From the Wake Me When It’s Over Dept:
Yet another married Republican politician has been outed due to his relationship with a rent boy.
Howie has the details, if you care. I’m going to save us all some time and effort and urge you kids to insert your own foot-tapping, Village People, and wet-suit jokes here.
Although, I think a word to the Republican party from Conservative apostate John Cole might be in order:
Go fuck yourself. To death.
I am tired of being patient with you nannies and your stupid self-serving rules and your slippery slopes and your bullshit and your need to be tough on crime and your earnest concerns about society. Mind your own business, get your own house in order, stop fucking interns and little boys and cheating on your wives and on your taxes and being found dead wearing two wetsuits with a dildo shoved up your ass. Just mind your own damned business, and let people do what they must to deal with their own screwed up lives, and let people handle their pain the best way they can.
I’m starting to really like that guy.
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ZED
TRex!!!
Clockwatcher snatches zed?
Evening, Neuro. How you be?
great snark TRex!
TRex!
burnspbesq @ 3
Luck. I hard refresh a lot and that is how I find a new thread.
wow, i think i’m starting to like him too trex
Heh, good post Trex. Love the snark from John Cole. He always was sensible even back in the day.
Long time no see me here. Hi gang.
Hi everyone…
Evening Trex. It’s Halloween here, and while they are trying they don’t have clue. Barely a few little pumpkins around, no decorations and just few kids planning to trick or treat. We got a nice note from our neighbor saying her daughter wanted to trick or treat and would it be Ok for her to come by. I immediately went out a got a puny little pumpkin to carve and some lollies for the kids so they better show up.
It seems to be Halloween all year long with the Rethugs.
Gnome de Plume @ 10
Hey Gnome! How’s it going?
thanks for letting downstairs know :)
Hi Mary, TRex, everyone!
I always think of the wives involved when I read one of these stories. Feel very bad for them.
at least this hooker was hot
OK, my curiosity is peaked. I must follow the link and see who was outed. Be back in a jif.
Hi all! Seems as if I’ve missed a lot tonight – too busy with work and kids to get to the Internets.
I think I’m just going to load in a bunch of draft posts that say, “SHOCKER!! Another Closeted Gay Republican!” and just pull them out when I need them.
I’ll have blanks for their names.
Welcome Alicia
TRex @ 19
Does seem to be a flavor of the week thing doesn’t it?
How’s things, Betsy?
Having gotten my zed I a going to bed.
Suzanne @ 14
You’re welcome! 8-)
Night Mary.
TSF- you still there? I left you a bit of wiki penance downstairs, tho not the answer to your question.
DrDick – just got pix of our visit from Clair – I’ll have them up shortly.
We’re cute!
Alicia @ 22
Other than hating my back, not bad.
You?
marymccurnin @ 23
Nite, Mary!
Sleep well Mary.
Tinfoil hat moment-
Has anyone else seen that weird Charmin commercial where the red bear & the blue bear are running down the beach? Turns out Red is “strong”, and Blue is “soft”.
As Hmmmm would say: Hmmmmm.
Removing tinfoil hat but keeping it handy.
Alicia @ 27
Don’t think I have been called that in quite some time. ;-)
Suggest we send each Rethug rep an email:
All is discovered – leave town
And then watch to see who heads for the airport
I’m right there with you.
TRex @ 34
I bet!
TRex @ 34
How is yours doing?
There is no difference between Eastern Washington, Idaho, and Utah. They ought to re-draw the boundaries and become a single state. They are all repressed hard core Republican koolaid drinkers unable to garner an original thought. Solidly Mormon, individualism is forbidden. If this guy lived anywhere else, he might be a well adjusted gay guy, but it’s impossible there. To these people, the only thing worse than being caught being gay would be to be exposed as a liberal.
tex, i passed the cat running for the hallway when the quake hit.. my back is now flaming
TRex @ 34
Why do you hate TexB’s back? It never did anything to you.
Good grief. These guys are really, really f****d up. I once read that the best place for evil to hide is in a church. The rethuglican party must offer similar asylum to guys who can’t figure out who or what they are.
I actually have a bit of work left to do, so I’m out for a while. If I’m not able to check back in later, goodnight and pleasant dreams to all.
Well, I think it is time for bed. Take care and enjoy the snark.
TRex- I am off doing penance.
However, that was a great post- great juxtaposition of two posts, one from Howie and the other from Mr. Balloon Juice.
