ohhhhhhhhhhhhh

rick

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

rick

RIGHT up your alley tetris weightlifting

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh

rick

yeah

what she (the author) said!

More on Palin

Palin's addition to the ticket takes Republican faux-feminism to a whole new level. As Adam Serwer pointed out on TAPPED, this is in fact a condescending move by the GOP. It plays to the assumption that disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters did not care about her politics -- only her gender. In picking Palin, Republicans are lending credence to the sexist assumption that women voters are too stupid to investigate or care about the issues, and merely want to vote for someone who looks like them. As Serwer noted, it's akin to choosing Alan Keyes in an attempt to compete with Obama for votes from black Americans.

Why is this a pander? Because Palin is not a woman who has a record of representing women's interests. She is beloved by extremely right-wing conservatives for her anti-choice record (fittingly, she's a member of the faux-feminist anti-choice group Feminists for Life). Palin supports federal anti-gay marriage legislation. She believes schools should teach creationism. Alaska is currently considering spending more on abstinence-only sex education. And when it comes to a slew of other issues of importance to women, such as equal pay, she's not on the record.

Read the rest here. I'll be discussing the article (and debating this woman) on CNN tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. eastern...............

they're laughing

but it really ain't funny

sand

(via bifurcated rivets)

play

choice

no, not really. no choice at all.

once that baby is born, YOU'RE SHITE OUT OF OPTIONS AND LUCK. YOU'LL GET NO EFFING HELP FROM 'FEMINISTS' FOR LIFE

Sarah Palin and Feminists for Life
By Ruth Rosen, AlterNet.

Many people are unfamiliar with Feminists for Life and wonder what the choice of Sarah Palin, who is against abortion rights, signals to the electorate.

Well, let me tell you something about Feminists for Life. In 2003, I decided to investigate this group and its energetic leader, Serrin Foster. What did it mean, I wondered, to be a feminist and actively fight against the right to choose when or whether to have a child?

So I went to a church in sprawling, suburban, wealthy Danville, California to hear Serrin Foster, president of Feminists for Life, speak on "The Feminist Case Against Abortion" to a huge crowd of mainly high-school students.

Founded in 1972, one year before the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the historic Roe vs. Wade decision that made abortion legal in the United States, Feminists for Life now focuses exclusively on practical alternatives to abortion for college-age women........

...........

Feminism is all about having choices, Foster told me, after her talk. I couldn't agree more. Young women, she says, should have the right to bear a child and have access to high-quality, affordable child care. Again, I heartily agreed.

But Foster is cleverly disingenuous. When I asked what she does to promote child care, her answers were vague and evasive. When I read the organization's brochures aimed at campus physicians and psychologists, I found nothing about campaigning for child care. The real goal is to convince professionals to persuade young women to "choose" to bear a baby.

Despite its protestations, Feminists for Life is not really about choice. You can see this on its Web site, where the slogan "refuse to choose" appeared repeatedly. Nor does the organization challenge the real difficulties working mothers face. Instead, it cleverly appropriates the words "feminist" and "choice" to convince young women that abortion is always an unacceptable choice.............

question

why is it 'they' (by 'they' i mean some right wingers) insist the democrats and barack obama in particular had/have something to do with how people (protesters, etc) were treated at the dnc?

like barack obama has ANYTHING to do with the denver police and law enforcement agencies.

i have heard this wingnuts claim everything in the book. it's just ridiculous

Protesters denied access to attorneys, forced to march in leg shackles, ACLU charges
John Byrne
The ACLU issued a stinging rebuke to the Denver Police Department Wednesday, alleging that the department may have violated laws and constitutional rights of protesters arrested outside the Democratic National Convention.

In the letter, obtained by RAW STORY, the ACLU revealed that the police refused those arrested access to attorneys. Police did not let detainees use phones unless they posted their own bonds, and even failed to provide shoes, in one case marching a protester into court in bare feet and leg shackles, according the ACLU.

What's more, police are said to have tricked protesters into pleading guilty, by giving them the impression they had to plead guilty in order to post bond. This meant that no one was allowed to make a phone call unless they plead guilty, thus making it impossible for arrestees to even call a lawyer until admitting guilt.

Most ominously, the ACLU letter claims that protesters were told they would be "facing 'years' in jail for a conviction of a single particular charge."..........

no no no no noooooooooooooo

no

there are NO gay republicans!!! no how no way never nada niet non NO GAY REPUBLICANS (just like there are no gay iranians i might add)

GOP axes delegate guide over gay listings
by PageOneQ

The Virginia delegation cancelled an order of a publication it planned to hand out to visitors at the upcoming Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, because it included a six-page section for gays and lesbians, KSTP reported.

150 copies of the "Secrets of the City" guide, printed by The Rake, were ordered by the campaign for Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling to hand out to delegates as gifts on arrival at the convention, which starts on September 1.

