Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Ogre-oid: Six Months Too Late - Times Retracts "Climategate" "Story"
The Times of London (owned by Rupert Murdoch) has decided maybe there wasn't so much to those "climategate" letters as they pretended there was. Actually, they say now, there really was nothing to them, just like every sane person that looked at them thought. [more here, here, and here]
I would like to quote the Newsweek article about why this retraction will make no difference because it's an excellent summation of what's known about this: "One of the strongest, most-repeated findings in the psychology of belief is that once people have been told X, especially if X is shocking, if they are later told, 'No, we were wrong about X,' most people still believe X." This effect is even more pronounced amongst conservatives.
I would like to quote the Newsweek article about why this retraction will make no difference because it's an excellent summation of what's known about this: "One of the strongest, most-repeated findings in the psychology of belief is that once people have been told X, especially if X is shocking, if they are later told, 'No, we were wrong about X,' most people still believe X." This effect is even more pronounced amongst conservatives.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Ogre-oid: UK Values Coal Co. Sponsorship Over Wendell Berry
Despite being in opposition to its own naming rules and its supposed mission as a land-grant University as well as over the protests of faculty and alumni, the University of Kentucky has decided to name the new dorm for it's basketball team the "Wildcat Coal Lodge" in honor of Big Coal's sponsorship. Perhaps Kentucky's best known writer and also a UK alumnus and former teacher there, Wendell Berry has decided to remove all his donated papers from U.K. and transfer them to the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort. "I don't think the University of Kentucky can be so ostentatiously friendly to the coal industry ... and still be a friend to me and the interests for which I have stood for the last 45 years. ... If they love the coal industry that much, I have to cancel my friendship." [more]
I have a feeling the President of UK would publicly suck the cock of Tony Hayward if he would donate a few million to the University's basketball program.
I have a feeling the President of UK would publicly suck the cock of Tony Hayward if he would donate a few million to the University's basketball program.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Modus Operandi Podcast episode 23
Dave is out of town so I flew solo. I realized today (a day late) that I didn't include any sports and I actually had some World Cup stuff to talk about. Perhaps next week.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Ogre-oid: Elton John Plays Limbaugh Wedding
Proving he's nothing if not a worthless celebrity suck-up of the lowest order, super gay entertainer Elton John actually performed at the wedding of one of the most homophobic and bigoted assholes on earth, Rush Limbaugh thereby proving his soul is worth somewhere around $1,000,000.
According to questionable sources Limbaugh himself is a closeted fag which would be fine if he wasn't such a vehement opponent of gay rights. Actually I'm lying. In my opinion the only positive thing anyone could ever say about Rush Limbaugh is that he is dead.
Hey, Elton, since you obviously haven't been paying attention, here are a few quotes from your benefactor:
According to questionable sources Limbaugh himself is a closeted fag which would be fine if he wasn't such a vehement opponent of gay rights. Actually I'm lying. In my opinion the only positive thing anyone could ever say about Rush Limbaugh is that he is dead.
Hey, Elton, since you obviously haven't been paying attention, here are a few quotes from your benefactor:
- Aired a song about Senator Barney Frank called “Banking Queen“.
- Democrats will “bend over, grab the ankles, and say, ‘Have your way with me’” to African American and gay voters.
- On the Mark Foley scandal: “In their hearts and minds and their crotches, they don’t have any problem with what Foley did. They’ve defended it over the — over the years.“
- Openly gay students are “trumpeting” their sexuality, “inviting dissent”.
- “When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation”
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Anti-Ogre-oid: Touchdown Jesus Burns to a Metal Frame
If there was a god I think this is the kind of statement he would make about the evangelical haters that built this shoddy, dangerous piece of crap. Of course the haters take it to mean their god is angry about Obama being elected President. No, you worthless fundies, the universe HATES YOU because you hate the universe.
