The Funny Farm
Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats...
Adventures of a Basic Force For Good in Our TimeTM
Humpday, 3 Promise (AfterLithe), 2005
Visteon will cut retiree benefits:
[ Various forms of emphasis courtesy of the Funny Farm News Burro]
Visteon Corp. is warning thousands of salaried employees that their health care in retirement will be their own responsibility, as the money-losing auto-parts giant becomes the latest large employer to shift the burden of rising costs onto employees.
[-snip-] Visteon's plan -- which will save the company an undisclosed amount of money -- could open the door to similar measures at rival Delphi Corp. and other big companies, especially in Michigan's auto-parts industry, which is suffering from high prices for raw materials and falling demand from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. [-snip-] Visteon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Johnston and new President Donald Stebbins are trying to determine how many salaried engineers, sales people and administrators the company will need when sales are about $11 billion a year, instead of the $19 billion or so that has been the norm. [-snip-] Visteon's new plan, which will take effect June 1, 2007, will not affect about 1,300 salaried employees who had spent enough years with Ford prior to the spinoff to qualify for retirement benefits. They will retire under Ford's plan. The other 6,700 U.S.-based salaried employees will have to pay for their own health insurance in retirement, although those who are 45 or older as of Friday will get money in special accounts to help. Visteon will credit those 45 and older with $250 each month, plus interest, in what it is calling a Retiree Medical Cash Balance Account, which experts say is like a health reimbursement account. That account will be supplemented upon retirement by a onetime credit worth $70 multiplied by the employee's combined age and years of service. [-snip-] |
We would be very interested in knowing how many of the executroids within the halls of Visteon will be losing their retirement health care. and how much of those money-losing business decisions are being paid for with decreased HaveMore compensation**. Gee, how much were the executroids compensated while losing $3.2 Billion dollars since the company was spun off from Ford five years ago? How would Ford's balance sheet look if this loss leader had still been a part of their empire?
There's a lot more in this article, particularly some interesting paragraphs about the health reimbursement arrangement concept that seems to test amazingly well with executroids who won't have to worry about its' effect on their retirement plans. Funny how that works...
Go read and feed your brain.***
* - Post title inspired by a wondrous Monty Python skit that has us always saying There's nothing an agnostic can't do if he really doesn't know whether he believes in anything or not.
** - decreased HaveMore compensation? - sometimes our optimism surprises even ourselves...
*** - yes, we do have (what slightly resembles a) lawn that we have used Weed and Feed on lately. Why do you ask?
Tuesday, 2 Promise (AfterLithe), 2005
[Part seven of a neverending series that we may just do again]
From wrongwingnut site Pass the Ammo's comments, while talking about the recent punking of the 101st Keyboarders During YungenReichFest CRNC festivities (cough) while calling them on their spin that liberals were trying to suppress the overseas soldiers' votes from being counted:
We (on the left) generally just call you guys "chickenhawks" for not fighting the war you support when you call us "cowards" or "traitors" for not supporting the war you won't fight.
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Sunday, 1 Promise (AfterLithe), 2005
Sheesh! You might think that an original song parody with some clever wordplay and topical referents to the Project For a New American Gulag and Ditto Monkees would be enough to generate accolades from our fellow compatriots of progressive bloggy goodness.*
You might even think that an attempt at a reasonable discourse with a member of the faith based community would set off waves of support from those who are bemused and amused by that sector of the population these days.
You might actually even think that a mention of this year's Blogathon would be sufficient to generate interest and possibly some linkage to report on this upcoming event.
But, you'd be wrong.**
We are reasonably certain that, now that we have resorted to blatantly shilling our latest contributions to the Fashionable Left Bank of Blogistan, we will receive some sort of recognition within our own little circle of awareness. Especially since we have also taken an unprecedented step and sent some emails out to our fellow bloggers asking them to please take a look at our humble offerings and let us know if they are worthy of recognition (or perhaps a link or two?)***.
If we had the technology we'd put an mp3 of our song available for download on our site****. We still might if we can get our dren together one of these days. But we still think that it should be running around other sets of synapses because they can't get it out of their heads too. So we're going to point to what we consider to be one of our better efforts, as well as the rest of the magically delicious mind candy available within this web site. And hope that our belief in the fantasticality of our postings will become more prevalent within progressive zones in the Fashionable Left Bank of Blogistan
* - as a matter of fact, we had to take the unprecedented step of begging a select few of our fellow bloggers just so that they would come over and check it out. And they to a one have been kind enough to honor my shameless plea for recognition within their very own pages.
Just thought you might like to know...
** - aside from all of those who were wise enough to link to this post in response to a shameless plea for recognition from a select cadre of blogistic resources..
*** - except for all of those wise and noble bloggers who were brave enough to link to this post between the initial draft of this post and its' publication.
**** - shameless plea for early retirement: we'd really like it to take off on the charts and be played from every radio station in the world on a long enough basis to ensure that we don't have to work another day in our life. But, being a member of the reality-based community we realize that it ain't gonna be happenning any day soon...
Saturday, Mid Year's End 2005
We're not sure why we're such a big fan of Paul Winchell. There must have been something about his voice that struck an empathic nerve in our circuitry.
So when we found out (via our good friend Follow Me Here) that Mr. Winchell passed away last Friday, we had to let you know about it. We were quite surprised to hear that Mr. Winchell held 30 patents. And we are happy to show you the words to the song that is going around and around our head today:
The wonderful thing about Tiggers
is Tiggers are wonderful things.
Their tops are made out of rubber,
their bottoms are made out of springs.
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy... |
R.I.P. Paul...
Mid Year's Day, 2005
The Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem ranks The Funny Farm with the same number of links as 24 others, including William Gibson and The Informed Christian*
* - we're glad they think they've finally found one.
Considering that the site links to Powerline and Hugh Hewitt as sources of inspirational widsom, and speaks disparingly of taking pains to say "This event is not intended to be political in nature or an endorsement of war." when putting on a church-sponsored Veteran's Day event, we might beg to differ with their point of view from time to time. And that whole informed part of their blog name.
We're not sure what one of the best living writers of our time would think on the topic...
Editors' Note: this post has been temporally enhanced, both in honor of the aforementioned wrter's time bending abilities, and our attempt to be enjoying ourselves in celebration of Mid Year's Day in the Midling Calendar.
Fryday, Mid Year's Eve 2005
Bush said the Democrats, in contrast, were employing a "philosophy of the stop sign" and an "agenda of the road block," and warned: "Political parties that choose the path of obstruction will not gain the trust of the American people."
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should be translated as
Pinhead and the Repugnicants, in contrast, are employing a "philosophy of the Out Of Business sign" and an "agenda of the road to nowhere," and admitted: "Our political party chooses the path of desecration and has not gained the trust of the American people."