"I am so terribly sorry to do this," Bolling's political director Melissa Busse wrote to The Rake, "especially when the both of you have been so 'out of your way' helpful, generous and easy to work with. But, we need to cancel the order for 150 of the 'Secrets of the City' guidebooks...having a section dedicated solely to GLBT (sic) will be a BIG problem for many of our folks. We simply can't hand them out."......

mccain: running on empty

or at least NOT running with van halen EITHER (you think he would have learned his lesson with the jackson browne shite)

McCain used Van Halen song without permission at VP event
Van Halen band members were less than thrilled that Sen. John McCain's campaign chose their song "Right Now" to precede his entrance for a Friday speech in Ohio unveiling his newly chosen running mate,
TMZ.com reported.

In fact, management for the band said that McCain didn't ask for permission to use the song.

"Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given," a spokesman for the band said.

According to TMZ, "the band wants to make one thing clear -- they're not running with McCain."..................

effing ABSURD

these people are such .....i have NO words.................warmongers? death purveyors? evil-ists? hatemongers?

are we just going to blow up EVERYONE who doesn't agree with us (and israel)?

(i do NOT like anything about the government of iran. i do NOT support iran. i think they are evil as well. i just DO NOT WANT TO KILL THEM.)
Ads pushing Iran strike show Denver under missile attack from Boulder
John Byrne
A nonprofit lobbying organization aimed at strengthening Israel's image in the media quietly ran ads during the Democratic National Convention in which Boulder, Colorado launches missile attacks on Denver, in an attempt to bolster support for Israeli action against Iran.

Today, The Israel Project released a survey showing that 63 percent of Americans support an Israeli "surgical" strike on Iran's purported nuclear facilities, with 55 percent supporting America's participation in such a strike. The poll, however, did not note the organization's effort to lobby those being polled.

The Boulder attack ad shows a map of Denver being hit by flaming missiles, then an image of Israel being hit by the same weapons. It then displays an image of Iran, followed by ominous missile launches, a photograph of a man with a black hood over his face, Iran's president, and a silhouetted traveler with a suitcase.......

constitution?

we don't need no stinkin' constitution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rawstory.com/news/2008/FISA_court_rejects_ACLU_request_for_0829.html">FISA court rejects ACLU request for transparency

A court created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act denied an ACLU motion Thursday that would have increased public scrutiny of how the Bush administration's new spying law is reviewed, according to a statement released Friday.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the motion 10 hours after President Bush signed the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) into law July 10, requesting that any further proceedings that might question the law's constitutionality be revealed to the public, according to an ACLU press release.

The organization also asked to participate in the hearings and submit briefs to court, which was denied as well.

"It's disappointing that the intelligence court intends to adjudicate these important legal issues in complete secrecy," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. "The new surveillance law affects all of us because it allows the executive branch virtually unfettered access to the international telephone and email communications of U.S. citizens and residents."....

i don't think 18 months is enough

for this sub-human. you KNOW somethin' ain't right here. if those kids are allowed to see their father WITHOUT some type of supervisor being present something is very wrong indeed (with 'the system'). i'd #1, give him more time and #2, NOT ALLOW HIM TO SEE HIS CHILDREN UNTIL THEY WERE 18 (and at that time ONLY if THEY wanted to see him)

you know animal abuse is only the first step. who knows what this man will do next

Ind. Dad Gets 18 Months For Killing Family Cat

Father Wanted Children To 'Learn To Kill,' Police Say

MUNCIE, Ind. -- An Indiana man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after admitting he forced his 7-year-old daughter to stab the family cat to death. During his sentencing Friday, Daniel Collins said he was "extremely sorry" for his actions. The judge in the case told him it wasn't "civilized conduct." In exchange for a guilty plea on animal cruelty and two counts of neglect, prosecutors dropped three other felony charges against the 39-year-old. Collins' daughter and his 11-year-old son said Collins ordered them to stab the cat in March because he wanted them to "learn to kill." Police said the boy tried to hide the cat, but Collins found the animal and strangled it while his children watched.......

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

not saying a thing. just presenting the story. who knows, the trooper really COULD be unfit for duty (and if he was/is, why weren't the allegations brought up PRIOR to the divorce, huh?) OR it could be that sassy gov stuck her nose where it didn't belong. as i said, not saying a thing here

Palin Focus of Probe In Police Chief's Firing

Her Family Wanted a Trooper Dismissed, He Says

By James V. Grimaldi and Kimberly Kindy

Washington Post Staff Writers

Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is an ethics reformer under an ethics investigation that is plowing through private domestic matters.

Palin is under investigation to determine whether she pressured and then fired the state police chief in July because he refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law. At the time, the governor's younger sister was involved in a bitter divorce and child custody dispute with the man, a state trooper. A bipartisan committee of the state legislature voted unanimously to hire a retired prosecutor to investigate. His report is due in October.

The firing of state Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan has unearthed a stream of private details about the governor, her husband and her family. The state probe is also focusing on a half-dozen top state officials accused of trying to drive trooper Mike Wooten from the force.

Critics say the episode -- dubbed Troopergate in Alaska -- cuts against Palin's reputation as an ethics crusader who holds even her own party accountable.