Modus Operandi Podcast episode 22
For the second two halves of three Dave and Alan are joined by The Reverend The Edward!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Continuing Ogre-oid: Militarization of U.S. Police Forces
Can't get enough of cops in flack jackets driving tanks through people's front doors? How about cops in black uniforms with combat boots brandishing automatic weapons blocking the streets to keep the blacks from cruising in their cars? Or our National Guard Blackhawk helicopters being used to look for pot plants rather than rescuing dying people off their roofs in New Orleans? Well then military drones endlessly patrolling our skies are for you!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Continuing Ogre-oid: Obama Most Aggressive President Against Whistleblowers Ever
I don't know about you but I'm still hoping for change. Obama, our first black Republican President, continues the anti-democratic, anti-American, anti-freedom policies of the unelected George W. Bush with the kind of gusto usually seen only in the evil dictators our government has installed in so many countries. Secrecy, back room deals with the ultra-megas at the expense of the rest of us (the majority of humans), continued use of secret prisons and "extraordinary rendition" (properly called kidnapping), refusing to press for prosecution of the enormous federal and international crime of torture, and now he has surely surpassed GWB/Cheney by becoming, in his first term, the most harshly punitive President in history against those who leak information to the press. Who are we?
Inflation Manipulation? Screwing the Numbers
The first time in my lifetime of observing politics and government that manipulation of economic figures to reflect ideology rather than reality was, of course, during the faith based administration of GWB. Unemployment too high? Stop counting people that have been unemployed for 6 months and count people that have gone from $50k/year to $15k as being fully employed. This didn't matter to that administration because the people affected weren't wealthy, and that's all that counted. Well, nothing's changed. Inflation rates are supposedly very low but this article demonstrates how the numbers are being jacked by our new Republican administration.
According to the CPI, we've experienced low and stable inflation over the last few decades. But, one only needs to look up the prices of cars, jeans, college tuition, health care, rent, and many other day to day items to realize that the average American's expenditures have grown at a much higher rate than the reported inflation number (see shadowstats.com for an eye-opening education on "changes" (perhaps, manipulation) of this calculation). At the same time, the average American's pre-tax income has remained stagnant for the last decade. Rising prices versus stagnant incomes is, by our definition, inflation because the purchasing power of the average American has decreased over the last decade. While our definition may be relative, the result has the same deleterious impact on those it affects as does the tunnel vision definition of inflation.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Why the Tea Party May be Good for Dems
NEVADA - Yesterday Tea Party wingnut, militia supporter, and possible Scientologist Sharron Angle beat out her opponent, the less nutty (see her "barter for healthcare with chickens" remarks) Sue Lowden in the GOP Senate primary. Many people thought that the election this fall would be a very difficult one for Harry Reid but they also thought he would be running against the former GOP State chairperson Lowden rather than the flat out kooky Angle. The consensus is that Lowden was beaten by the level of ridicule she received for implying we should bring chickens to our doctor or offer to paint his house in exchange for health care, and Lowden was afraid to ridicule Angle's insanity because it's pretty much orthodox wingnuttiness.
For a certain group of Americans (let's call them Fox-ites) the Tea Party seems like a reasonable expression of anger against government that they're so angry at. They have convinced themselves they're angry about "big government" though they voted twice for the man that expanded government more than any in history. They've convinced themselves they're angry about "socialism" though not a single one of them could define it if their life depended on it. Basically they've convinced themselves that the Fox "News" shows they watch (and the right wing radio they listen to) are based in reality and report actual facts about the world around them. What most of these people don't realize (or ignore) is how far from rational most of the Tea Party candidates are, and they're going to get an upclose and personal look come fall. Now demonstration of the lunacy of some of these nutjobs will only reinforce the faithbased beliefs of the Beck-oids and Dittoheads, but enough people will be appalled at these lunatics that I feel what could have been an intense thrashing of Democrats this fall may well turn out to be less than two licks with an open hand.
