I voted. Did you?

Yeah, I know that this country is one sorry excuse for a democracy, but I vote anyway. I just wish we could set up a hunting season on lobbyists, especially ones that lobby for deregulation bills in the service of major polluters and worker's rights quashers.

I'll be watching the returns with my political junkie friend. Can't wait :)

Peddling politics in America

. Midterm contributions soar to record levels in 2010, a sign that the US campaign finance system is tainted as ever
Danny Schechter Last Modified: 01 Nov 2010 18:18 GMT

"...Selling influence

Many are up in arms about the latest wave of "secret money," some perhaps from overseas, including charges in one race in Washington state that Saudi nationals are involved.

Climate Action Network Europe released a new report revealing the effects of Big Business trying to weaken US environmental laws: "Big European emitters … supported climate change deniers in the US Senate in 2010 for $107,200 … This amount is higher than the same type of spending of the most notorious US climate denier and Tea Party funder: Koch Industries ($217,000)."

Overlooked in all the hoopla is the fact that American politics has itself become a business with a vast network of professional fundraising companies, consultants, advisors and ad agencies profiting from the services they provide.

The politicians don't just hire others. They spent much of their own time "dialing for dollars," as one congressman I know well told me..."

I love Danny Schechter

I didn't stab the Fox Snooz watchers last night,

but I did eye my steak knife at one point, lol , just kidding. There were actually more things that we agreed on than we disagreed on. This is one that we did not agree on. This is for them, I wasn't as quick on my feet as I usually am. I still get stunned at the vitriol aimed at France, all things perceived to be socialism, the America has the best health care myth, and other such nonsense.

France spends approximately 10% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care and in terms of health expenditure is second in the European Union (EU) only to Germany, in terms of health expenditure (OECD 2005); this level has remained relatively stable over the past five years.

National health care spending as a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP)—the total spending on goods and services in the United States—has been rising steadily over the past 40 years. In 1960, it accounted for slightly more than 5 percent of the total. By 2002, health care spending was about 15 percent of GDP

FOXNEWS.COM HOME > HEALTH
U.S. Trails Others in Health Care Satisfaction
Friday, October 29, 2004

Ah...ummm... think that has improved since 2004?

Campaign Desk — July 13, 2009 10:58 AM (Columbia Journalism Review)
Health Care in France—and in America
A journalist’s observations
By Trudy Lieberman

Tea Party movement funding

Ok, now go laugh, I'm not beyond scatological humor, are you?

Billy Connolly - Colonoscopy

Rally for sanity pics

Sanity and fear, meeting in the middle
By Jason Horowitz, Monica Hesse and Dan Zak
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 31, 2010; A1

According to CBS News, 215,000 people showed up for the rally on Saturday. By comparison, CBS estimated that 87,000 -- just 40% of the Sanity Rally estimation -- attended Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in August.

Update 1/11/10 Read Chris Hedges scathing assessment of the celebration.

My response to Hedges?

Dear Mr. Hedges,

When was the last time YOU tried to organize a union?

Sirota: It's the stupidity, stupid

By David Sirota
Creators Syndicate

"...The first, by Harvard's Michael Norton and Duke's Dan Ariely, finds that Americans grossly underestimate how much inequality our economy produces. Among the survey respondents, the vast majority said they believe the richest 20 percent own 59 percent of the wealth when, in fact, that quintile owns 84 percent of the wealth. In other words, in spite of the data, many believe our system produces the moderate equality we desire..."

Sirota: It's the stupidity, stupid - The Denver Post

Yemenis try to send bombs to US synagogues, now there's a shocker

Terror bombs were primed to down cargo planes in mid-air

Jamie Doward and Mark Townsend
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 30 October 2010 17.18 BST

Security officials say explosive packages found on US-bound aircraft in UK and Dubai were meant to bring them down

"..It has emerged the devices were discovered only after a tip-off from Saudi intelligence. "This… started with good information from the Saudis," the US homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, said. "We were then immediately able to work with other countries, particularly the UK and the UAE, to segregate these packages, to begin the analysis about what they were..."

Hmm, I never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Saudi Intelligence.