"It undercuts one of the points they are making that she is an ethical reformer," said state Sen. Hollis French, a Democrat who is managing the $100,000 investigation.

The McCain campaign supported Palin, saying: "Governor Palin has been fully cooperative in this situation and has nothing to hide. She has been a leader and proven reformer, demanding accountability and transparency from Alaska's government which resulted in landmark ethics legislation."

The domestic dispute entered the public arena when the governor's sister filed for divorce from Wooten on April 11, 2005............

here's my take

and it is more than sincere. it comes straight from my heart

he is crafty, he is sly, he is wiley,he plays dirty, he is evil. BUT the great goddess tells me HE STILL AIN'T GONNA WIN

he did NOT choose her because

she is a good politician*
she is a well know commodity
she is well respected*
she was a logical choice
she is an opponent of abortion (listen chicks and dudes, let me tell you HE DOES NOT CARE ONE WINK ABOUT ABORTION. he doesn't. he ONLY talks about it because his party is "against it" so he says (sor ot) HE IS AGAINST IT. if you think he really gives a flying yoo hoo, you are more naive than i.


he chose her because
SHE HAS A VAGINA (and he thinks a good number of hillary supporters will vote for him BECAUSE OF HER). really, that's it. i need not name any other reasons, but i will. just a couple more

she was a former sportscaster
she was a former beauty contestant BUT now she's a 'feminist'
she has five kids
her husband is some kind of pro snowmobiler

he can rot in hades as far as i'm concerned. i don't like him. i don't respect him. i don't believe him.

this made me smile

the winged heart tattoo by annypurls from jujube and lolo (via whip up)

monowheels!

(via dark roasted blend)

wtf?

is this america or north korea?

DNC Protests: CodePink protester is slammed to the ground by police in Denver

video of the month

from astrobiology magazine the astrobiology rap (via boing boing). you just GOTTA get down wit dis (it made me smile i tell ya)

i'm not the only one

who thought it odd the three stooges (no offense to the ACTUAL three stooges) were NOT charged with attempted assassination

so just because someone is on drugs they're not capable of murder? c'mon now what up wit dat eid? (original posting)

Denver: In Curious Case, "Authorities" Inexplicably Downplay Obama Assassination Threat by Armed and Ready Meth Heads.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

Though one of them is on tape saying he told federal officials his friend planned on assassinating Sen. Barack Obama with a high-powered rifle during the presidential nominee's acceptance speech in Denver this evening, the three men arrested Sunday will not be charged with threatening an assassination.

The plot began to unfurl Sunday morning after a routine traffic stop of Tharin Gartrell, who was found to have weapons, drugs, and other illegal materials in the rented vehicle he was driving. Gartrell then led authorities to hotel rooms where two others implicated in the plot, Shawn Robert Adolf and Nathan Johnson, were also arrested.

After what they call an "intensive" investigation lasting only a couple of days, the FBI and Secret Service say there is no real threat to Obama, and that no related charges will be brought in the case. U.S. Attorney Troy Eid seemed to say that because the men were on drugs, they shouldn't be taken as a serious threat:

"From a legal standpoint, the law recognizes a difference between a true threat and the racist rantings of drug abusers."

So just because these people were drug users means they couldn't possibly have carried out a killing? Seems to me, meth users kill a lot of people. Eid admitted that judgment is impaired in meth users.

"A bunch of meth heads get together, we don't know why they do what they do," Eid said. "People do lots of stupid things on meth."............

mateo his own dang self (being the giant wiseass he can't help being)

in the sassy skull and cool check sweatband

(pattern is here)

cool or NOT cool?

abstinence does NOT work. you know it, i know it and THEY know it. even though THEY will NEVER admit it.

THEY are doing more harm than good by NOT wanting to provide COMPREHENSIVE SEX EDUCATION

if you want to abstain that is fine by me. MOST people (i.e. teenagers) are NOT going to abstain. don't be an idiot and pretend they are

The Christian Right's Slick Campaign to Make Abstinence Seem Trendy

Magazines. Fashion. Dating. Comedy. These are all large parts of contemporary teen culture. Who would have thought they could also become the latest weapons in conservatives' war against sexual autonomy?

But after a decade of the Bush administration pouring millions of taxpayer dollars into abstinence education programs, only to see them fail, that's exactly what's happening.

Study after study has shown that those schooled in abstinence rhetoric are just as sexually active as those who aren't, leaving the right wing with virtually no credibility on the subject. Now, conservatives have to be a little savvier if they want to lie about condoms' effectiveness against sexually transmitted infections, make bogus claims about a link between abortion and breast cancer, or manipulate teens into thinking that premarital sex is damaging to one's self-worth. That's why conservative ideologues have taken abstinence-only discourse outside of the classroom and are trying to woo students through a different strategy: by making abstinence the teen trend of the year.

To boost the no-sex-'til-marriage cool factor, conservatives are co-opting everything from teen magazines to fashion to comedy routines. But behind the trendy talk are the same shame-inducing tactics and medical misinformation that could potentially put teens' self-esteem, health and lives in danger.............

