August 8, 2010 archive

What IF Congress was on Merit Pay — like average folks are

Gridlock

grid·lock

noun

1. A traffic jam in which no vehicular movement is possible, especially one caused by the blockage of key intersections within a grid of streets.

2. A complete lack of movement or progress resulting in a backup or stagnation:

“the political gridlock that prevented … the President and Congress from moving expeditiously to cut the budget”

gridlockChiefly US

noun

1. (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) obstruction of urban traffic caused by queues of vehicles forming across junctions and causing further queues to form in the intersecting streets

2. a point in a dispute at which no agreement can be reached; deadlock political gridlock

verb

1. to block or obstruct (an area)

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gridlock

A day in the life of a right-wing blogger

Dear diary,

  the first thing I noticed when I stepped out of my home today was the thick layer of smoke from burning American flags. The liberals never take a day off from expressing their hatred of America.

  As I walked to my Dodge pickup I was spotted by my neighbor. She was pointing and laughing at me. “Look kids,” she said to her fourteen, dirty-faced children, “there is someone dumb enough to work for a living rather than collect welfare and buy a new cadillac every year like us.” Then they all started pointing and laughing at me. Some of the kids began throwing dirt clods at me.

  I wanted to say something, but I was already running late for work.

Spreading the Lessons Learned Inside the Liberal Bubble

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to speak informally at length with several college-aged young adults. Most were at least a decade or so younger than me, and it was interesting to compare how a younger generation’s perspective was both different and similar to that of my own. We covered a wide variety of subjects in a relatively short period of time, but one particularly interesting discussion grabbed my attention. To some extent, it might as well have sufficed for the main idea of every related topic we covered. Many were within a few semesters of graduation, and starting to contemplate what life after college would have in store for them.  

Open Pie

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Sunday Musings

A few things… after the drop.

Docudharma Times Sunday August 8




Sunday’s Headlines:

War on drugs: why the US and Latin America could be ready to end a fruitless 40-year struggle

Jimi Hendrix: ‘You never told me he was that good’

USA

Across Nation, Mosque Projects Meet Opposition

Look at Macy’s: U.S. tax code encourages companies to rack up huge debt

Europe

Pope acts against incest priest’s group

Michelle Obama chooses quiet dinner over celebrity gala

Middle East

Robot to explore mysterious tunnels in Great Pyramid

Iran Expatriates Get Chilly Reception

Asia

Millions in despair as Pakistan floods spread

Afghanistan war: Deadly ambush of medical mission roils one of safest provinces

Africa

Kenya: clouds of doubt overshadow constitutional new dawn

Why the hero of Hotel Rwanda fears for his people

Latin America

Mexico drug cartels thrive despite Calderon’s offensive

Late Night Karaoke

On Organized Fearmongering Revealed, Or, “Lock Up The Kids…It’s The Gay!”

The airwaves (and the print and blog waves, for that matter) are filled with the news that a Federal Judge in California has declared that State’s Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional, which could clear the way for the resumption of same-sex weddings in the State.

Ordinarily, this would be the point where I would present to you a walkthrough of the ruling, and we’d have a fine conversation about the legal implications of what has happened.

I’m not doing that today, frankly, because the ground is already well-covered; instead, we’re going to take a look at some of the tactics that were used to pass Prop 8, as they were presented in Judge Vaughan’s opinion.

It’s an ugly story-and even more than that, it’s a reminder of why it’s tough to advance civil rights through the political process, and what you have to deal with when you’re trying to make such a thing happen.

This Essay STILL Needs A Title!

Something a little more creative than “Caption This Essay” which was the best that I could think up would be good.

If you’re any good at thinking up the best the you can think up please do your best to think of the best title you can think up, and leave it in a comment below if you want ponies. Ponies are good, so I’m told.

Rec’s are even better.

There is no prize, btw. Except just ponies that you’ll get a huge ego boost from and get to walk around feeling deservedly smug and superior for awhile.

There are no rules either.

And that’s only rule number 1. Rule number 2 is you must follow all the rules or the local gang of purity trolls will make your life hell for 5 seconds. So it’s good to follow the rules.

Rule number 3 is that I have no idea what the hell I’m talking about here, and neither do you by now, and if you think you do then you’re probably as delusional as me and you probably really need to read Schizophrenia and You instead of this stupid essay:



Barky Obama

He died for our sins

For those who can master it, it’s a fine way to see the world. You get secret messages from the radio, TV, and most movies. You know God personally (so you don’t need Jesus as a go-between). The best ones can maintain their powers despite medication. Did you ever wonder about the existence of ghosts and angels and demons? Somebody had to have seen them, right? Now you know.