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Normally we try and avoid our superstitious imaginings and try and maintain a relatively logical mind set when dealing with those little situational anomalies that seem to litter the road of our life's journey to an amazing degree. However we feel compelled to inform you of a couple of little factoids that make us shake our head and wonder yet again:
- Factoid #1: it looks like Open Source Politics is pretty much history. As one of the founding fathers of this blog, it saddens us to see it fall into obscurity. But it doesn't surprise us that when we get involved with something, it generally goes south pretty quickly after our involvement. In fact we have been surprised that it managed to make it as a going concern for so long.
- Factoid #2: it looks like the Blaghdad Cafe has been closed, too. Almost right after a post praising our humble contributions and a link as an essential read showed up on the site.
Eli, eli, lama sabach-thani?
P.S. Maybe we spoke too soon about Blaghdaddy. It appears a change of heart has caused him to reconsider and post for at least a bit longer. We hope he stays around for a while just so's we can have some evidence that doesn't support our hypothesis...
Friday, 30 ForeLithe, 2005
[Part six of a neverending series that we may just do again]
From South Knox bubba's comments, while talking about the recent Of Course We'll Take Your Land Any Damn Time We Feel Like It ruling by the Supremely Repugnicant Court:
Where are we going and why am I in a handbasket? Say Uncle |
Wednesday night on Hardball, guest host David Gregory asked Karl Rove about the Downing Street documents. The following is the relevant exchange:
GREGORY: As you well know, critics of this war have seized on what's being called now the Downing Street Memo, based on meetings that Britain's Chief of Intelligence had with American officials about the war. One issue that comes up in that memo and subsequent memos is British concerns about the fact that the White House in their view wasn't adequately thinking about what happens after the regime falls.
ROVE: I'm glad you brought that up because I want to put that in context. First of all that is the British — a Brit making a comment about what he perceived to be U.S. policy. But remember the time frame, it is months and months and months before the balloon goes up in Iraq. And in those intervening months there was plenty of time planning for post-war efforts, vast amounts of planning. You never know exactly how a war is going to plan out. Napoleon once said, 'vast numbers of refugees enormous problems with food aid'- did not happen. Vast uprising- didn't happen. That we would see a vast uprising by hundreds of thousands of Iraqis- didn't happen. War is ugly, but a lot went very well with this effort and in part it was because the United States government and our coalition partners used the months to plan for any eventuality. GREGORY: But if you're talking about the number of troops necessary, the level of American casualties, the force and intensity of the insurgency…did the president mislead the American people about the cost of the war or was he just simply surprised by what happened? ROVE: I would go back to the president's statements over the last several years and I would defy you to find one speech which he talked about Iraq where he doesn't say there would be difficult times ahead, that we had a long road to hope that a great deal of sacrifice was going to be called for by both the American people and by the Iraqis to achieve this goal. Look, we do not underestimate the ferocity and the anger and the viciousness of the people that we face. We are in a war. Some people may treat it as a law enforcement matter and be worried about indictments from the U.S. attorney from the southern district of New York. But we recognize this administration and the American people we are in a war and the only way you have a successful outcome in the war is to aim for a complete and total victory, which is exactly what we're doing. |
Clearly, he used questions about the Downing Street Documents to set himself up for his comments made in a speech Wednesday night:
"Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Rove said Wednesday night. "Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."
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Don't you love it when your opponents feel they have the right to speak in your name? Just the sheer chutzpah of that sort of behavior as one of the chief advisors to the most powerful Pinhead on the face of the planet.
Today, the RNC issued talking propaganda points in support of Rove's statement, in addition to an attack ad against Dick Durbin based on his Gitmo comments.
This is their defensive play—deflect all interest in the Downing Street Documents by some controversy and forcing the Dems (and liberals of all stripes) to defend themselves…again. Straight out of the Repugnicant Political Handbook. with a dose of accusing others of committing the sins you yourself are engaging in for good measure!
Also, Cheney has responded to questions about the Downing Street Documents:
Cheney said he had not read the so-called "Downing Street memo," a document written by a British official in the fall of 2002 suggesting that President Bush had already decided to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and that U.S. officials were over hyping intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to build support for the policy.
However, the vice president said the premise of the memo -- that a decision to go to war had been made months before the March 2003 invasion -- was "wrong." "Remember what happened after the supposed memo was written. We went to the United Nations. We got a unanimous vote out of the Security Council for a resolution calling on Saddam Hussein to come clean," he said. |
This response is, of course, utter crap. Considering the Memos indicate that going to the UN and backing Saddam into a corner would help "sell" the war, this hardly passes as a defense. He's basically trying to discredit the memos by saying, "How could they be true? We did exactly what they said we were planning to do." Illogical garbage. Call him out on it.
Call this out for the subterfuge that it is. Demand Rove's resignation. Don't let them detract from this major issue with their usual disingenuous B.S. Draw the clear link between trying to refocus away from the Downing Street Documents. This is their last line of defense. Don't let it work.
Spread the news far and wide. This is just a typical example of the way these people have been operating for many years now It is especially galling to us that we see senator Durbin (D-Not What Repugnicants Say He Is) pilloried for warning the government that their behavior is starting to ehxibit alarming similarities to some pretty unsavory characters. Especially considering the recent statements of RicKKK Santorum (R-Dead Fetus Fetishist).
Thanks to Shakespeare's Sister for bringing this to our attention.
Thursday, 29 ForeLithe, 2005
We're going to try and get our little print shop back in operation, and we'd like to make a naked appeal for some interest from anyone out there who would be willing to purchase a wonderful piece of art* as well as embrace a different way of looking at time.
Quite a while ago, in a faraway land and time**, we were going through the whole of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I looked at the Appendix with Shire Reckoning in it, made a decision about Gregorian equivalence, edited the days of the week***, and voila! The Midling Calendar was born.
Now we are happy to offer you, for the low low intro price of $20 (postage included!), a limited edition Year and a Half Midling Calendar! But only for a limited time! Be the first on your block to run (cough) on Shire Reckning****!
We've been trying to get to our web host, Marc Perkel, and ask him what we need to do to get our web site to display the things we are trying to put together for all to see what we have to offer. But he's been busy with server upgrades and improvements to the Perkel Web Infrastructure of late. Plus, we'd really like to know what we've been doing wrong all this time, so we can understand how we're doing what we're doing a bit more than we do right now.
More details will be provided upon request and/or interest in acquiring said pieces of art from the Fuuny Farm. You can Talk to Me if you would like some more intormation on the product.
This shameless plug courtesy of the Have We Started Again? advert in the bolor supplement...
* - containing a picture of the H.M.S. Dingleberry taken by Your Humble Narrator waaaaaay before Jon Stewart finally managed to get it into the script of a Daily Show.
** - pre-nine-one-one, kids, when the Return of the Robber Barons had only begun to be hidden from the masses by the media whores...
*** - our week has no Mondays and two Fridays! And, remember - work is the worst four-letter word in the halfling vocabulary!
**** - our amalgamation of hobbit-lore with modern day stress management. All copyrights etc. in perpetuity by Enterprising KiddStuff.
Humpday, 28 ForeLithe, 2005
We have been somewhat engaged in a slight debate with one of the religiously insanezealous over at the War Liberal's site. We refer to it as a slight debate in order to show some Christian charity towards the God Squad member who seems to think that proving a point in a debate can be done by saying it's in the Bible! and expecting whatever was said to be considered a fact.