.................The magazine's Q&A advice column features Dr. Mary Paquette, who says birth control causes not only weight gain, acne and depression, but abortion...............

it speaks for itself

all i have to add is; how many more instances of evil (much less illegalities) are we going to allow? are we not human any more? have we lost our souls? they'll weasel out of this the way they weasel out of everything else they've (allegedly) done wrong (rape, murder and the like)

Halliburton sued for human trafficking
John Byrne

Twelve men recruited in Nepal died after forced transfer to Iraq, lawfirm says

Thirteen Nepali men were recruited and held against their will for thirteen months in a human trafficking scheme engineered and perpetrated by Halliburton and its Jordanian contractor, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in California federal court.

The Nepali men, each between the ages of 18 and 27, were allegedly hired as kitchen staff by the then-Halliburton subsidiary KBR and its Jordanian subcontractor, Daoud & Partners. Once they arrived in Jordan, however, their passports were seized and they were dispatched to Iraq.

"Tragically, as the men were being transported to Iraq, a car containing twelve of the men was stopped by members of the Ansar al-Sunna Army, an insurgent group," the Washington lawfirm Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll writes. "The 12 men in the car were taken hostage and executed by the insurgents. The executions were filmed and posted on the Internet. The Inspector General for the United States Department of Defense investigated and confirmed the facts related to the fate of the 12 men, which led to increased enforcement of anti-trafficking measures by the United States.......................

hmmmmmmmmmmmm

we wouldn't want to see our soldiers
1) without their 'gear' on
2) in a prone position
3) being human
4) being someone we can relate to (just in case they get blown away in an unjust, illegal and immoral war)

US soldier featured in the Soldier Billboard Project. Photographer: Suzanne Opton

US election: Billboards of US soldiers cancelled in host city of Republican convention

The photographs show the faces and close-cropped heads of nine youthful soldiers lying peaceful and prone

Daniel Nasaw in Washington

A series of portraits of American soldiers set to adorn roadside billboards in Minneapolis, site of next week's Republican convention, was abruptly cancelled by the billboards' owners, which feared they would be deemed disrespectful to the US military.

Although the artworks neither display images of violence nor are gruesome, the media company that owns the billboards said it feared pedestrians and motorists would mistake them for images of war dead.

The photographs show the faces and close-cropped heads of nine youthful soldiers lying peaceful and prone, flat against a surface.

"They don't look dead," said Suzanne Opton, the photographer of the series, entitled Soldiers' Faces.

"It's like you see someone opposite of you with their head on the pillow. We see our lovers and our children in that pose. They look like the heads of fallen statues, and they afford the viewer an intimate look at the face of the young person whose life is at risk, and that was the point.

"When you see soldiers on the news you have no idea who they are. They're representing the United States and they have all that gear on. I wanted to get past all that".

The shots of troops in between deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan by a New York City artist were to run in five US cities..............

coincidence?

you tell me

McCain ad questioned as word 'HANG' appears over image of Barack Obama
John Byrne
A McCain ad aired on Fox News channel with the words "HANG" in the background along with a photograph of Barack Obama has sparked outrage after being noticed by a reporter at a local Fox television affiliate.

The words "HIGHER TAXES" are transposed on an image of Obama standing in front of a crowd. The background is blurred at the edges so that the words from Obama's signature theme -- change -- has been cut down to the word "HANG." The shot appears for about a second.........

mateo's new sweatband

pattern over at the reformed pirate

found via

make magazine


a list of problems solved by macgyver

here's JUST one

Thief of Budapest (1x04)

MacGyver uses a board and a bunch of light bulbs to simulate the sound of a tire being blown.

He uses salt combined with sugar and a small amount of chemical enhanced weed killer to create dynamite with a battery acid trigger.

He also creates a magnifying glass from a hairpin and wine to read names of spies off a watch.

He creates a traffic jam by jamming the timing mechanism for the traffic lights using cut strips of a plastic credit card.

He makes all police radios within a one mile (1.6 km) radius malfunction by duct taping an ordinary transistor radio to a pick-pocketed police radio and sends it up in the sky using around twenty balloons.

i always liked this song

and i always did like john hartford

thursday with gentle on my mind

more evidence of fair

and more evidence of balanced. we'll have to wait to see how much of the rnc (and what parts) faux 'news' airs

fair and balanced my big fat ass

Fox News aired two minutes of Democratic keynote address, discussed Ayers instead

In its August 26 coverage of the second night of the Democratic National Convention, Fox News aired just over two minutes of former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner's nearly 20-minute keynote address to the convention. Rather than air Warner's entire speech, Fox News cut to commercial, then Fox News host Alan Colmes stated, "In other election news, an independent group supporting John McCain released an ad last week attacking [Sen.] Barack Obama's ties to former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers," and aired an ad from the Obama campaign responding to the independent ad. Colmes and co-host Sean Hannity then interviewed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is supporting Sen. John McCain.