It begins for some when the trees start telling you their names. The flowers sing an inane little song like a children’s song that threatens to drone on indefinitely. There is another world, and it may contain well-organized squirrels. That famous karate guy doesn’t exist in the other world. But there’s plenty of paranoia to go around.

Gratuitous Image: And he went ‘WAP!’ with a bat on the head of the baby puppy after it had looked at him with those big adorable eyes.

Just because you think there’s a conspiracy or someone’s out to get you doesn’t mean it’s not true. But there are peculiar psychic fields around hospitals that keep conspirators and murderers out for the most part. The maintenance of this field is the reason you’re not supposed to use cell phones in the wards themselves. Why don’t people figure this out? Because unlike in the movies, murderers and conspirators are stupid.

You would think that the ability to see angels, demons, and ghosts would give you special powers. Well, it doesn’t. You can’t usually talk to them. I prefer the plants. They speak clearly and use small words so the slower ones among us can follow. Unfortunately, most people aren’t even listening.

And that’s the overarching problem of the human condition in 2009, I mean ’10, as I see it.

Most people not only aren’t even even listening, but most people weren’t even even listening, and I keep running into this problem where I don’t have any idea (again) what the hell I’m talking about.

And if you think you do then you’re in for a nasty shock, because so far this has been the best part of this title-less essay.

It’s get much worse on the flip.

Dear America……

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Unity! HA! yer such a saint today

you may be anti racist but then you’re anti gay

you may be ignorant from a lack of education

but if it’s sympathy you see you seek

you better turn to another station

Intolerant society rears it’s ugly face

you’re turning your native music into a homophobic disgrace

the gay ones, the straight ones, the white tan yellow and black

gay rude boys and girls, we’re gonna take that dancehall back

we’ll take it back!

because without respect there’s gonna be nothing left

This double standard just won’t sit that well with me

I come to say this and it’s just the way it has to be

you know i’m not PC i’ll shoot your kid at school

‘cuz he’s gonna grow up to be a fucking asshole just like you

you can celebrate your unity till every gay is dead

but why don’t you stop your fronting with real unity instead

and on a better dime on this shitty little globe

we would crucify the racists and be bashing all the homophobes

Intolerant society rears it’s ugly face

you’re turning your hardcore music into a homophobic disgrace

the gay ones, the straight ones, the white tan yellow and black

gay rude boys and girls, we’re gonna take that dancehall back

we’ll take it back, we’ll take it back

because without respect there’s gonna be nothing left

2000 triple zero stand up and take a look around

this ignorant fucking shit shouldn’t happen in any town

so come on leave the closet and on your way out grab a bat

cuz there’s a battle to be fought and the prize is fucking phat

autonomy from ignorance there’s got to be a better way

but the racist, sexist homophobes and piggies gotta pay

but right now you got to get out of your fucking seat

and jam down to the faggot rythm’s of that crack rock steady beat

Our Morbid Economy

The monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was already bad enough.

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 131,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Government employment fell by 202,000 in July, largely reflecting the loss of 143,000 temporary workers hired for Census 2010. Private-sector payroll employment edged up by 71,000.

And meanwhile the estimate of jobs lost in June was revised upward to 221,000 from 125,000. That adds up to 352,000 jobs lost in the last two months.

And…

Incomes also stagnated in June, failing to increase for the first time since September, compared with a 0.2 percent gain projected by the survey median. Wages and salaries in June fell 0.1 percent, the first drop since September.

And…

The number of contracts to purchase previously owned houses fell 2.6 percent in June, indicating demand kept unraveling after the expiration of a homebuyer tax credit. The index of pending home resales dropped to 75.7, the lowest level since data began in 2001, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed. Economists projected sales would rebound 4 percent following a 30 percent plunge in May that was also the biggest on record.

And…

The Commerce Department reported that factory orders declined 1.2 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted $406.4 billion. Analysts expected a smaller drop. The agency also revised May’s decline to a sharper 1.8 percent instead of 1.4 percent.

And…

In the first half of 2010, more than 1.6 million U.S. properties were hit with foreclosure filings, which include bank repossessions, default notices and auction sale notices. That’s up 8 percent from the first six months of 2009 and puts the U.S. on pace to top 3 million filings this year, including more than 1 million bank repossessions. While subprime borrowers and bad loans led the surge in foreclosures in 2008 and 2009, this year’s wave comes from homeowners who’ve lost their jobs.

And…

Under-employment, as measured by Gallup, was 18.4% in July, essentially unchanged from 18.3% at the end of June and in mid-July. Underemployment peaked at 20.4% in April.

Americans aged 18 to 29 had easily the highest underemployment rate in July of any age group, at 28.4%.

28.4% under-employment for the kiddies!

And of course that reminds me of my favorite new song, which we might as well adopt as the national anthem.



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