The entire kerfluffle began with an offhand post by Mac Thomason the War Liberal about the religious insanity of Carl Everett, who doesn't believe in gays being gay. Good for him! As one of my faith-based brothers would say*, that's okay - gays believe in him. Anyways,...
There was a nice discussion going on comparing the homopobic bias in Everett's statements to the racial bias in statements made by another baseball player, John Rocker, that were particularly offensive** and noted by the usual media whores. And then a new voice came along, and led off with this comment:
[Varied types of emphasis courtesy of the Funny Farm News Burro. We will be showing you some, not all, of the comments made, and we understand that some of it may be difficult to follow. We really don't want to cut and paste the entire comments section, so we apologize for any confusion we might generate. We're going to try and show you the portions relevant to our current ramblings here. It would be advisable to read the whole set of comments in their entirety at some point by clicking on the link above.]
[The stuff outside the boxes is our own commentary on the whole affair after the fact. We have left out a number of other comments from this person in the comments to Mac's original post as well. The ones we kept were directed more towards the things we were saying and the personal jabs against what we were saying to this individual in the give-and-take, as it were. The perpetrator and a supportive fellow commenter have been anonymized for privacy concerns on our part (not theirs).]
I know I am entering into a discussion that I have not been a part of but I have read the entire discussion and would like to clarify something. Let me also point out that I am a regular reader of the Braves Journal.
Any Christian who unites gay couples simply is not a Christian or does not follow the Bible. The Bible says that homosexuality is a sin period. God loves people who are homosexual, as Christians should, as he loves everyone but he abhors their sin. |
We would first debate this clarification (cough) by saying that, yes, we have read the bible too (so we have some basis for our allegations and beliefs in the matter). But we don't see the place where it says that homosexuality is a sin. We see some sort of dialogue about abominations, but we also see the eating of shelled fish, tarot readings, glancing at your horoscope, trimming one's beard, charging or paying interest, and getting a tattoo (among other things) are also considered abominations. Amazingly we have failed to note the huge usury is a sin movement out there from all of those Christians intent on demonizing all things non-christian. Nor do we note the sweeping protest against making and taking loans emanating from the (coincidentally usury-friendly) pious sorrowfully persecuting their fellow man should he like his fellow man a little more than we can discuss here in polite society. But we do see the rampant hypocrisy emanating from these so-called christians on a regular basis regarding their fellow humans who engage in same-sex relationships. So we kinda figured it was par for the course, and decided to chuckle a bit and then move on.
Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of the blatant falsehoods, abuse of the bible to try and prove things, and condemnation of others coming from this individual:
Wow you seem to know a lot about (what) God is thinking about. Have you tapped into his thoughts. Maybe you should give this a try. Read his thoughts in the Bible. God hates many things.
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This example of questioning the statements of others who claim to speak for the Invisible Cloud Being while simultaneously making statements about what the Invisible Cloud Being is thinking yourself (by making the assumption that your belief that the bible is the word of your deity is a fact) set off the frelling irony alert sirens around here something fierce.
I believe the Bible is inspired by God but it is almost useless for me to say that because you will just ridicule me for that. I guess since you don't believe in the Bible we must ask someone who knows everything these questions. Who would that be...hmmm.....oh that's right, you know everything. We must ask you xxxxx.
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Actually, no - no one is ridiculing that belief. However, some might be inclined to say that it is a belief, not a fact, and as such cannot be a fact with which you can base a logical argument upon.
But wait - it gets better:
I'm tapping into this thoughts? No I actually read it in some literature. You're the one who claims to "know" what God or any higher being thinks. And you think homosexuality is logical. Think about it. It's not that logical.
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Aside from the bold assertion that homosexuality is not logical, the main problem here is that, once again, this person makes statements about the claims of others that are not based on what the others said, while simultaneously claiming the same thing (that they know what the Invisible Cloud Being is thinking) themselves. Somehow, because they read it in a really good piece of fiction that has been around for a long time, their claims are now held to be incontravertable fact.
I have no intent to attack you personally. I just find it interesting that you know so much about God. How do you know these things if you don't believe in the Bible?
============ I'll answer your question if you will answer mine. The year is 2005. Now what year did the Bible become fiction? And yes the pressure is on you to substantiate. If someone claims to know God's thoughts, they better give a pretty good reason and you haven't given an attempt at a reason yet. I'm sure you won't answer this question because you can't. |
Apparently, the only way to know what The Invisible Cloud Being is thinking is to read the bible. Forgive us if we fail to see any logic here, and merely some faith-based pseudo-factoids.
We attempted to toss a little thought experiment into the mix, for the benefit of those who might understand the asininity of the arguments (cough) being made above:
I wonder what you christians would say to someone who publicly stated "Christians being christian is wrong"? And pointed out all of the persecution, bigotry, and vile actions that have been committed by christians in order to 'save the souls' of those who they consider to be heretical?
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We received the following response from said individual:
Tom you must not understand what a Christian is. A Christian who obeys what God says in the Bible would never persecute anyone, be a bigot, or commit any vile acts in the name of God. Some crazy people might but a true Christian would not. Please don't lump Christians into that category.
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Then the gloves came off here at the Funny Farm:
Tom you must not understand what a Christian is.
Excuse me? Maybe you missed the following from those Christians you are so enamored of: Pope Ratzinberger hiding known pederasts in the Roman Catholic church (a sub-genre of Christianity), and requiring that any further reports of pederasty be hidden from public scrutiny; Falwell, Robertson, Phelps, and a host of other christians saying that God told them to persecute and disparage homosexuals (in much the same way you told the rest of us that the Bible is not fictional); the christian minister who told his congregation that they needed to 'repent' the sin of voting for John Kerry, or be banned from the congregation; the Illegally Installed Usurper speaking on behalf of God to the American people on a regular basis (while lying his ass off and practicing public hypocrisy in his actions); churches all across the country exhorting their parishoners to vote for said Illegally Installed Usurper (in direct contradiction with both the seperation of church and state provision in the Bill of Rights and the terms of their tax-free status requirements); and a host (cough) of others that I'm sure your faith-based religious insanity will not allow you to accept as true. I would also like to point out that: 1) the Bible has never been proven either. One would think that the burden of proof would be on those who claim that it is the literal word of the Invisible Cloud Being to prove the validity of the argument, not the other way around. You can beg to differ all you want, but until you provide some sort of rational argument to support your beliefs, that's all they are - beliefs. I believe in Santa Claus*. Can you prove that he doesn't exist? 2) do you have any proof of your unsupported assertion that the Bible was written before the Jesus fable was cobbled together from the common elements of other religious beliefs of the time? 3) there are inconsistencies between the four gospels (as well as the writings of Paul). There are also inconsistencies within the books of the old and new testaments, and within the old testament books as well. According to your beliefs, then, none of these books (or only one of them) was inspired by that unproven magically omniscient being you believe in. As an example, I believe in one place it is said an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and in another, the Jesus fable tells his sycophants this is not right. There is also the issue that not all of the words in the Bible are adhered to, or believed in, by those who profess to be christian. See the shellfish comment above for an example of that. You have the right to believe whatever you like. However, you do not have the right to foist those beliefs on society because God told you to. You should also be denouncing those who abuse your holy writs, loudly and fervently, instead of allowing their abuses to be attributed to the rest of the flock. Funny how that never seems to be the focus of christians. * - actually, I believe in the spirit of Santa Claus. But you still can't prove that he doesn't exist. |
Tom, I find it hard to talk with someone when they say things that cause them to lose all credibility. "Illegally installed usurper". Come on now. I know you're bitter but that's just shows your mindset. I will try to look past that.