Update. Monday 11.1.10 The Saudis know this idiot.

Citizens United fallout this election season

A Ground's Eye View of How Millions of Shady Corporate Political Dollars Are Hijacking This Election
'It’s pretty clear that corporations now have the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money to take on people like my boss.'

"... In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, neither group is required to disclose its donors..."

I told you so.

Does this 'splain Cheney's last heart attack?

Reprot: BP, Halliburton Knew Well Cement was Unstable Before They Used it

On second thought, no, it wouldn't have caused a heart attack, the company is based in Dubai.

Thanks Keith, the ballot's in the mailbox now

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Video kind of morning

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Barack Obama Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

The Ad.

The response

This article title cracked me up.
FBI: Ohio company fraud fugitive caught in Mexico

I knew this years ago

Uranium Released by Fracking May Pollute Groundwater

Matthew McDermott, New York, NY 10/27/10

Rand Paul Supporter Tim Profitt Wants Stomping Victim To Apologize To HIM

And teh stupid is on display.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Swimming in warm water can take deadly toll on body

Fran Crippen, 26, died Saturday during the last leg of the Marathon Swimming World Cup. By Madison Park and Ashley Fantz, CNN October 25, 2010 4:57 p.m. EDT

And now you know why I hate swimming with non-swimmers. "Oh yay, isn't the water wunnerful?" the brainiacs ask, and it's fucking 88 degrees Fahrenheit, with an air temp of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. No, because I spent so many hours in the water, working hard in it, that that 85 degree water temp is HOT to me. I thought maybe between 68 and 75 was great, but these guys think between 77 and 82. Obviously, 87 degree water temp can be fatal. I always hated the Brawley meet because there was no way to keep the outdoor pool from getting too hot to compete in. It was like trying to race in a really big bathtub.

Reading Now

Republican Gomorrah by Max Blumenthal
(c) 2009

Frankly, this book does not look like a whole lot of fun to read, but better to be aware than ignorant. *sigh*

Adam Lambert -Whataya Want From Me

I wish he recorded more like this.

Michael Moore: Why Republicans Are Always Worried That Their Pet Corporations Might Face Real Free Market Competition

Whenever corporate executives begin talking about how they support "free markets" and "competition," check to see if you still have your wallet.

How is a request for an apology an olive branch?

Update and lol, roflmao--

FRIDAY, OCT 22, 2010 12:10 ET
Ex: Clarence Thomas was porn-obsessed
After 19 years, the justice's former girlfriend speaks out about how checking out female co-workers was his "hobby"

BY TRACY CLARK-FLORY Lillian McEwan just broke her silence of 19 years to talk about Clarence Thomas' obsession with large breasts and pornography. Lillian McEwan might want to consider changing her phone number.

And just look at all the rethugs jumping to his defense.

Oct. 20, 2010
Thomas' Wife Seeks Apology From Accuser Anita Hill
Wife Of Justice Clarence Thomas Asks Anita Hill, His Accuser, To Apologize After 19 Years

lThomas' wife seeks apology from accuser Anita Hil

Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Anita Hill is refusing to apologize for accusing then-Supreme Court justice nominee Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her, in an issue that Thomas' wife has reopened 19 years after his confirmation hearings....

...He broke a 16-year silence about the hearings in a 2007 book, "My Grandfather's Son," writing that Hill was a mediocre employee who was used by political opponents to make claims she had been sexually harassed...."

I don't give a good goddamn whether Hill was used by political opponents of Thomas. Unfortunately it did not work and we are going to be stuck with Thomas' whorish decisions till he croaks and he has made many decisions that have helped turn this COUNTRY "mediocre," at best and a toxic steaming pile at worst.

William Lerach on Corporate Power, Corporate Crime and the Failure of the Democrats to Confront Wall Street

24 Corporate Crime Reporter 40(12), October 18, 2010

Great article.

Hmmm. Suddenly I'm hearing the 'NPR is brought to you by balabbity, blabity, Lerach and blablahblah law firm' thing in my head. I have no idea if this is the same Lerach and so and so firm. If I really gave a crap I'd find out. I don't.