Let's just look at this Angle woman as an example. Despite Lowden's idiotic remarks about health care and chickens, she's a seasoned politician who could appeal to the more moderate conservative voters in Nevada. Angle, on the other hand, supports the way out militia group called The Oath Keepers:
With very little digging, Dems should be able to paint most Teabaggers their own true colors as delusional, fascist, hate-filled bigots... if they have the balls to do so. Rand Paul, for instance has already managed to all but don his KKK robes without any prodding from the left, and Sarah Palin's endorsement appears to cause "independent" voters (whatever the hell that means) to run away in droves leaving incumbents like Barbara Boxer looking safer than expected. We'll see come November but the recent election results (like the strong Dem win of Murtha's old seat) give me hope.
For a certain group of Americans (let's call them Fox-ites) the Tea Party seems like a reasonable expression of anger against government that they're so angry at. They have convinced themselves they're angry about "big government" though they voted twice for the man that expanded government more than any in history. They've convinced themselves they're angry about "socialism" though not a single one of them could define it if their life depended on it. Basically they've convinced themselves that the Fox "News" shows they watch (and the right wing radio they listen to) are based in reality and report actual facts about the world around them. What most of these people don't realize (or ignore) is how far from rational most of the Tea Party candidates are, and they're going to get an upclose and personal look come fall. Now demonstration of the lunacy of some of these nutjobs will only reinforce the faithbased beliefs of the Beck-oids and Dittoheads, but enough people will be appalled at these lunatics that I feel what could have been an intense thrashing of Democrats this fall may well turn out to be less than two licks with an open hand.
Let's just look at this Angle woman as an example. Despite Lowden's idiotic remarks about health care and chickens, she's a seasoned politician who could appeal to the more moderate conservative voters in Nevada. Angle, on the other hand, supports the way out militia group called The Oath Keepers:
Often seen at gun shows and similar settings, the Oath Keepers were singled out by the Southern Poverty Law Center in its 2009 report on the return of the militia movement since President Obama was elected as "a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival."
According to the SPLC, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, a former staffer for Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) warns his followers against "a coming dictatorship" that will happen if "our brothers in arms go along and comply with unconstitutional, unlawful orders." An extensive report on the group by Mother Jones in March suggests supporters of the movement believe they're living through the first steps of the shift away from constitutional freedom. Members of the group -- many of them in the armed forces -- share the "belief that the government is already turning on its citizens, they are recruiting military buddies, stashing weapons, running drills, and outlining a plan of action [to stop it]," the magazine reported.
...
The Reid camp is already signaling it plans to paint Angle as an extremist -- or even a paranoid -- by highlighting statements like her recent observation that Americans are "afraid they'll have to fight for their liberty in more Second Amendment kinds of ways."
Angle's endorsement of the Oath Keepers will only bolster that image. The group is preoccupied with nightmarish visions of U.S. citizens being marched into Nazi-style concentration camps. One part of the Oath Keepers' creed reads: "Such a vile order to forcibly intern Americans without charges or trial would be an act of war against the American people, and thus an act of treason, regardless of the pretext used. We will not commit treason, nor will we facilitate or support it.'NOT on Our Watch!'" TPM
With very little digging, Dems should be able to paint most Teabaggers their own true colors as delusional, fascist, hate-filled bigots... if they have the balls to do so. Rand Paul, for instance has already managed to all but don his KKK robes without any prodding from the left, and Sarah Palin's endorsement appears to cause "independent" voters (whatever the hell that means) to run away in droves leaving incumbents like Barbara Boxer looking safer than expected. We'll see come November but the recent election results (like the strong Dem win of Murtha's old seat) give me hope.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Ogre-oids, June 3, 2010
'tis the halfway point of the year, and the Ogre-oids are as plentiful as Americans on food stamps, or gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf. Here we go (again):
BP's public ad campaign praising its own response to the disaster it has caused. In typical America mass media fashion, BP is constructing a fantasy version of itself, taking out the entire back page of the NY Times to tell readers it is undertaking the biggest environmental response in history--an awfully euphemisitc term for a forlorn 43-day effort to mitigate the effects of the greatest environmental disaster in the country's history. Of course . . .