Many people have gone on archeological expeditions in order to disprove the Bible and you know what happens. 1) they come back empty handed or 2) they convert to Christianity.
Jesus used many metaphors when he taught. In fact, he almost taught exclusively in metaphors. "Eye for an eye" , it's a metaphor.
Yes, I do not follow the traditions of the Old Testament. Why did they follow these traditions in the Old Testament? Because God instructed them to and this is how they were able to be with God in heaven. When Jesus came, these laws and traditions were abolished when he died on the cross for everybody's sins. In fact, the curtain of the tabernacle where many of these feasts and traditions took place was torn in two when Jesus died. No longer do we have to obey strict traditions. We must love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind.
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Tom, I find it hard to talk with someone when they say things that cause them to lose all credibility. "Illegally installed usurper". Come on now. I know you're bitter but that's just shows your mindset. I will try to look past that.
Right back at ya, zzzz. You lost credibility once you said "I love debating with "intellectuals". You can't debate them becaue they "know" everything.. I would say the same thing about debating with Christians. And your arguments went downhill from there. The reason I talk about the Lying Drunken Cokeheaded Deserter while using descriptively accurate nicknames for him is that he's earned them. Try and tell me he was legitimately elected either time - then try and fit your "theory" in with the Democratic voter purge in Florida for the 2000 elections (based on a databse provided by - surprise! - GeeWhatADumbAss) and the Brooks Brothers Riot, where those Publicans you are fellating flew in GOP operatives who didn't even live in Florida to shut down the recount until they could get the Supreme Court to illegally declare Pinhead, the Thief of Crawford as the winner of the electoral votes in Florida. Then - surprise again! - the Publican secretary of state for Florida refused to do her job and verify the vote. For a supposed christian, you seem to be okay with all sorts of immoral acts - as long as it's you and yours who are doing them. In Ohio in 2004, the Publican Secretary of State first promised to deliver Ohio's electoral votes to his own party over a year before the election, then went to the churches to get the leaders of the church to pressure their congregations to vote for Putsch. Then he and his minions engaged in systematic intimidation and confusion of voters in traditionally Democratic precincts, manipulation and alteration of the actual votes in precincts where Diebold (who employed - surprise yet again - this secretary of state) machines tallied the votes. And those are just the highlights of the illicit and immoral shenanigans that the Publican administration engaged in when fixing the election in Ohio in 2004. Is it bitter to get upset when, through cheating, fraud, intimidation, and other immoral and illegal acts, the Repugnicants have stolen the last two federal elections? Or is it a cry for justice? I would also like to say thanks to the others here who don't blindly follow all of the lies spewed by the faith-based abominations heretically twisting the concept of a higher being into screeds manipulating their fellow humans. This is one of the most blasphemous things that can be done with those christian beliefs (which after all were stolen and adapted from the pagan rituals of the time) in my eyes. I hope one day the Christians' diety calls them to task for the abuses they have engaged in in its' name. |
I don't have time to thorougly respond as I would like so here is a quick tidbit before I get a chance to sit down.
Tom, you lose credibility when you say false things. I have not said anything that is blatantly false as was your entire last post. Don't even get me started on how completely wrong you were. You are obviously being led astray by someone and I hope you discover the truth someday. Just one thing about Florida. When the media declared Gore the winner in Florida, the heavily pro-republican panhandle was still voting. How many votes did the Republicans lose there. And Jesse Jackson has been ranting and raving about voter suppression but when asked to provide one, just one piece of evidence, he has never come through. |
Some intervening comments from others about the large number of comments to this post (the most Mac has got so far) and Mac despairing of it having any value whatsoever take place between the comment above and our next comment to this post:.
Wow. I'm afraid i have to agree with you, Mac, after that last tirade. I sure hope Zzzz hasn't gathered the congregation to brand a scarlet letter on me for saying "false things". Funny how that is the whole of his argument here, that I say false things, without managing to find a shred of proof for his contention. I would love to see him try to prove that they are false. If the proof is anywhere near as rigorous (cough) as his proof that there is indeed an Invisible Cloud Being, it would be much more Christian of him to question his own honesty rather than that of others and examine his own arguments and see where (if at all) logic is present. If you choose to call me a liar to my face, Zzzz, if I were you I should be prepared to back up my words with something more than Putsch supplied faith-based talking points. You could work on being a little less ostentatious with the thirty pieces of silver, too...
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The evidence that I present to support my claims comes from a book that you consider fiction, but here are the facts. Millions and millions of people around the world believe the Bible is true so my evidence can't be dismissed as crazy when it has so many supporters around the world.
And your evidence for voter suppression, illegal Supreme Court rulings, democratic voter purge, confusion, manipulation, alteration, and fixing elections consists of "others who were seeing yet another example of Repugnicant hypocrisy in action". Where are these people who were manipulated? Where are these altered votes? Which voters were suppressed? You make claims wich, if true, should be easy to corroborate. And I have to mention something about this. You said Republicans went to churches and told people they must vote for President Bush. How about the Democrats who went to black congregations and told them that President Bush would burn their churches down if he were elected? |
At one time, almost everyone on the planet believed that the earth was flat, and that the sun revolved around the earth.
