I will not be visiting the harbor area today

UPDATE 1-Bedraggled cruise passengers return to port

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 11, 2010

Stricken Splendor Passengers Disembark

1,000-foot Luxury Liner Adrift Without Power for Four Days; NTSB Says it Will Investigate

1 Passenger Taken To Hospital As Others Disembark Cruise Ship

Carnival Cruise Ship Splendor Arrives In San Diego
POSTED: 4:49 pm PST November 8, 2010
UPDATED: 11:41 am PST November 11, 2010

The short walk to Seaport Village is lovely, they should be able to get a decent meal there or many other places very close by (Anthony's is well known for having great seafood) and at least the hotels have hot water and air conditioning, although at a sunny 76 degrees F who needs it?

Tweet

White House Gives In On Bush Tax Cuts

Update:President Obama on tax cuts: I'm not caving in to GOP pressure to extend cuts for wealthy
BY ALIYAH SHAHID
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, November 12th 2010, 7:50 AM

My bad.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/11/12/2010-11-12_president_obama_on_tax_cuts_im_not_caving_in_to_gop_pressure_to_extend_cuts_for_.html#ixzz15DDh4L8x

"But I don't want to trade away security for the middle class in order to make that point."



wtf? What planet does he live on?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Reprehensible creatures and debt reduction

"..LORI MONTGOMERY(WaPo) : Well, the idea that they would completely wipe out the tax deductions that are known as tax expenditures -- these things are worth more than $100 billion a year. As you mentioned, they include things like the mortgage interest deduction, the tax-free treatment of employer-provided health care.

I mean, there's stuff in here that touches everyone. And they would just wipe it out, in exchange for some lower tax rates, but they would suck some more money out of the tax code. Raising the retirement age, we were sort of expecting that. But there are a number of other reforms that they are proposing that would also serve to lower benefits for wealthier retirees. That is going to be very controversial.

And they have got more than $200 billion a year in discretionary spending cuts, which is something like a 20 percent reduction in Pentagon and other agency budgets..." (watch the whole 8 minute PBS News Hour clip)

(Nobody mentions the tax rate decrease on the wealthiest)

Between this and the QE2 stuff and the QE2 G20 stuff I hate the wealthy and the powerful. Speaking of reprehensible creatures who's only means of survival is dragging your drowning ass down, I'm gonna go watch K Street which starred Carville, Matalin and all the congresscritters you could stand.

War sucks part 308,539,485

I watched some awful History channel series on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. It was somewhere between 8 and 12 hours long, I lost track. The reason I thought it was awful is not necessarily because it was a lousy telling of history because I don't know enough to be able to say that.

I hated it for two reasons.

One, because none of the names of the major players were shown in script so I didn't know how to look them up and the scholars interviewed didn't pronounce them the same way. I don't read, write or speak Latin, Barbarian or Hun. Some of the names were familiar, but according to the History channel's pronunciation some of the time I was left wondering wtf, who they talkin' 'bout?

(one name stands out because this is my favorite painting)

Two, because the stupid, gory costumed battle, and pillage scenes were relentless. Jeez Louise, I lost track of how many years went by because time seemed to be measured in battles, invasions, raping and pillaging rather than years. Ho hum, felt like I was watching some stupid action film period piece and I'm not partial to action films, they bore the shit out of me.

War sucks. Human nature sucks. In the Roman Empire series I was struck by how many invasions were instigated by leaders trying to feed their people. There are close to 7 billion people on this planet and most leaders understand that they are in mortal danger if they cannot feed their people.

We as Americans are probably not in any danger of starvation in the short run so why are we in one Godamned war after another?

They go on and on. Ten years in Afghanistan and still...

If you haven't read Pepe Escobar's Pipelineistan series, do it.

Wars destroy military personnel. If only men who send others to war understood that now. I'm thinking that the Roman generals who ended up being Emperors got that.

Ya think Commander Codpiece covers that in his new book? Somehow I doubt it, but then again, in order to save what's left of my sanity I'm reading the Borowitz Report tweets on that subject.

So last night I turn on the TV to watch Chuck...

and who's there talking to Matt Lauer about a book he wrote?

Bush 'Decision Points' – how many books will he sell?

(Christian Science Monitor)
Nov 9, 2010
Publishers of President Bush's 'Decision Points' have printed up 1.5 million copies. President Bill Clinton's 'My Life' sold 606,000 in its first week, and has totaled 2.2 million since.

I couldn't grab the remote and get that TV off quick enough! I had been sort of amused at some of the twittering on this subject all day, but I wasn't really prepared for that gut-wrenching revulsion of W. that happens to me.

Dude is still a dry drunk?

Ummm.....Laura?

South of the Border

South of the Border 2009 NR 77 minutes

Eager to investigate how the U.S. media has depicted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, director Oliver Stone journeys south to interview the man himself and speaks with several other South American presidents in the process. Among the distinguished subjects in Stone's probing and controversial documentary are Bolivia's Evo Morales, Brazil's Lula da Silva, Argentina's Nestor Kirchner and Cuba's Raúl Castro.