In contrast, both MSNBC and CNN aired the entirety of Warner's address.........

glad i'm not

an abc news producer in denver

what's up with the police? they literally PUSH the man (abc news producer asa eslocker) into the street (from a PUBLIC SIDEWALK) and then yell at him for being in the street

if the police are pissed about the convention being in denver, don't be mad at the reporters, BE MAD AT WHOEVER APPROVED DENVER AS THE SITE

ABC Reporter Arrested in Denver Taking Pictures of Senators, Big Donors

Asa Eslocker Was Investigating the Role of Lobbyists and Top Donors at the Convention

By BRIAN ROSS

DENVER -- Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel.

Police on the scene refused to tell ABC lawyers the charges against the producer, Asa Eslocker, who works with the ABC News investigative unit.

A cigar-smoking Denver police sergeant, accompanied by a team of five other officers, first put his hands on Eslocker's neck, then twisted the producer's arm behind him to put on handcuffs.

A police official later told lawyers for ABC News that Eslocker is being charged with trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order. He also said the arrest followed a signed complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel.

Eslocker was put in handcuffs and loaded in the back of a police van which headed for a nearby police station.

Video taken at the scene shows a man, wearing the uniform of a Boulder County sheriff, ordering Eslocker off the sidewalk in front of the hotel, to the side of the entrance.

The sheriff's officer is seen telling Eslocker the sidewalk is owned by the hotel. Later, he is seen pushing Eslocker off the sidewalk into oncoming traffic, forcing him to the other side of the street........

a shout out to michael wilson

former air force medic, iraq vet, republican and the person that nominated our next president, barack obama

Obama nominated by Iraqi war vet and Republican

Kevin Flynn
Democrats chose a lifelong Republican and Iraqi war veteran from Florida to place the name of Barack Obama into nomination for president this afternoon.

The move highlights the Democrats’ growing to the war and attempt to appeal to national security voters.

“I’ve seen war up close not as a political slogan or a think tank theory,” said Michael Wilson, an Air Force veteran.

“America needs a president who has the strength and wisdom and courage to talk with our enemies and consult with our allies,” Wilson said to thunderous cheers from an only half-filled Pepsi Center..........

oh no no no no no

yet ANOTHER book by a man telling a woman what to do and how to do it and how she can mold herself into the perfect little woman so that HE will want her.

f**k that is what i say (and more importantly, mean).

i'm not saying one shouldn't give in a relationship. of course you should but BOTH should. i know i'm not going to be someone else's personal maid nor am i going to allow anyone else to think for me or tell me what to do. one has to like themselves and respect themselves and be comfortable with themselves BEFORE they can have an even halfway successful relationship with another

oh and hey dude, women just LOVE being called broads! keep it up

Listen Up, Females. This Man Is Talking.

'Re-Education' Author Dante Moore Isn't of the Old School of Relationships

By Laura Yao

Washington Post Staff Writer

CHERRY HILL, N.J. -- In the basement of the Cherry Hill Mall, Dante Moore, a first-time author from Washington, sits at a table tucked between two security gates in the entrance of a tiny Borders Express. Piled neatly on the table: about 20 copies of his book, waiting to be bought and signed.

Few passersby stop -- mostly women, mostly African American -- and they laugh a little at first when they notice the book's cover. They are tentative, but they are interested. After all, the cover is eye-catching: a man towers over two black women sitting in desks (those awful ones from high school with the wooden writing surface attached to the spindly metal chair, remember?) with the book's title, "The Re-Education of the Female," scrawled on a chalkboard. The "students" are listening in rapt attention. This must be every man's dream..........

?

boy is this asswipe gonna be surprised when he meets god. she's gonna kick his ass from here to there!

so the bible actually says stay at home dads are WORSE than infidels? i must have missed that part
(via feministing)

wonderful!

wouldn't this be great if it was the norm for all? perhaps one day SOON it will be

Robo-skeleton lets paralysed walk

A robotic suit is helping people paralysed from the waist down do what was previously considered impossible - stand, walk and climb stairs.

ReWalk users wear a backpack device and braces on their legs and select the activity they want from a remote control wrist band.

Leaning forwards activates body sensors setting the robotic legs in motion.

Users walk with crutches, controlling the suit through changes in centre of gravity and upper body movements.

The device effectively mimics the exoskeletion of a crab.

Former Israeli paratrooper Radi Kaiof has been paralysed for the last 20 years following an injury during his service in the Israeli military.