Billions believe the Koran is true. Billions also believe in Hinduism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Each of those faiths have more adherents than those who believe in the Bible. And some tenets of their faiths directly contradict those of the Bible! I guess that means that those beliefs can't be dismissed as crazy, either. And their contradictory beliefs are a reason to question those of Christians, too. Right? And, right at this very moment, there are billions of people who believe that the Chimperor and his junta are lying murdering hypocritical sacks of kimchee who should be tried in international court for war crimes. When will you be holding those claims in the same high regard as those in your holy book? For the record, I have no idea if there is a God, or if he inspired the Bible or any of those other religious works. I maintain that no one has that knowledge - they might believe, but they do not have proof. Until they do, they should stop trying to pretend that they are discussing facts, and acknowledge that they are talking about their beliefs. And try to use logic and facts when they are trying to rationally debate something. I provided no evidence for my assertions. I merely made some faith-based statements of my own. Since I belong to the church of reality, my beliefs are backed by the facts as best I can determine them. I'm always willing to consider that I might be wrong. But I need some reality-based proof in order to change my beliefs. Google shows me almost 5,500 links to "voting irregularities in ohio", and over 4,200 for "voting irregularities in florida" (the specific phrase, not the combination of words - those links number well over 100,000 in each case). It also shows me zero links for "President Bush would burn their churches" (and, by extension, "Democrats said President Bush would burn their churches down"). Could you please provide some sort of factual support for your allegations if you continue to try and push them on others as facts? |
http://www.balloon-juice.com/archives/005024.html
http://www.electricvenom.com/index.php?p=4694 http://politics.abovetopsecret.com/thread145714/pg1 Here are a few links that support my statement about democrats going into churches and threatening them. This was also in the main stream media because that is where it was first brought to my attention. You guys are certainly entitled to your beliefs. Just don't criticize me and call me an idiot for having my own beliefs. "You can't really change adults who think the Bible is literal. Only Christians who acknowledge the Bible as having symbolic and SOME historical importance are worth talking to about politics and morality. Simply put, these people who believe the world, or even the universe, was created in seven days and deny the obvious evolution of our world over millions and millions of years have the minds of children." I'm sorry you feel this way xxxxx. Let me say this though. These Christians who are "not worth talking to about politics" and with "minds of children" are the same people who created our government and our constitution. Our entire society and government was based entirely on the laws of God. So remember when you demean Christians like you have, you are talking about the founders of this great nation which allows you to express your opinions. And it's not that I am above being wrong. But I keep poking holes in every claim that you guys make and provide evidence whenever asked. |
First of all, thanks, xxxxx - you are one of the ones I was talking about. We have probably done more than we should - and I thank Mac for allowing us this waste of his bandwidth. I would like to take this discussion back to my own blog so's I can waste some of my own bandwidth, as opposed to that of others. There should be some sort of post summarizing and linking to this comment thread soon...
I would also like to ask zzzz that he hold on to any comments about what I am going to say here, reflect on what he has to say a bit, and bring those comments over to my zone if he still cares to throw about his allegations some more. Finally, I would like to point out the flaws in his latest feeble attempt to make some sort of rational point here: I looked at one of your links (the last one from abovetopsecret - I can't get to the others right now, but I should be able to later this evening, and examine them further) and I see someone else making the same allegations that you are making about "if you vote for Republicans black churches will burn" (the exact quote from the site). Only one problem, zzzz - you still haven't shown me any place where a church leader has made those statements. You show me a partisan web site (ironically named Above Politics, it seems to be intent on impugning liberals) where the blog author makes that statement. I have seen a few quotes from black church leaders endorsing Kerry, but none where they demand or advise that their flock vote Democratic. Here are some links that I found rather easily from actual news organizations about a request from the GOP to "Send your Church Directory to your State Bush-Cheney '04 headquarters" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19082-2004Jun30.html http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041005/NEWS01/41005004/1075 and one from a partisan liberal organization: Please note how, even in the partisan liberal site, there are actual quotes from actual church officials, not some sort of rumor that somebody heard from somebody else. And, zzzz, you still can't help but throw out another wrongwingnut point at the end. The people who wrote the constitution and created our government did not blindly follow the rules of their faiths - it seems to me that they bent over backwards to allow all faiths to be able to be practised (and heard) here in America. When you put the founding fathers in the same class as Falwell, Phelps, Robertson, or any of the other religiously insane who claim to know what's good for us based on what the voices in their head told them, you are demeaning our founding fathers. And you still have provided no evidence of any of the false witness you are bearing on behalf of the Idiot in Thief. That you seem to think that wild unsubstantiated faith-based flights of fancy are equivalent to hard facts is quite comical... It's not that you're above being wrong. You're just congenitally unable to admit it - even to yourself. You should be ashamed. Feel free to visit my site tomorrow. There should be a place for you to show the rest of us how foolish it is to consider one's faith to be knowledge, or based on knowledge. |
Notice any sort of pattern? Like, for example, one side freely admitting that they are making assertions based on their beliefs, and the other doing the same thing, but refusing to admit that they are trying to claim that their beliefs are really fact?
This is the religious insanity that we have such a problem with here at the Funny Farm. And it is so sad to see - we think that this person has a good, kind heart for the most part, and has the best intentions toward helping his fellow humans get through this mortal coil successfully. Unfortunately, his faith has blinded (or atrophied) his reasoning to the point where anything his religious leader says while using scripture to prove (cough) the point is automatically accepted as fact. If he were to make a few qualifications in his language, such as instead of saying homosexuality is not logical, say I believe homosexuality is not logical, we wouldn't have nearly the problems with this discussion. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. No one is entitled to force others to accept their beliefs as fact. Nor are they entitled to force others to believe the same thing they do.
We also notice that, while stating that they have been poking holes in every claim that you guys make and provide evidence whenever asked, this individual does nothing of the sort. We notice that he says that those of us who question him should not criticize me and call me an idiot for having my own beliefs. We are not calling you an idiot for having those beliefs. We are saying that we think those beliefs are idiotic, and we strongly disagree with the use of those beliefs as justification for the persecution of others. We think that everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want - but they are not allowed to use those beliefs to justify action against others. Almost a hate the sin, love the sinner type of thing when you think about it a bit.
We also find it quite amusing that the thing that we said that was siezed upon as making us lose credibility was when we referred to the Lying Drunken Cokheaded Deserter as a Lying Drunken Cokheaded Deserter. Not our questioning of the scriptures as being faith-based. Not our questioning the use of belief as fact. No - it was when we used a factually accurate nickname for Putsch that we were told that we no longer had any credibility. Funny - our unwavering ability to see Drinky McDumbAss for what he truly is makes us credible in many others' eyes.
Funny how, after making the statement Millions and millions of people around the world believe the Bible is true so my evidence can't be dismissed as crazy when it has so many supporters around the world. the counter-argument that there are many more upon the planet who have different beliefs regarding various religious texts as well as the veracity of pRezNit Do As I Say, Not As I Do went unchallenged and unspoken of. Coincidence? Sadly, No! (No! skippy did not coin that phrase)
Anyways,... to sum up***:
- we believe that Chad Everett arguments on the subject of homosexuality should not be listened to when he makes statements such as gays are wrong.
- we believe that, if there is an Omniscient Uber-Being, he wouldn't persecute gays for being gay for all eternity. If anything, we believe that gays were put here as an object lesson in tolerance and acceptance of diversity - and that the religiously insane are failing the test badly.
- we believe that faith-based policy is morally wrong if tried to be enforced as law. At the same time, we believe that it is in the best interests of all humans to treat each other with kindness, compassion, and consideration - triats common to most religions. You know, that whole do unto others as you would have them do to you philosophy. Some might get a bit further ahead in the short run with a more callous attitude towards others, but in the long run such a philosophy as basis for the laws of the land will lead to ruin. And any society based solely upon any religious text available today would have too many flaws to be acceptable to us.
Our beliefs might be a little closer to reality if those who abused and exploited the system were punished for such abuses - as we believe they should be.
