of a fine, perhaps the government could just sign you up to... oh, I don't know what we should call it... a public plan? And then send you a bill.

It's all so complicated and Rube Goldbergesque."

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Lest we not forget Bush's final Fuck You to the nation:

October 2009: Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele on the U.S. Treasury | vanityfair.com

Last October, Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, putting $700 billion into the hands of the Treasury Department to bail out the nation’s banks at a moment of vanishing credit and peak financial panic. Over the next three months, Treasury poured nearly $239 billion into 296 of the nation’s 8,000 banks. The money went to big banks. It went to small banks. It went to banks that desperately wanted the money. It went to banks that didn’t want the money at all but had been ordered by Treasury to take it anyway. It went to banks that were quite happy to accept the windfall, and used the money simply to buy other banks. Some banks received as much as $45 billion, others as little as $1.5 million. Sixty-seven percent went to eight institutions; 33 percent went to the rest. And that was just the money that went to banks. Tens of billions more went to other companies, all before Barack Obama took office. It was the largest single financial intervention by Treasury into the banking system in U.S. history.

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It is OK if you are a Republican.

Jeez. Morons.

Anti-Czar Bill Gets 100 Cosponsors In House [UPDATE]:

"I also pointed out yesterday that 'czars' have been a fact of life in American politics since the Nixon administration, and, to the best of my recollection, no Republican ever complained about the multitude of 'czars' in the Bush White House. But don't take my word for that. Here's Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif):"

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Judges smacking down the crazy.

Connie Rhodes "Birther" Challenge Thrown Out, Taitz Scolded:

"Land also put attorney Orly Taitz, who represents Capt. Connie Rhodes and is a leader in the national 'birther' movement, on notice by stating that she could face sanctions if she ever files a similar 'frivolous' lawsuit in his court.

'(Rhodes) has presented no credible evidence and has made no reliable factual allegations to support her unsubstantiated, conclusory allegations and conjecture that President Obama is ineligible to serve as president of the United States,' Land states in his order. 'Instead, she uses her complaint as a platform for spouting political rhetoric, such as her claims that the president is 'an illegal usurper, an unlawful pretender, [and] an unqualified imposter.''"

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The Kids are alright.

The $150 Edge-of-Space Camera: MIT Students Beat NASA On Beer-Money Budget | Gadget Lab | Wired.com:

"The two students (from MIT, of course) put together a low-budget rig to fly a camera high enough to photograph the curvature of the Earth. Instead of rockets, boosters and expensive control systems, they filled a weather balloon with helium and hung a styrofoam beer cooler underneath to carry a cheap Canon A470 compact camera. Instant hand warmers kept things from freezing up and made sure the batteries stayed warm enough to work.

Of course, all this would be pointless if the guys couldn’t find the rig when it landed, so they dropped a prepaid GPS-equipped cellphone inside the box for tracking. Total cost, including duct tape? $148."

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Dude. Where's my crack.

One hell of a jones to pass off a Lincoln for 50 bucks.

Man accused of trading dad's car for $50 in crack:

"Authorities arrested a man they said tried to trade his father's car for $50 worth of crack cocaine. Deputies arrested the 39-year-old man around 4 a.m. Wednesday after his 74-year-old father reported that his Lincoln had been stolen. When deputies arrived at the father's home, they saw the son walking up the street. They determined that the car had been sold for drugs."

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Shot Caller

As a baller myself, I dig this much.

The Cabinet's got game: Obama's other dream team:

"WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama had just one disclaimer when he announced former pro-basketball player Arne Duncan as his education secretary: 'I did not select Arne because he's one of the best basketball players I know.'

Still, he conceded, 'I will say that I think we are putting together the best basketball-playing Cabinet in American history.'"

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This will be an interesting precedent.

Court allows lawsuits over 'light' cigarettes:

"WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday handed a surprising defeat to tobacco companies counting on it to put an end to lawsuits alleging deceptive marketing of 'light' cigarettes.