He says the device has changed his life.........

my favorite bird, crows

seems they are a LOT like me. if you piss them off, they rememeber, they do NOT forgive and forget
check out the video at the link below. it's wicked cool (via boing boing)

Friend or Foe? Crows Never Forget a Face, It Seems

By MICHELLE NIJHUIS
Crows and their relatives — among them ravens, magpies and jays — are renowned for their intelligence and for their ability to flourish in human-dominated landscapes. That ability may have to do with cross-species social skills. In the Seattle area, where rapid suburban growth has attracted a thriving crow population, researchers have found that the birds can recognize individual human faces.
John M. Marzluff, a wildlife biologist at the University of Washington, has studied crows and ravens for more than 20 years and has long wondered if the birds could identify individual researchers. Previously trapped birds seemed more wary of particular scientists, and often were harder to catch. “I thought, ‘Well, it’s an annoyance, but it’s not really hampering our work,’ ” Dr. Marzluff said. “But then I thought we should test it directly.”.........

a little story about united airlines

and i would strongly encourage ALL that fly to NOT use them
(via americablog)

Bad airline stories are nothing like this
By Gerry Braun
UNION-TRIBUNE
As I watch the Olympics this week, my thoughts keep turning to Anita Cabral of Spring Valley, though she is not an Olympian, or even an athlete.

Cabral is a disgusted former customer of United Airlines, the official airline of the Beijing Games. I think of her whenever I see that United commercial with the orchestra of animated sea creatures playing Gershwin's “Rhapsody in Blue.”.........

..........

Cabral had meticulously planned this vacation, built around a family reunion in Hawaii and a chance for her grown children to see their father, Cabral's ex, who was in a hospice dying of cancer.

Eight people were making the trip: Cabral, her husband, her brother, her son, her daughter and her daughter's husband and two children.

One year out, they wrote a five-figure check to reserve a five-bedroom, five-bathroom beach house. They bought their tickets from United six months early. They booked a jungle excursion, a luau, a trip in a glass-bottom boat.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and they had a big investment in it, emotionally and financially. They even had it insured.

And all that planning unraveled in just a few hours.

The day before they were to depart, Anita's daughter, Deanna Kawasaki, received an e-mail from United telling her she could check in her party online. But the site would not let her.

When she called United to see what the trouble was, she was told the flight had been canceled.

But that made no sense. Her stepfather had just confirmed his seat, using a different reservation number, so the flight obviously wasn't canceled.

United threw out another explanation – a computer “lost” their reservations. That made no sense, either. If her reservations weren't in the computer, why did she get an e-mail telling her to check in?...........

wtf? is he (buchanan)

analyzing? a sporting event? and it sure looks to me like she (maddow) wiped up the floor with him (buchanan AGAIN) (and it looks like someone MAY have done one too many hits of acid back in the 60s - and i AIN'T talking about the her here)

via greatscat

don't you DARE

attack my boyfriend, jon stewart!

methinks thou doth protest way way way way way way too much faux 'news'.

are you a teeny tiny bit jealous the new york times didn't name one of yours (possibly) the most trusted man in america ??????????

Washington Post grants Fox News spokesman anonymity in Jon Stewart attack
John Byrne

Stunning attack defends network's 'balanced' label

After Jon Stewart blasted Fox News as "an appendage of the Republican Party" Monday in Denver, Rupert Murdoch's 24-hour cable news broadcast returned fire with flames.

"Wearing a gray T-shirt, khaki pants and a healthy stubble, the 'Daily Show' host told reporters at a University of Denver breakfast that Fox's 'fair and balanced' slogan is an insult 'to people with brains' and that only 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace "saves that network from slapping on a bumper sticker. . . . Barack Obama could cure cancer and they'd figure out a way to frame it as an economic disaster," writes the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz in Tuesday papers.

"Jon's clearly out of touch," a Fox spokesman told Kurtz Tuesday in reply, "citing a Pew Research Center study showing the network has the most balanced audience in cable news, 39 percent Republicans and 33 percent Democrats."

Kurtz let the spokesman speak anonymously, and did not offer a reason for doing so, writing only that the spokesman "was authorized to give the network's response to Stewart's comments but declined to be named."
.................

again, i sit here and wonder

what WOULD constitute a 'credible' threat. sure it sounds like these dudes were doing their very best three stooges impression. sure they had to be less than mensa members for driving a truck FULL of weapons and wigs and bullet proof vests AND DRUGS (in someone else's name) like you're in the chase scene from the french connection. sure at least ONE of the stooges (and i mean NO offense to the three stooges here. i have a framed pictures of the stooges on my desk at work) said they wanted to kill one of the presidential candidates. but i must wonder if the stooges had the OTHER candidate on their wipe out list would they then be charged with something other than drug possession? what do YOU think?

No assasination charges for 'meth heads' who discussed killing Obama

Nick Juliano
DENVER -- Three men who were in Denver with sniper rifles, camouflage clothing, bullet-proof vest and rental trucks who had talked about killing Barack Obama posed "no credible threat" to the Democratic presidential candidate's life, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

US Attorney Troy Eid, who charged the three men this week on lesser weapons and drug charges, described the suspects simply as "meth-heads" whose drug-addled fantasies of killing Obama were merely "aspirational," and he said their actions did not show that they were serious enough about killing the Illinois senator to charge them with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate.