- and, finally****, we believe that it would be everyone's best interests if those who do not agree with homosexuality as a lifestyle avoid those who do as opposed to trying to prevent them from pursuing it. Boycott all those shows you don't like if you want (we boycott lots of things because we don't believe in them, but we don't forcibly cause others to boycott them too*****). Tell us all about why you believe you are right in what you are doing. But, please, don't tell anyone else that you are right and they are wrong because the sky fairy says so. Tell them you believe they're wrong and you're right, but do not harm them if they do not share your beliefs.
Please feel free to let us know what you think about this subject in the comments to this post.
Post script: While we were busy putting this post together, we noticed that Mac is pointing out yet another example of religious insanity in action: Falwell says church must work to defeat Hillary Clinton in '08. Leaving aside the fact that she hasn't even declared here candidacy for president in 2008 yet, and instead has publicly stated that she's not running for president in 2008, on what basis are statements like this made? This could be considered an unjustified personal attack in some circles. And on what basis are these comments considered newsworthy, as opposed to certifiable, reprehensible, and/or legally actionable?
Post post script: While we're at it - Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
* - the usual form of the conversation is:
Your humble Narrator: I don't believe in God!
Brother Mine: that's okay - God believes in you!
** - we would like to point out that these sorts of statements are not unusual from the more callous in the baseball world; you can read about the same sort of thing coming out of Curt Shilling, Nolan Ryan, and a host of others if you are really interested in that sort of thing.
*** - and the crowd (cough) screams with enjoyment!
**** - for the purposes of this post. Our belief system is considerably more complicated than we have detailed here - but we're not quite ready to devote the time and effort into spelling the whole thing out. Maybe tomorrow. then again, probably not...
***** - we will even still talk to people who shop at Wal-Mart!
Tuesday, 27 ForeLithe, 2005
You know that ther is some impact when you've been mentioned in the media whore press fluffings - even if it be in a dismissing or condescending tone*. But our personal sign that things are being noticed is when Tom Toles pens a cartoon about it. So we are very happy to show you this today:
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Congratulations to the Downing Street Memo team** for the noteworthy job of helping to keep this story in the limelight.
* - some might even say especially if they condescend to or dismiss your story out of hand
** -. hey! We resemble that remark!
Sunday, 26 ForeLithe, 2005
Found via the Funny Farm fave Suburban Guerrilla:
American Cities That Best Fit You: |
| 70% Las Vegas |
| 60% Austin |
| 60% Denver |
| 55% Atlanta |
| 55% Chicago |
Saturday, 25 ForeLithe, 2005
This parody stuff is hard - it's hard work*. But we wanted to point out that, even though we haven't anything much in the way of creativity in action going on right at the moment, we have managed to notice that Blogathon 2005 has been officially announced to be on August 6th. Mark it on your calendars and get ready to pony up a few sheckels for the Frank Zappa Memorial Fund at the American Library Association in a couple of months. Fun and prizes will be available for the wily and the hardy at the discretion of Your Humble Narrator.
* - except for the Golden Age Of Political Comedy that we've been enjoying (cough) for just about, well, ever, do'cha know. But the last hundred plus years or so has been a little rough, and the Repugnicants have really honed their perfection of the political art** in the last fifty or so. The Tax-A$$ Souffle and the Million Whore Horde make that all too easy, especially when you consider that they're pretty much the best of a sorry lot, globally speaking... why can't we all just get along?***
** - props (cough) where props are due. If you want to be able to openly and brazenly lie as well as install Orwellian control mechanism in society, well, it seems that it is now well within the purvey of a significant number of senators and congressweasels, as it has been with the Executive and the Upper Judiciary since we stopped having legal elections at the turn of the Millennium in certain areas that were not used to the concept yet. Do you think we could perhaps have some international monitors for US elections one of these times again? You know, the way we insist that everyone else has? Somehow the smell of hypocrisy inherent in the Repugnicant condition these days should be wafted into the air filtration systems of those who generate it.
*** - we're thinking something about by the people, for the people and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and/or other words to that effect.
Any theories upon these subjects would be critically appreciated...
...at least, here in the hallowed halls (cough) of the Funny Farm, that is...
We used to engage in creating song parodies when we were young and foolish. It's been a while, so you'll have to forgive us if we aren't quite to the level of Mad Kane yet.
We were inspired to do this after reading South Knox Bubba's blog and noting that he had the original tune running around his head while he was blowing back into town. For some strange reason, it then rooted its' seductive melody in our synapses - just long enough so that some of these words kept on surfacing to conscious level. We have managed to flesh out the whole thing for your infotainment. Enjoy!
[Word Updated 19 June (Saturday 25 ForeLithe) 2005]*
Next Plane to Gitmo
(sung to the tune of Last Train To Clarksville) Words by Tommy Gee Music by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart Take the next plane to Gitmo, 'Cause there's torture in the morning Take the next plane to Gitmo. Take the next plane to Gitmo, Take the next plane to Gitmo, |
Now, if we could only get together a band (called the Ditto Monkees) and go on tour...
* - obvious update based on some resurgent extraordinary renditional memories. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Warning: Your clever little blog could get you fired. It seems that the mainstream is finally waking up to some of our compatriots' efforts to infotain you all. Possibly because at times they tell the truths that the corpo-weasels don't want you to know?
we have refrained from any comments whatsoever about the awesome wonderful place where we obtain the fantabulous salary that keeps a roof over our head. Mainly because we have seen a few of our fellow bloggers* lose their livelihoods because of some truths that the corporate welfare queens would prefer to be left unsaid.
Through the good graces of The Papal Bull we are able to show you, gentle reader, a list of bloggers who have been fired because of their blogs.
* - this blog was even deleted after it was found to be a problem in the blogger's work environment (our link is to an archived copy of the blog, not the blog itself). Didn't matter, though - for some strange reason a bunch of Republic political trailer trash was upset that their illicit, immoral behavior was being exposed for all the world to see. Funny how sanctimonious, power-mad, religiously insane Repugnicant politicians (but I repeat myself) get offended when their hypocrisy is exposed for all the world to see...
pRezNit Putsch actually allowed these words to escape from his vacuous pie-hole while being quoted for posterity:
"Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy."
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Amazingly, the bloated melon perched atop The Chimperor did not explode once these blatantly hypocritical words oozed from his general direction.
[Editors Note: Did we forget to mention that the Lying Drunken Cokeheaded Deserter was talking about a foreign nation when he made those comments (which could very easily be applied to his own sorry excuse for democratic governance)? Our bad... ]
We engaged in about five minutes' worth of investigative analysis, and came to a startling (cough) conclusion: Republics have no problems blatantly lying to their own constituents. we offer the following information to substantiate our claim:
this list of Republic Senators who did not co-sponsor the anti-lynching bill and this recording of a telephone conversation with a member of Michael Crapo(R-Lying Elitist Repugnicant Bastich*)'s staff. Did they seriously believe that no one would notice this? Or do they feel that they are so well insulated from the common masses that they don't have to worry about them any more?
Inquiring minds would like to know...
Update 19 June(Saturday, ForeLithe 25), 2005: Americablog links to an updated list. Apparently Senator Crapo (R-Still Lying Elitist Repugnicant Bastich*) has now finally co-signed the anti-lynching bill. Props where props are due...