. . . "People don't care," the exact words of a BP store owner in Florida who reports that neither the Gulf disaster nor the presence of activists at BP outlets has had any impact on business. A business analyst said it is not surprising that the public still does business with BP outlets despite BP's reckless incompetence, saying that it is difficult for people to change consumer habits driven by price and convenience. Again, apathy, more than stupidity or media influence, drives American behavior. Who hasn't heard of the Gulf disaster and who can't figure out it's bad for the environment? Cheap prices and convenience always trump holding others accountable, unless of course, we're talking about . . .
. . . teachers. More than 4,400 teachers, mostly younger ones at the beginning of their careers with graduate school loans to pay off, will lose their jobs in the NYC area due to budget cuts. Teachers, who are not salespeople peddling commodities, are the only professional group singled out for accountablity for performance at a time when the financial industry and oil industry are destroying the economy and environment, which are, contrary to ultra-conservative mainstream America, intertwined . . .
. . . around the Gulf coast, the fishery industry is in danger of obsolence, as no one knows the scope or duration of effects of the Gulf oil disaster. According to today's NY Times, the fishery industry is worth $2.4 billion and 27,000 jobs annually to the Gulf economy. Meanwhile, down in the Carribean . . .
. . . Kingston police have been reported to be executing unarmed young men in their early to mid twenties because that demographic has been profiled as fighters in protection of alleged drug lord Christopher Coke, wanted on extradition charges by the U. S.--you know, the same country that lets big oil break the law and send hundreds of gallons of oil into the Gulf every minute. Multiple witnesses have reported that police enter homes where local families are taking shelter from the war-zone fighting to get Coke, who remains at large. To date over 70 civilians have been killed, over 500 arrested, and the entire country has been demoralized over the fighting. With the wars still going in Iraq and Afghanistan, one has to wonder just how destructive Americans want their own country to be? Ah . . . but just when you thought human life didn't matter to Americans . . .
. . . anti-abortion groups have made unprecedented progress at the state level over the past year, another sign of the progressive influence Obama is having on the country. Legislation has been passed in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arizona, and three other states that either restricts or in some cases bans abortions after a certain point in pregnancy, under the "theory" that after 20 weeks fetusus feel pain . . . unlike 20 year old Jamacian males whose brains splatter over their own home's bathroom floor. Then again, fetuses can't be suspected of harboring drug lords.
In the name of keeping America minds as listless and unimaginative as possible, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson's budget for the next fiscal year includes a 65% cut for the Fund for the Arts, a program started in 1948 through an alliance between city hall, the business community, and the art community. At one point, the Fund had a budget of $575,000. This year's budget proposes $65,000 for the Arts. The Arts had requested $200,000.
More Americans--40.2 million--are on food stamps today than at anytime in the country's history. On the bright side, the jobless rate hovers around a 26 year high.
Israel--America's Middle Eastern ally--attacked a flotilla of activists en route to breakthrough Israel's blockade of Gaza to deliver humanitarian supplies. While there are conflicting reports from the activists on the flotilla and the Israeli military on what triggered the violence that led to nine activist deaths, it's hard to understand what legitimate defense a military would have for invading a boat transporting civilians in international waters on a humanitarian mission. Meanwhile the U.S. media has done its best to make the activists look like terrorists by running an AP story that reports that the flotilla has ties to an organization known by the Turkish acronym IHH that, in turn, has ties to al-Qaeda. But this same article, midway through acknowledges that U.S. could not validate that IHH has ties to al-Qaeda.
While not as politically or environmentally disasterous, but no less Ogre-ish, last night Detroit pitcher Amando Galarraga lost his bid for a perfect game when the first-base umpire blew a call that wasn't even close that would have been the last out of the game and clinched Galarraga's perfect game. Replays showed the throw to Galarraga, who was covering first on a grounder to the right side, beat the runner by a half step.
BP's public ad campaign praising its own response to the disaster it has caused. In typical America mass media fashion, BP is constructing a fantasy version of itself, taking out the entire back page of the NY Times to tell readers it is undertaking the biggest environmental response in history--an awfully euphemisitc term for a forlorn 43-day effort to mitigate the effects of the greatest environmental disaster in the country's history. Of course . . .