In a 5-4 split won by the court's liberals, it ruled that smokers may use state consumer protection laws to sue cigarette makers for the way they promote 'light' and 'low tar' brands."

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Still support the death penalty?

The Associated Press: Charges dropped against man imprisoned 27 years:

"VIERA, Fla. (AP) — Charges have been dropped against a man who spent nearly three decades behind bars before DNA evidence cast doubt on his murder conviction, prosecutors in Florida said Wednesday.

William Dillon, 49, has been free on bond since last month, after a judge ordered a new trial because of testing that showed his DNA wasn't on key evidence from his 1981 conviction.

Prosecutors subsequently concluded that a jury wouldn't find Dillon guilty 'beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt,' Brevard County State Attorney Norman Wolfinger said Wednesday."

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In scientific news....

Strange dark energy acts as galactic diet enforcer:

"WASHINGTON – Mysterious dark energy, which likely causes the universe to keep expanding, seems to have another effect: It prevents the biggest clusters of galaxies from getting too fat. Astronomers used X-rays to study the formation of galactic clusters billions of years ago. Their research supports the hard-to-fathom concept of dark energy as a potent force that governs the growth of the universe."

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Scientist says he has found oldest spider web:

"The tiny tangled threads of the world's oldest spider web have been found encased in a prehistoric piece of amber, a British scientist said Monday. Oxford University paleobiologist Martin Brasier said the 140-million-year-old webbing provides evidence that arachnids had been ensnaring their prey in silky nets since the dinosaur age. He also said the strands were linked to each other in the roughly circular pattern familiar to gardeners the world over."

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Jaw Breaker

I want to say this is unbelievable... but I know that it is not.

Where there's smoke (coming from your house that was set a flame because you dare speak truth to Rove) there's fire.

Rovian Justice in the Banana Republic of Alabama:

"Wow. Go read this if you want to learn just how Rove wants to use the legal system to settle political scores. Of course, I’ve always felt that Alabama was really a third world banana republic run by the sort of folks who belong in John Grisham novels — but I digress.

And, apparently, it all would’ve worked perfectly but Dana Simpson, a Republican, had to open her mouth and blow the whistle. So now the Rovian mafioso-like intimidation begins:

The response to Simpson’s affidavit has been a series of brusque dismissive statements – all of them unsworn – from others who figured in the discussion and the federal prosecutor in the Siegelman case, who has now made a series of demonstrably false statements concerning the matter. She’s been smeared as “crazy” and as a “disgruntled contract bidder.” And something nastier: after her intention to speak became known, Simpson’s house was burned to the ground, and her car was driven off the road and totaled. Clearly, there are some very powerful people in Alabama who feel threatened. Her case starts to sound like a chapter out of John Grisham’s book The Pelican Brief.

Um, national media? National media where are you? This sounds like something you might want to look into — perhaps? Maybe?"

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People are pretty put off by Congress these days and for good reason. Democrats are working hard if not entirely smartly. Lord knows we still have to weed out a lot of fake Democrats and Liebercrats from our party to have a true progressive movement while at the same time battle the fucking evil that is the Republican party.

Remember when the Dems where in the minority and the Republicans kept threatening to use the 'nuclear option' which would have stripped the minority of most of their ability to participate in the government? Remember the constant threats that all bills and appointments deserved an up or down vote whenever the Dems considered a filibuster? Remember?

Well, these Republican fucks are using the filibuster daily now to prevent all kinds of progressive, smart, helpful bills from even coming to a vote.

These hypocritical bastards know how to do one thing and that's obstruct.

Screw the workers.

Senate Republicans block labor bil:

"WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill that would allow labor unions to organize workplaces without a secret ballot election.

Democrats were unable to get the 60 votes needed to force consideration of the Employee Free Choice Act, ending organized labor's chance to win its top legislative priority from Congress."