* - is there any other kind?
From JD, over at Crooks and Liars, commenting on Doctor (cough) Bill Frist (R - Kitty Killer) diagnosing Terri schiavo's condition by watching a videotape:
Bill Frist isn't really a doctor, but he did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.
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Schiavo's Parents Not Swayed by Autopsy. Are you going to believe them, or are you going to trust the actual, physical evidence from actual, trained professionals?
And what does Pinhead, The Thief Of Crawford* have to say about the situation?
In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan (R-Mouth of Sauron) said the autopsy did nothing to change President Bush's position that Schiavo's feeding tube should not have been disconnected. He had signed a bill, rushed through by Congress in March, that was a last-ditch effort to restore her feeding tube.
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Funny, though - he also cut his vacation short for the first time in his pResidency in order to rush back to Washington and harry his own party members into putting that bill on his desk. Even though there were lots of other more pressing issues for his badministration to deal with. We guess that when the religiously insane pull their strings, pRezNit Lies To America dances to their beat**.
It all becomes very clear to us here at The Funny Farm: the reason that the Repugnicants were working so hard to keep Terri Schiavo as a living undead: she's the proto-typical Repugnicant! Brain dead and blind, unable to challenge any of the dren oozing from every Repugnicant pore, and able to vote for Repugnicants (when they do it 'on her behalf' because 'they know what she would have wanted to do') without all the fuss of actually having to coerce her into it.
Any bets on whether she voted for Putsch in the last two poor imitations of federal elections?
* - well, it's his spokesweasel, not the Chimperor himself, making the statements on his behalf. That's why we can decipher what's being said...
** - mixed metaphorically speaking, of course...
We received an email today from Shakespeare's Sister informing us that the hearings on the Downing Street Memo will now be held at the Capitol Building, Room HC-9, from 2:30PM to 4:30PM. We contacted a lovely lady by the name of Theresa Wilson at the Detroit Free Press. she told us that she works in the news room, and we passed along the updated time and place for the hearings to her. Unfortunately, we were unable to ask her what sort of coverage the Freep was going to give those hearings before the conversation ended. Hopefully, we will see a little something show up in the paper on Friday.
You may have noticed a few updates to the magically delicious Funny Farm Links Zone whose very nature may have caused ripples in The BlogSpace/Time Continuum that will leave major embarrassment situations that could take many incarnations* to harmonize. Hopefully everything will work out for the best. Althought it was nice to be confused with The Rude Pundit, if even for a moment due to timing. We've been told that nobody's pissed about the happenings, and that's most definitely all we need to hear.
Here's a few words of wisdom from a fave here at the Funny Farm that might sort of tangentially have something to do with the situation**:
Over time I've come to feel CHORUS After all we're flesh 'n' blood Drop the mask take away the house CHORUS Every cloud has a silver lining CHORUS OUT Flesh And Blood, Oingo Boingo |
Don't give up the fight...
* - or a few adult beverages, depending on the level of embarrassment involved.
** - at least, it seems to us that they have something to do with what's going on here. Particularly the bit about us all being ashamed at one time or another...
Our good friend Snoot from the Tomato Capital of Canada sends us this update on the sport we'd like to be viddying right about now:
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Late Breaking Update on the Late Breaking Update : (Read It And Weep Edition) The San Antonio Spurs are leading the Detroit Pistons by a score of 88-73 with five and a half minutes to go, after a valiant attempt by Detroit to make it a non-blowout for at least a portion of the game. Looks like we gots to hope for some Pistons Palace magic just to get some respect back...
Late Breaking Update on the Late Breaking Update on the Late Breaking Update : (Crying Towel Edition) San Antonio Spurs 97, Detroit Pistons 76. D'oh!
Thanks to Freaking News for hosting the originals that my friend found and sent to me.
Where we highlight a piece of real journalism that the mainstream whores will never want you to see:
BuzzFlash Interviews John Conyers. Some choice quotes:
[-snip-] BuzzFlash: ... you are focusing on what has become known as the Downing Street Memo, which was written in July of 2002, but only came forth in the Times of London a few weeks ago. And you were asking for people to join you and 88 other members of Congress in writing President Bush to hold him accountable for what it says in the Downing Street Memo. So can you tell us a little bit more about why the memo is important, and also how many Americans have joined you thus far in signing on to the letter? Congressman Conyers: Well, this has been one of those projects that comes to your attention, and you begin to express some surprise that nobody has inquired into it before. This Downing Street declassified British intelligence memorandum wasn't the result of weeks of hard investigation and deep research on the part of our staff. It appeared in a newspaper and was being widely circulated in the media around Europe. A number of countries in Europe, their newspapers, their television and radio, were all full of it. And so we were surprised that there had been almost a wall of silence here in the United States that we couldn't get through, that was blocking us out. And to some extent, we've been able to get through this porous wall of silence so that we've finally gotten down to the fact that we know that according to the meetings that were going on, that President Bush had enlisted Mr. Blair into a plan to start a war with a country with which we had very little reason to go to war with. And the notion was to find out why they did this and why was the President of the United States denying that it was his intention to go to war when it was very clear among the Bush Cabinet and Mr. Blair and his organization that that was exactly what they were going to do. And so we have a couple of pretty important questions that leap up at one immediately. And the first was: why did the President deny to the Congress that he was planning to go to war, when at the same time he was implementing plans to go to war? And that is a very disturbing feature. The second thing that comes to mind right away is that if the Congress had known that the President was already laying plans for war, would they have given him additional military authority? The debate would have been quite different, I would presume. I would not give him that authority. I would use his intentions and desire to start a war with another country as an additional reason not to give him the power. And I think a number of other people would have rethought their positions. It would have been a much, much different debate. [-snip-] BuzzFlash: Paul O'Neill said that from the day Bush was inaugurated, he was talking about attacking Iraq. We know that the people in the Bush Administration who were responsible for the war in Iraq were primarily composed of the signers of the PNAC letter to President Clinton in '98 asking him to attack Iraq. The Downing Street Memo is called a smoking gun, but it's hardly as though this is the only piece of information. It's kind of the culmination of all this voluminous corroboration that we were lied into war. Congressman Conyers: Exactly, what you're saying indicates that the more we look around, the more we investigate and research, and the more information that comes forward, it all supports the declassified British intelligence document that was the subject of at least two articles in the Times of London. And now more and more begins to come out as we think about it, as we review, as we think about what happened to weapons inspectors and the jeopardy that one of the wives – a CIA operative was put in – that as O'Neill said himself, everybody in the top circles of the Bush Administration knew that we were going to go to war with Iraq. It was just a matter of time. [-snip-] |
There is much more over at BuzzFlash besides this interview, as all good progressive bloggers know*. In the meantime, our window of webposting opportunity is closing for the nonce, so we'll have to skedaddle for now. Hope your weekend is already enjoyable!