Cast:Tariq Ali, Raúl Castro, Hugo Chavez, Rafael Correa, Cristina Kirchner, Nestor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo, Lula, Evo Morales

Director:Oliver Stone Genres:Documentary, Political Documentaries, Biographical Documentaries, Social & Cultural Documentaries Format:DVD and streaming (HD available)

I loved it. I absolutely loved it. It's streaming on Netflix now.

negative ads and Kamala Harris

blech, pthooee, ggghaaaah, people are stupid here. Local Dems didn't vote for her and I suspect it's because national money went into state races.

National GOP Spends Big in State Contests

state results

local results

Congratulations should go to "Turdblossom"

D.A. will prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries -- even if L.A. does not ban sales [Updated] November 17, 2009 | 12:00 pm (LA Times)
Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said today he will prosecute dispensaries that sell medical marijuana even if the Los Angeles City Council adopts an ordinance that does not ban such sales.

Palin Lashes Out At Bernanke, Urging Him To 'Cease And Desist' Purchase Of Treasuries

Do people write articles on Palin's antics just so they can laugh at all her nicknames in the comments?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

I am so guilty

of not getting involved:

"...Drawing on a report “Counting on Change in San Diego: Why California’s Future Begins in San Diego’s Immigrant Communities,” which is available on the Foundation’s website, Fanestil told the political post-mortem gathering rather than lurching from one election to the next, dependent on occasional voters, it was possible to build a permanent, solid progressive bloc by focusing on the over 1 million eligible voters in San Diego County who are not registered.

He mentioned the demographics of color in local elections by pointing out that while whites are only 48 percent of the county’s population, they comprise almost 70 percent of its registered voters and a whopping 83 percent of its elected representatives. By using multi-sectional, multi-racial strategies, Fanestil said that a “progressive election infrastructure” which “would sustain itself across elections” would be dependent on leadership development in the neighborhoods. He called “transactional coalitions” short lived..."

My only excuse is that I get irritated with right-wing idiots and their bombastic show of hatred towards anything "librul," and there are a lot of them here in this county. Seriously, you think my disdain for them developed in a vacuum?

Keith Olbermann To RETURN Tuesday, Phil Griffin Announces

Updated: 11- 8-10 08:22 PM
Olbermann Apologizes, to Viewers Strikes back at MSNBC


Dang, the petition didn't go over 300,000
(Update, now it is 313,852 at 9:21 AM Mon Nov 8)

http://sav­eolbermann­.com/?sour­ce=gwa-sho­rt&gclid=C­JjiueuXkKU­CFRRqgwodK­BbWNw
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Bernie Saunders had this gem for us:

"If there is a silver lining in the action of MSNBC against Keith Olbermann, it is that people will now pay more attention to the political role of corporate media in America. ..."

The Infidel

Streaming now on Netflx. I laughed.

Still reading

Republican Gomorrah by Max Blumenthal.

I was right, reading this is no fun. I know crazy, believe me, and crazy is easier to deal with than crazy and stupid.

The Economist on the election

Lexington
And now on to the White House
But the Republicans may have to fight a civil war on the way
Nov 4th 2010

"......"But after the wine of victory has been drunk and the party begins to sober up, the job will come to look trickier again. That is because although the voters spoke this week, nobody can be sure what they intended to say.

For example: were they voting for the Republicans, or against the Democrats? Were they repudiating the whole Obama agenda or just registering a protest against hard times? Are voters more enthusiastic about the tea-party insurgents who set the grass-roots on fire, or the safer hands of the establishment types who wrote the cautious, bet-hedging Pledge to America, the nearest thing the Republicans offered to a manifesto?..."

On cable news and cable not-news

Keith Olbermann SUSPENDED From MSNBC Indefinitely Without Pay

Updated: 11- 8-10 08:22 PM
Olbermann Apologizes, to Viewers Strikes back at MSNBC

Update. Ok I read the updated ThinkProgress and then Josh, refers to the NYT . And then I watched Rachel and posted her explanation of what went wrong.

Ok. Hopefully Olbermannn knew the rules about getting permission from his employers to give political contributions. I still think it's bullshit and I still think if Comcast buys NBC Universal, the parent company of MSNBC that Olbermann and possibly Rachel will get shitcanned because money doesn't want you to hear opposing views. Money wants you to kiss their asses and buy their shit. Holy fuckwads from hell, isn't it enough that the Roberts Supreme court gives big wet sloppy kisses to Big Bidness? And we get no lube. The ISP I use already strangles the bandwith and tiers usage payments and if they get their way with the Supremes we won't be able to sue in class actions. So NO, I aint changin' shit in the rest of this post.


"While NBC News policy does not prohibit employees from donating to political candidates, it requires them to obtain prior approval from NBC News executives before doing so."

Ah ha, so this is a Pi$$ing contest?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

The Nation Aug 31, 2010
Who owns the media?

U.S. Court Curbs F.C.C. Authority on Web Traffic
By EDWARD WYATT

Published: April 6, 2010

The court ruling, which came afterComcast asserted that it had the right to slow its cable customers’ access to a file-sharing service called BitTorrent, could prompt efforts in Congress to change the law in order to give the F.C.C. explicit authority to regulate Internet service.
That could prove difficult politically, however, since some conservative Republicans philosophically oppose giving the agency more power, on the grounds that Internet providers should be able to decide what services they offer and at what price..."