Eid, speaking to reporters during an afternoon press conference at his office here, said numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, FBI and ATF, were continued to do everything they could to keep Obama safe...........

at first the military said ABSOLUTELY NO

zip ZERO civilians were killed. now they say 2 women and 3 children were killed.

it sounds like the REAL story is:

UN Finds Evidence 90 Civilians Dead in US-Led Strikes

5 is too many. 90 is obscene

by: Agence France-Presse
Kabul - A United Nations team has found "convincing evidence" that 90 civilians, including 60 children, were killed in US-led air strikes last week, the body's representative in Afghanistan said Tuesday.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) human rights team was sent to the western province of Herat after local claims that scores of civilians were killed in Friday's strikes.

"Investigations by UNAMA found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men," special representative Kai Eide said.........

lest we forget

we're not only destroying OUR country we've ALREADY destroyed THEIRS

Iraqis desperate for water.»

Although the United States has spent $2.4 billion on Iraq’s water and sanitation sector since 2003, the United Nations “estimates that less than half of Iraqis get drinking water piped into their homes in rural areas. In the capital, people set their alarm clocks to wake them in the middle of the night so they can fill storage tanks when water pressure is under less strain.” Additionally, a billion liters of raw sewage is dumped into Baghdad’s waterways each day. The World Bank estimates that at least $14 billion is needed to refurbish Iraq’s water system.........

why would someone have issues with a no nukes

(it's really a no MORE nukes) ad? i don't know. do you?

"No Nukes" Ad From U.S. Scientists' Group Too "Scary" for Northwest Airlines

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Meg White

It sounds like an early Halloween prank. After customer complaints of "scary" ads at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Republican Party Convention goers will be treated to the usual idyllic lake scenes from the local tourism board, Explore Minnesota, and similarly non-offensive advertising.

So what is so frightening? Thinking about nuclear weapons.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) placed ads that question nuclear proliferation in both airports of the two cities hosting the major party conventions this fall. The two ads were virtually the same, though changed to specifically apply to one city or another. They read:

"When only one nuclear bomb could destroy a city like [Minneapolis/Denver]... We don't need 6,000. [Senator McCain/Senator Obama]: It's time to get serious about reducing the nuclear threat."

Each ad features a target focused on an aerial picture of the city in which it appears...........

i guess the theme is turning into mother nature

this would be funny EXCEPT our earth is dying. this dude is a giant asswipe.

Shock Jock Encourages Listeners to Waste Energy to Wipe Out DNC's Green Efforts

Posted by Matt, Think Progress

In April, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) promised that the Democratic National Convention this week will be the “greenest, most sustainable” convention in history. The Democrats greening efforts include the use of biodegradable balloons and signage, an army of volunteers for recycling, and a calculation of the convention’s carbon footprint.

Responding to the Democrats’ efforts, conservative global warming denier Glenn Beck is mockingly calling on his listeners to participate in a “carbon ONset program” aimed at counteracting progressive efforts to offset the environmental impact of the convention. On his website, Beck is encouraging Americans to “use more energy for mother nature“:

What can you to help? Take part in our carbon ONset program. We are asking you to make just a few small sacrifices to completely wipe out any potential energy savings the Democrats claim credit for. (By ‘energy savings’, we mean buying their way out of the energy they’ll use by flying in tens of thousands of people to a city so they can announce Barack Obama as their candidate. Seems like most people already knew that, but I digress).

Sign up for our carbon ONset program. Use more energy for mother nature. Do it for the earth (or more accurately, the people living on it.)...........

they don't care

if the land gets destroyed, american's property gets destroyed OR if life itself gets destroyed. all they care about is KEEPING PEOPLE WITH BROWN SKIN OUT

Border fence design blasted as causing flooding
Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. - Flooding caused by a border security fence in southwestern Arizona shows the structure is being built too quickly and without regard for the environment, critics say.

Debris and water backed up at the fence during a storm July 12, leading to flooding at the port of entry at Lukeville and Sonoyta, Mexico, and at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

"One of the reasons for it was the debris that accumulated on the fence itself," said Lee Baiza, superintendent of the monument, a lush desert tract overseen by the National Park Service.

Environmental groups have criticized how the Army Corps of Engineers and federal contractors have designed and built a range of fencing and vehicle barriers along the Arizona-Mexico border.

In particular, they've denounced Homeland Defense Secretary Michael Chertoff's waiver of environmental laws to hasten construction of the 670 miles of fences and other barriers planned by year's end along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border........

hey king george

remember what happened in star trek iv, the voyage home. be careful. if you get rid of the whales, the earth will be destroyed (and sure, i do believe that could happen. things are DANGEROUSLY balanced these days)

hey king george there are only about 300 right whales left. 300!!! do you know how small a number that is? do you know how dangerously close they are to nonexistence? wtf are you thinking?

Whale-Protection Cuts Sought

NOAA Scales Back Proposed 30-Mile Speed Limit Zones

By David A. Fahrenthold

Washington Post Staff Writer

The Bush administration yesterday proposed scaling back protected zones for endangered whales in the Atlantic Ocean, yielding to cargo companies' concerns about new speed limits for ships in these areas.