Today was your last day to register to vote in CA before the upcoming election. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to vote on the local propositions and why the fuck do we have to vote on hospital boards, school boards and judges? I haven't read the local birdcage liner in years, so I don't even know if any of these candidates have scandals or records. The whole voting on judges thing pisses me off. Just try Googling these fuckers, whadaya get? Nada, and I don't know which judges are playing golf with the multinational corporation CEOs and board members.

Snicker snicker, tee hee hee

Holder promises to enforce U.S. drug laws if Prop. 19 passes
Attorney general joins local law enforcement officials in opposing legalization of marijuana. Prop. 19 supporters say the U.S. has no legal ground to challenge the measure.

Well, maybe Holder doesn't get California, that's understandable, but this fool?

"...Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who is a co-chairman of the main opposition committee, released the letter at a news conference at his headquarters Friday, flanked by two former DEA heads, the district attorney and the Los Angeles city attorney.

"He is saying it is an unenforceable law and the federal government will not allow California to become a rogue state on this issue," Baca said. "You can't make a law in contradiction to federal law as a state. Therefore Proposition 19 is null and void and dead on arrival..."

No, the enforcement laws are dead. I can walk down the street in LA smoking weed. Felipe Calderon doesn't want pot legalized because he might lose a few "War on Drugs" bucks. He needs to shut his fucking hypocritical mouth, users of small amounts of drugs can't be busted in Mexico.

Chile miner rescues 24 and counting

Because the world can use some good news
update

They got quite the preview Thursday of what lies ahead. On their first full day of fresh air, the miners were probably the 33 most in-demand people on the planet.
A Greek mining company wants to bring them to the sunny Aegean islands, competing with rainy Chiloe in the country's southern archipelago, whose tourism bureau wants them to stay for a week.... Los treinta y tres

Pipelineistan's New Silk Road

Tomgram: Pepe Escobar, Pipelineistan's New Silk Road
Posted by Pepe Escobar
at 9:40am, October 12, 2010.

"...Pepe Escobar, that edgy, peripatetic globe-trotting reporter for one of my favorite on-line publications, Asia Times, has been doing just that for TomDispatch readers as he explores the geography that undergirds our civilization, the pipelines that crisscross Eurasia through which flow energy -- and trouble. This, then, is his fourth "postcard" from what he likes to call Pipelineistan. The first in March 2009 began laying out a great, ongoing energy struggle across Eurasia and the Great Game of business, diplomacy, and proxy war between Russia and the U.S. that went with it.

In May of that year, he plunged eastward into tumultuous Central and South Asia and the expanding battleground that, in Washington, goes by the neologism Af-Pak (for the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater of operations). Next, in October, he headed west toward Europe and another developing struggle, which he dubbed "Pipelineistan’s Ultimate Opera", over just how natural gas from the Caspian Sea would reach Europe. Now, in his first stop of 2010, he heads where, it seems, anyone interested in energy -- maybe anyone interested in anything at all -- more or less has to head these days: China and the new Silk Road of pipelines that offer the former Middle Kingdom a partial shot at future energy security and Washington future anxieties of all sorts. Tom... "

Making Campaign Ads More Honest

Ah, Ron, you're so sweet. Sort of. Until the money is taken out of political advertising, meaning ALL the money, yours too, we are hapless consumers of loads of BS in unfair fights. The Supreme Court bestowed even MORE BS on us by enabling massive amounts of money to flow unchecked into the game of politics.



Does anybody here believe that politics anywhere in the US remotely resembles democracy?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Reading now

Globalization and its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz (c) 2002

Another book that I will have to trudge through because consumption of this information is painful.

I watched the National Geographic 3 hr special with Jared Diamond called "Guns, Germs and Steel" and it is definitely worth watching, although the books are always better. Diamond's information always makes me feel better about being a Westerner because it reminds me that human nature is exactly the same all over the planet. Only the geography changes the way societies evolved and developed.

I find this funny

China lashes out at Nobel prize 'obscenity'
By London correspondent Rachael Brown
Posted 48 minutes ago

And when are we going to DO something about the Chinese screwing around keeping the yuan artificially low?