Crooks and Liars Nov 5 2010
What role did Comcast play in Keith Olbermann's suspension?

Petition MSNBC to bring Olbermann back

It's the political system, stupid

FRIDAY, NOV 5, 2010 07:01 ET

BY DAVID SIROTA

"...Thus, as I showed in my 2008 follow-up book, "The Uprising," we are now reflexively drawn to whichever minority party candidates promise the swiftest backlash. Whether the challengers happen to be anti-Bush Democrats or anti-Obama Republicans, America is drawn to these faux rebels even though we implicitly know they will almost certainly become part of the problem once elected.

It's kabuki theater ad absurdum -- and it explains a lot..."

Thank You, Dick Cheney, For Giving Me the Proper Words

by: David Sirota Thu Nov 04, 2010 at 15:00

"...Like many of you reading these pixels, I've found myself in the last year burnt out on American politics, mostly...."


I love David Sirota.

Dear Red State America

You shore did show us Democrats sumthin' dint yew?

Yeah, that you are rage and fear driven, and that vicious teevee ads work on your retarded asses.

That Citizens United (the Supreme Court decision, you dimwits) will continue to make the wealthy even wealthier and the middle class will become so minuscule as to never be a thorn in the side of the the wealthy again. Congrats on that. The Chamber of Commerce's money was well spent.

That pot is bad and should remain illegal, but alcohol is ok. And those taxes you don't want to pay will keep the prisons open that drug dealers who killed 28,000 people in 4 years locked up, right?

That zero job growth and making the rich even richer works for you.

That winning the house isn't enough for you, you have to act like flaming assholes even if you lose to a long time safe Dem seat.

That the Republican mantra of "I got mine, so fuck you" works.

That beating a dead horse is not beyond you hateful assholes.

That you are incredibly stupid in believing that the Tea Parties are independent and are not paid for by big energy and big industrial polluters .

TPMDC
The Crazy Class Of 2010: Meet The New GOP Stars
Eric Kleefeld | November 4, 2010, 8:38A

I turned on NPR this morning and the move to the right has already started, gotta make sure the new congress doesn't take them out, right?

Fuck me, they were interviewing some Tea Party bitch from Texas.

And one more think Red State America?

Good luck getting anything done since all you did was carry water for the rich. It's gonna be gridlock.

But you are a wet dream for big energy.
again. map (map)

Pfffft. Dems didn't vote

No wonder I checked out months ago. I must have seen this coming. Nobody bothered to vote in the primaries. Except rethugs, who reliably vote because they do what they are told. So what made me think that Dems would vote now, or that Independents would vote Dem?

Dems didn't vote, they got over half the ballots counted at midnight here. (There are 452,971 registered Dems in SD county and 287,844 is 62% of the counted votes? ) I'm betting that craploads of the 287,844 "Independent" voters went Rethug this time. It does not take much in a county owned lock, stock and barrel by the military-industrial-complex. There are 200,000 40,000 less registered voters than there were in '08. (mybad)

(local results as of midnight)
GOVERNOR

Precincts: 2050
Counted: 1285
Percentage: 62.7%

Vote for: 1
MEG WHITMAN - REP 243063 52.14%
EDMUND G. BROWN - DEM 197072 42.27%
CHELENE NIGHTINGALE - AIP 8665 1.86%
DALE F. OGDEN - LIB 7701 1.65%
LAURA WELLS - GRN 5714 1.23%
CARLOS ALVAREZ - P-F 3960 0.85%

I wonder how many assholes screaming about taxes will lose their homes in fires because fire department funds will be cut?

REGION: Despite storms, La Nina suggests drier days ahead

OCTOBER WETTER THAN AVERAGE, BUT WINTER DROUGHT IS LIKELY


PROP D-CITY OF SAN DIEGO Temp. One-Half Cent Sales Tax

Precincts: 805
Counted: 605
Percentage: 75.2%

Vote for: 1
NO 132787 62.79%
YES 78682 37.21%

local results

CA votes reliably Dem, but a red state nightmare in the House

Natl' results
election results

So it looks like the Rethugs took the house. Nifty. Can't wait to watch the circus. Wonder how much more damage they will do? If anybody in this country thinks it's going back to some mythical dream idyll like they remember it was in the 50s they are batshit crazy. The 50's were fucked for a lot of people, but the union workers got paid enough to buy homes and raise families. Everybody in the world owed us something and Latin America suffered for our gains. And this country is NEVER going to be like it was in the 1950's.

Seriously? We gotta deal with this drunken idiot for at least the next 2 years? Jesus, you really don't have to have anything but an ability to be a fucking corporate puppet in order to be elected in the Republican party.

Voters can't see through all the corporate spending? Looks like

State ballot measures did what I expected them to: Nyah, we don't want any real solutions we just don't want to pay taxes. At least the 2/3 vote requirement will change. Fucking rethugs have been holding up State budgets for years.

And now the rich get their way- gridlock.
Angry voters choose government gridlock, investigations and shutdown.

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