. . . "People don't care," the exact words of a BP store owner in Florida who reports that neither the Gulf disaster nor the presence of activists at BP outlets has had any impact on business. A business analyst said it is not surprising that the public still does business with BP outlets despite BP's reckless incompetence, saying that it is difficult for people to change consumer habits driven by price and convenience. Again, apathy, more than stupidity or media influence, drives American behavior. Who hasn't heard of the Gulf disaster and who can't figure out it's bad for the environment? Cheap prices and convenience always trump holding others accountable, unless of course, we're talking about . . .
. . . teachers. More than 4,400 teachers, mostly younger ones at the beginning of their careers with graduate school loans to pay off, will lose their jobs in the NYC area due to budget cuts. Teachers, who are not salespeople peddling commodities, are the only professional group singled out for accountablity for performance at a time when the financial industry and oil industry are destroying the economy and environment, which are, contrary to ultra-conservative mainstream America, intertwined . . .
. . . around the Gulf coast, the fishery industry is in danger of obsolence, as no one knows the scope or duration of effects of the Gulf oil disaster. According to today's NY Times, the fishery industry is worth $2.4 billion and 27,000 jobs annually to the Gulf economy. Meanwhile, down in the Carribean . . .
. . . Kingston police have been reported to be executing unarmed young men in their early to mid twenties because that demographic has been profiled as fighters in protection of alleged drug lord Christopher Coke, wanted on extradition charges by the U. S.--you know, the same country that lets big oil break the law and send hundreds of gallons of oil into the Gulf every minute. Multiple witnesses have reported that police enter homes where local families are taking shelter from the war-zone fighting to get Coke, who remains at large. To date over 70 civilians have been killed, over 500 arrested, and the entire country has been demoralized over the fighting. With the wars still going in Iraq and Afghanistan, one has to wonder just how destructive Americans want their own country to be? Ah . . . but just when you thought human life didn't matter to Americans . . .
. . . anti-abortion groups have made unprecedented progress at the state level over the past year, another sign of the progressive influence Obama is having on the country. Legislation has been passed in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arizona, and three other states that either restricts or in some cases bans abortions after a certain point in pregnancy, under the "theory" that after 20 weeks fetusus feel pain . . . unlike 20 year old Jamacian males whose brains splatter over their own home's bathroom floor. Then again, fetuses can't be suspected of harboring drug lords.
In the name of keeping America minds as listless and unimaginative as possible, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson's budget for the next fiscal year includes a 65% cut for the Fund for the Arts, a program started in 1948 through an alliance between city hall, the business community, and the art community. At one point, the Fund had a budget of $575,000. This year's budget proposes $65,000 for the Arts. The Arts had requested $200,000.
More Americans--40.2 million--are on food stamps today than at anytime in the country's history. On the bright side, the jobless rate hovers around a 26 year high.
Israel--America's Middle Eastern ally--attacked a flotilla of activists en route to breakthrough Israel's blockade of Gaza to deliver humanitarian supplies. While there are conflicting reports from the activists on the flotilla and the Israeli military on what triggered the violence that led to nine activist deaths, it's hard to understand what legitimate defense a military would have for invading a boat transporting civilians in international waters on a humanitarian mission. Meanwhile the U.S. media has done its best to make the activists look like terrorists by running an AP story that reports that the flotilla has ties to an organization known by the Turkish acronym IHH that, in turn, has ties to al-Qaeda. But this same article, midway through acknowledges that U.S. could not validate that IHH has ties to al-Qaeda.
While not as politically or environmentally disasterous, but no less Ogre-ish, last night Detroit pitcher Amando Galarraga lost his bid for a perfect game when the first-base umpire blew a call that wasn't even close that would have been the last out of the game and clinched Galarraga's perfect game. Replays showed the throw to Galarraga, who was covering first on a grounder to the right side, beat the runner by a half step.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Ogre-oid: Israel
So someone tell me again why we support a murderous, xenophobic, apartheid, rogue state that refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty?
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