* - BuzzFlash is Drudge with a lot more integrity, headlines and scoops who also does real journalism stuff like report on things and (as we have just seen) interview the powers that be. Can you imagine any of the BFEE junta answering any of this person's questions? Or O'Really? or Spammity or the vile Pigboy talking to BuzzFlash? We wish that there will come a day when it could actually happen...
We found something that we hope will provide us hours of inebriated bliss. Our first taste test will be coming up shortly, but for now we had to show you the beer whats we got at our local World Market:
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Random guerilla blogging may take place from undisclosed locations in the North American midwest over the next few days. Enjoy yourselves this weekend!
Shakespeare's Sister is happy to tell us (and we're happy to hear and pass along to you) that Congressman John Conyers is planning on holding hearings on the Downing Street Memo next Thursday. We sincerely hope that some of the many BFEE blunders over the last five years will be dragged out into the light - after all, didn't they go through the First Lady's underwear when Ken Starr was witch hunting investigating the ClenisTM and the Evil Hitlery?
We wish that the truth comes out in the days to come, and we sincerely urge Congressman Conyers to avoid small planes, or for that matter aircraft of any kind, until after the BFEE gets hung out to dry. He'll prolly still have to watch out for rabid Repugnicants, but still...
Anne Bancroft died on Tuesday. We hope inspirational stand-up philosopher Mel Brooks will rejoice in the many ways Anne brought joy into all of our lives (but especially his), and helped him bring laughter to us all, and find solace in remembering the good times they had. So long, Anne. And thanks...
P.S. Hoffmania, the lucky barstid, actually got to meet Anne and Mel once upon a time (and claims to have met Mel again later on in life - another story we'll want to hear). We're sad to hear about it on the occasion of her passing, but now we'll have another happy mental snapshot of the loving couple courtesy of our fellow Wild-Eyed Coalition member.
Red Meat is exceptionally juicy this week. Go see for yourself.
Pistons 88, Heat 82. These guys are going to the finals for the second year in a row. It was a pretty good game for most of the way, and we're glad for our friend who now has excellent tickets to the finals. Except for the ticket prices - $200 per seat for each of the three games. We certainly can't handle that type of hit to our pocketbook these days...
Well, they tell us that we're part of the Big Brass Blog now and should pass along a few tidbits your way:
- Representative John Conyers has more than made the 100,000 signatures he was hoping for on this letter to His Imperious Marginality regarding the Downing Street Memo. Congratulations to all of you who managed to sign the letter. Now, particularly if you're in Michigan, go get some other people to sign as well. It would be really interesting if this letter got, say, a half million international signatures, too.
- Courtesy of fellow Big Brass Blogger JJ we see that Chirtine Gregoire has now been officially declared the governor of Washington. Nice to see such a fine example of gracefully accepting defeat on the part of yer basic Repugnicant arse here.
Much more bloggy goodness from our fellow Big Brass Bloggers in the days to come...
[Bitchin' Update:: Sorry we forgot to highlight Digby's catch of the AP story of John Bolton's Machiavellian schemings to get a UN weapons inspector fired because he would have exposed one of the fraudulent reasons involved in bringing about Oil War Too as being factually inconsistent with reality. It ties in with, and independently corroborates, the Downing Street Memo. Quite possibly this could be brought to President Boxer's attention in requesting information on John Bolton for his confirmation hearings? You know, like how the person being nominated for US Ambassabor to the UN has already been meddling in UN personnel decisions in order to influence a supposedly impartial inspection agency of the United Nations? You think any reports on the stability and reliability of Mr. Bolton would be available from the UN in lieu of the administration's inability to find certain documents for the public record? Inquiring minds would like to know... ]
If you ever hear a wrongwinger try and tell you that the Democratic filibuster is unprecedented, show them this post from uggabugga. Then ask them to come back when they're ready to engage in open and honest debate, and move on. There's really nothing more to add to the discussion other than these Repugnicant sons of bastiches have been filibustering for one reason or another whenever and wherever they've been able to get away with it. And, in today's living irony history, somehow that justifies them criticizing others for using the tool they've shamelessly abused throughout their careers. Go figure...
Apparently the BFEE feels that they can now invent falsehoods from whole cloth:
Jailers splashed Koran with urine - Pentagon. We feel compelled to show you the product of this inspirational (cough) story on our conscouisnesss:
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Thanks to John over at AmericaBlog for showing us all this rancid nugget of Friday Night Dissassemblation. Funded by our tax dollars no less! Isn't it wonderful when pRseident Perks-A-Lot gets to use government funds to write off the required trappings of his lifestyle? It's the American Way!
Previous Faux Meat can be seen here and here.
rj eskow of skippy central showed us how to get our borg name and logo:
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Unfortunately, when both major news organizations sing this tune:
Payrolls Grow by Just 78,000 in May (AP)*
Job growth surprisingly weak in May (Reuters)
It means that they are both relying on the same basic report and changing some punctuation. Their pimps have instructed these media whores very well in this case - the standard Republic fluffing, the basic "nothing to see here, just move along" rhetoric from the corpo-weasels, the usual feigned puzzlement from the analysts, it's all there.
It must be because us cowardly liberals are spreading mass hysteria amongst the rabble by telling the truth. Yeah - that's the ticket...
* - oh, and look! They've changed the titles of these articles. Quite possibly the originals didn't test as well as the new and improved ones...
Courtesy of Invictus over at Blah3, we are led to a wonderful transcript of an interview of George Galloway by an actual journalist named Thom Hartmann. Read it for yourself. This material made available for public consumption by After Downing Street. Wethinks you might be seeing a few stories saved from the Bushian Orwellian Memory Hole (not this Memory Hole, but rather the one currently being put in place by the current junta in DC) at this site in the days to come. Stay tuned, campers!
Now that we've managed to (loosely) explain our historical precedent in adapting language, we'd like to briefly discuss our recent terms of descriptive characterization for those who choose to engage in activities contrary to the survival of the government (as we've known it),. For those interested in the subtle differences that we've semi-unconsciously used with regards to our terminology:
Republics tend to have fanatical libertarian traits.
Publicans tend to have fanatical theocratic traits.
Repugnicants are the best (cough) of both sets of characteristics.
Each variant is its' own dilemma* when trying to deal with their logic (cough) in everyday interactions. They refuse to admit that the possibility exists that they are incorrect in their beliefs, and they have a very difficult time admitting that anyone but their particular group of fanatics is ever correct about anything. They also tend to have less tolerance for diversity of opinion, and seek to convince others that their outlook needs to be embraced by all. They dissemble and shift tactics when their beliefs and/or tactics are challenged and defeated. They fight to the death when they are cornered. And nowadays it seems like they act like they're cornered when they're supposed to be large and in charge. What's up with that?
Feel free to enlighten us further about other tendencies that you notice in the members of these groups within your personal circle.
* - by the way, when exactly did the spelling on this word change? Or is it one of those traditional British Canadian English va. American English things that's we're so blindingly oblivious to around here? We vaguely (cough) remember that this word was spelled dilemna, not dilemma, in our textbooks. Any other sages want to help refresh our memory?