All I hear is blah blah blah

I love Grey's Anatomy

but I absolutely loathe the actress Caterina Scorsone. She sucks, but not in a way that you can just pass off and hope she will go away. She sucks and she just keeps popping up. Now she's on two of the three shows I WAS willing to suffer through the advertisements to watch on a regular basis. I think I just decided to give those shows up. I detest her THAT much. She's like the girl on the cheerleading squad that I wanted to slap the shit out of in order to shut off the inane, babbling, bitchy, annoying noise. You know, the kind of bitch who is either too dumb or too arrogant to know when to take it down a notch?

California voter's registration deadline

The voter registration deadline is October 18, less than two weeks away.If you haven't yet registered, please do so. If you have moved and haven't re-registered to vote, please do so. And if you're going to be out of town on Election Day, please request a vote-by-mail ballot.

Click here to register to vote, check your registration status, or request a vote-by-mail ballot! The deadlines are fast approaching, so please don't wait.

finished reading Dismantling the Empire

(buy) By Chalmers Johnson.

(blogger just dumped what I wrote and I'm not rewriting it, so here are a couple of quotes from the book)


p 74
"From its inception the CA has labored under two contradictory conceptions of what it was supposed to be doing, and no president has ever succeeded in correcting or resolving this situation. Espionage and intelligence analysis seek to know the world as it is; covert action seeks to change the world, whether it understands it or not. The best CIA exemplar of the intelligence -collecting function was Richard Helms director of central intelligence (DCI) from 1966 to 1973 (who died in 2002). The great protagonist of cloak-and-dagger work was Frank Wisner, the CIA's director of operations from 1948 until the late 1950s, when he went insane and , in 1965, committed suicide. Wisner never had any patience for espionage and other forms of intelligence collecting.

Weiner quotes William Colby, a future DCI (1973-1976) on this subject. The separation of the scholars of the research and analysis division from the sips of the clandestine service reared two cultures within the intelligence profession, he said, "separate, unequal, and contemptuous of each other." That critique remained true throughout the CIA's first sixty years.

[As I read this I thought and noted to myself "Turf wars are endemic in situations where law enforcement and public safety organizations overlap. Endemic because it is inevitable. Inevitable because testosterone = turf wars."]

p 165
It is hard to imagine any sector of the American economy more driven by ideology, delusion and propaganda than the armed services. Many people believe that our military is the largest, best equipped, and most invincible among the world's armed forces. none of these things is true, but our military is, without a doubt the most expensive to maintain. Each year, we Americans account for nearly half of all global spending, an amount larger than the next forty-five nations together spend on their militaries annually.

And Johnson goes on to prove this statement. I was surprised at how many books Johnson noted that I have read.

Boo-gate?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2010 - Taliban Dan & Boo-Gate
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

How perfectly lovely, just in time for Halloween. So all you holloweenies want to git all dolled up like yer heroine Molly McMooseturd? Lovely in the flaming turd costume don't you think?


Dude. I'm so punny today.

News Corp Gives $1 Million to U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Source: Politico.com, September 30, 2010

News Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, has donated $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a powerful business lobbying group that was recently accused of tax fraud and money laundering by two national watchdog groups. News Corp's big-dollar donation is the second it has made to Republican interests in recent months. In June, 2010 News Corp gave another $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. The Chamber plans to spend $75 million to influence the 2010 election, making it the the top spender on congressional races of any interest group. The parent companies of other media outlets, like General Electric (which owns NBC) and Disney (which owns ABC), have also made political donations, but in lesser amounts more evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. News Corp's recent huge gifts to Republican interests raise questions about whether the company has crossed an ethical line.

Ballot research today

Blech, I hate this part. Some of it is easy peasy for me. Boxer, Brown and Bower are no brainers, I love them. Prop 19, another no brainer, big yes, for me in order to put a crimp in the profits and a damper on the murderous activities of the Mexican drugs cartels. Oh, and fuck the former DEA administrators. 20 I need to look at realistically. Read cynically only 38% of the people eligible to vote here actually voted last time, and a prop that might have made a difference in buying political power was soundly defeated.

San Diego County Primary Election Analysis
Editors Roundtable transcript | Friday, June 11, 2010


Ok, off to find out more.