The proposal, unveiled yesterday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, could end more than a year of wrangling between federal fisheries scientists and the White House over new measures to protect the North Atlantic right whale. About 300 of the whales remain, and researchers say their tiny population has been reduced further by fatal collisions with large ships.

In July 2006, NOAA announced plans to create 30-nautical-mile buffer zones off of several East Coast ports, in which ships would be required to slow to 10 nautical miles per hour during certain times of the year.

But cargo companies said that this would cause their ships to lose time and burn more fuel, and the proposal was held up for months by the administration.......

check this out from awesome good magazine

wanderlust, history's greatest journeys

(via dark roasted blend )

from lp cover lover

the REAL rage against the machine

(via bifurcated rivets)

our own griff

gave THEM a chance, but they didn't want to take it. they just want to riot (and what she REALLY meant to say was they just want to tear people limb from limb. out for blood and guts and NOTHING else will satisfy them).
please note griff (don't you just LOVE that name? griff jenkins, SUPERHERO) when griff initially starts to speak, he calls the crowd "it"

i must say that griff dude is one HELL of a steamin' pile.

Fox reporter humiliated at Denver march

by bob zimway

Griff Jenkins, a Fox Television correspondent, was waiting with a microphone for a crowd of demonstrators on a Denver street today, hoping to catch signs of a breakup of the herd of cats known as the American Left.

The crowd came ten, twelve abreast up the street. One group held up a banner saying No War On Iran. Chanting was happening. Griff was casting the scene as a discontented, perhaps unstable mob out to oppose some things, maybe defend Hillary ( Fox's new g/f), or to assault whatever nefarious scheme the Party has in store. Whatever it was, Griff was Going In.

I've only seen the clip once, so I'm sure I didn't get it totally right, but I know funny. And it is hilarious.

take it downtown.........

don't be fooled into thinking

this only happens in india. in rural villages, in foreign countries. it happens there BUT it also happens here (there and everywhere)

NO school girl (or boy but it happens infinitely more to girls) should be afraid to walk to school EVER ANYWHERE

In India, New Opportunities for Women Draw Anger and Abuse From Men

By Emily Wax

Washington Post Foreign Service

NEW DELHI

Every morning, Gitanjali Chaudhry, 17, walks to her high school through a labyrinth of temples and vegetable markets. Along with her books, she carries an Indian version of Mace -- a bag of chili powder and a pouch of safety pins -- to fend off the often boorish men who loiter in the narrow passageways.

"We learned that women have to be brave," said Chaudhry, a loquacious, ponytailed girl who wants to be a lawyer. She has started attending increasingly popular neighborhood classes on self-defense for women.

Chaudhry is one of the brightest students in her working-class district. But since several local men started following her to class, she sometimes stays home now. She has friends who have been raped or are constant victims of "Eve teasing," when men on the street spew lewd comments or aggressively paw women's bodies.

"We thought opportunities were getting better for young Indian women. But the harassment only seems to be getting worse," Chaudhry said, as friends gathered at a recent "self-respect and self-esteem session" held by the nonprofit Smile Foundation.........

gutters

NOT like any i've seen mind you

from abduzeedo
via dark roasted blend

ok, ok, ok

check out the ads (perma puppy is my personal favorite)


next gencode: your destiny is no longer in question

(via bifurcated rivets)

there are only so many things

i can pay attention to and/or remember. i had NO idea about this ron fournier bullshite. it is a crock o' steamin' shite all right. if you don't see the improprieties well then, you have darker blinders on than i did. fair and balanced reporting? we'll see we'll see.

oh and one more thing: PRAISE THE LORD

The AP has a Ron Fournier problem

by Eric Boehlert

You never know what nuggets congressional investigators will uncover when they set off on official inquiries.

Last week, we learned that while investigators for the House Oversight Committee were looking into the 2004 death of Cpl. Pat Tillman, the former NFL player whose story was promoted by the White House before it was revealed that he had been killed by friendly fire, they discovered that top political aide Karl Rove had exchanged emails with the Associated Press' Ron Fournier on the day the news of Tillman's death broke.

In one email, Rove asked, "How does our country continue to produce men and women like this?" Fournier responded: "The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight."

That sign-off, which seemed to indicate an allegiance between the two men, raised hackles all over the Internet. That kind of correspondence ("Keep up the fight") between a reporter and a partisan White House aide during a campaign year lands way outside the boundaries of acceptable newsroom practices.

But Fournier, now the wire service's D.C. bureau chief, shrugged off the embarrassing revelation, conceding only: "I regret the breezy nature of the correspondence.".........

Why does AP have McFournier even covering the presidential race?

John Aravosis (DC) · 8

I know that the Associated Press considers it a point of honor to promote someone whenever they do something incredibly biased and their impartiality is seriously compromised, but after their top presidential reporter, Ron Fournier, interviewed for a job with the McCain presidential campaign, it's simply abominable that AP would keep him on the presidential beat. Does anyone doubt that a McCain presidency will try to hire Fournier for press secretary? Please, it's a given. Fournier will always have his next job in the back of his mind...............