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And remember all the carrying on about 'liberal activists judges' (who exists only in the Republican mind along with a liberal media and unicorns). That was a smoke screen for the REAL Neocon, activist judges being shoved down our throats. And because the Dems were too cowered to filibusters a lot of these fucks, we are now reaping the demon seed that was sown.

Both of these decisions are so outrageous and contrary to the founding principles of this country that I just want to break shit.

Court bars suit against faith-based plan

Court: Protecting trade secrets takes priority over election transparency:

"A Florida appeals court has upheld a lower court decision that denies requests for an independent source code audit of voting machines used by Florida's 13th district, which suffered election irregularities in a highly controversial congressional race. The appeals court has chosen to support a lower court decision which asserts that forcing voting machine maker Election Systems and Software (ES&S) to provide source code access to independent security auditors would amount to 'gutting the protections afforded those who own trade secrets.'"

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It's nice how we get to find out how terrible our government really is only after 20-30 years have passed. Kinda puts us in a perpetual state of suckiness, doesn't it. Can't ever learn from the fuck ups because by the time we learn about them it is too late.

Though, some of these scandals seem quaint to what Cheney/Rove/Rumsfield have put on the table.

CIA releases papers that set off scandal:

"WASHINGTON - The CIA released hundreds of pages of internal reports Tuesday on assassination plots, secret drug testing and spying on Americans that triggered a scandal in the mid-1970s.

The documents detail assassination plots against foreign leaders like Fidel Castro, the testing of mind- and behavior-altering drugs like LSD on unwitting citizens, wiretapping of U.S. journalists, spying on civil rights and anti-Vietnam war protesters, opening mail between the United States and the Soviet Union and China, break-ins at the homes of ex-CIA employees and others."

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I'm taken by eating contest for some reason. I think, probably, because its something that I physically just can't do. As someone who has shitty pipes and who constantly battles indigestion and heart-burn, I'm enamored by these folks who can shove massive amounts of food down their throats in short periods of time.

The competitive eating world suffered a huge blow recently when champion Kobayashi blew out his jaw.... no shit.

Japan's all-star speed eater suffers professional injury:

"A Japanese man who set a world record by wolfing down dozens of hot dogs within minutes has suffered a severe jaw injury due to his rigorous training, making his next title uncertain.

Takeru 'Tsunami' Kobayashi said he can only open his mouth to make a gap the size of a fingertip after being diagnosed with jaw arthritis.

In an entry on his blog entitled 'Occupational hazard,' Kobayashi said: 'My jaw refused to fight any more.'

The injury occurred only a week after the slender 29-year-old started training to win his seventh straight title at the annual July 4 Nathan's Famous hot dog eating event on New York's Coney Island.

'I feel ashamed that I couldn't notice the alarm bells set off by my own body,' he said. 'But with the goal to win another title with a new record, I couldn't stop my training so close to the competition."

I was really looking forward to whatching Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi battle it out this forth of July at the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest.

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But, I do have a local kid whose not doing it for money or glory... he's doing it because he can.

Inhuman Eating Machine: IEM Session #2- Battered and Fried- A Fish & Chips O.D.: "

I approached Inhuman Eating Machine (IEM) session #2 as if I was about to jump out of the tenth story of a burning building into one of those net-things the fire department uses. Even though I knew I must proceed, the prospect terrified me nonetheless. I had chosen fish and chips this time and I knew this could possibly be the greatest struggle I would face in my IEM career.

I have a very strong stomach. I willingly partake in foods spicier than most mortals, I eat street food in undeveloped countries, and I eat too much of everything. But despite all of this, I rarely, if ever, experience heartburn or an upset stomach. And I can count on one hand how many times I have vomited post toddler-hood. However, fried chicken and fried fish are 2 items that I cannot ingest with impunity. If I eat larger-than-average portions of either of those items, I start to feel not-so-fresh. It’s as if those items drain me of my life-force. They quash my chi. They are my Kryptonite."

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