I kinda seem to remember that Mr. Ballon Juice is bad, but as I am off googling to pay penance to TSF, I didn’t google MBJ.
Can you fill me in?
I was just reading this story before I decided to drop by the lake.
What we have here is cheap fiscal conservatism meeting sexual hypocrisy.
IOW, a gift. :-)
I’m mending much more slowly than I would like. Still some significant pain and stiffness. The Lortabs ran out today and I’m not going to get any more, in spite of the fact that they help tremendously with my mobility and just being able to do things like sit and type.
Tomorrow is payday, and I am going to make a chiropractic appointment to get it looked at.
petedownunder @ 33
heh heh -
newspaperbrat @ 46
I like this plan, too.
Yes. Time for me as well.
Good night, all. The best of all possible tomorrows to you.
petedownunder @ 39
My ex-husband always hated my back when the back problems got in the way …
newspaperbrat @ 46
was trying to come up with something using “head” and “airport” – I got bubkes
Night RonD
I am a big fan of chiropractic TRex
Any date yet for your surgery Betsy?
Great quote Mr. T here’s one I saved from an old dKos comment thread:
Perfectly phrased and a beautiful sentiment.
Let’s repeat this about 100 million times to our fellow citizens.
.
San Fran is growing a little hostile…
S.F. Cancels Halloween Street Party
By LISA LEFF | Associated Press Writer
8:57 PM EDT, October 30, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO – City officials want the hundreds of thousands of people who usually flock to an annual Halloween street party here to stay home or go elsewhere after several episodes of violence in recent years.
Officials have advised would-be revelers through fliers, public service announcements and juvenile probation officers that they won’t find many treats in the Castro District, home in past years to the largest Halloween happening in the San Francisco Bay area.
What they will find are hundreds of extra police officers, shuttered restaurants, stepped up sobriety checks and no bus or train service after 8:30 p.m.
This Richard Curtis story is the very definition of Karmageddon. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch.
TRex @ 45
I have back problems too – think you and Betsy and me and other sore pups could get a group discount for a chiro?
TexBetsy @ 49
I think we’re closing in on TMI….but I sympathize. Hope you feel better. Hope Trex does too.
TRex @ 45
TRex- I got great treatment for a seized up shoulder from the team physician/ chiropractor for the Cambridge Rugby team. He was brilliant. So, my idea, fwiw is to check out the “docs” for the Athens sports teams, before you decide who to go to for treatment.
OH boy…. CNN is slamming the Democratic congress about ear marks….wow…. investigating Murtha… Pelosi & others refused to be respond…..
SO CNN went to the Repugs for the dirt… this ought to be good… more wingnut talking points
Gnome de Plume @ 52
Still need to get the pre-op consult approved by the insurance comp.
pumpkin carving turned into a recreation of the New Yorker cover featuring evil Cheney. film at 11:00.
I got Boo Bagged this morning (kinda like a secret santa thing for the uninitiated) so I was checking out
HillbillyHobby Lobby for some junk to put in my Boo Bags when I ran across a Poodle Stencil for Pumpkin Carving!!! Of course I bought it. (Yes, I do have a standard Poodle) but I realized I will have to go get one of those little packages of “professional” pumpkin carving tools in order to execute my masterpiece.katymine @ 59
Of course, they’ll surely go to the Dems when they want to know about Repubs – fair and balanced as they always are…
TexBetsy @ 60
A sordid commentary on our woeful healthcare system…
katymine @ 59
Best of luck to those Dems. I’ll swallow a live porcupine before I go out on a limb to help those bitchez with anything ever again.
Pete Stark I would go to bat for. Not too many others.
burnspbesq @ 4
Hi, Burns. I’m great.
(Had to step away from the computer for a while to get a snack)
Will John Cole apologize after he’s sobered up. Is some kind of rebuke in order from Congress? If he is a true republikan, how does one deal with apostates?
After the last 24 hrs, I’d agree to surgery on about an hour’s notice. I am SO ready to get rid of this pain.
Gnome de Plume @ 62
gotta hurry, tomorrow’s the big nite
Crybaby Boner….. “there is a lot of pork in this budget and I will get to the bottom of this” … this is almost as funny as the other night
HELLO… pot…. that kettle really is black… OMG
sometimes, i think i’d rather birth a baby than deal with this friggin back pain
at least when that’s over, it doesn’t happen again the next day
katymine @ 70
child, please!
katymine @ 70
I’m looking forward to Boehner getting caught with his dick up some little boy’s ass. He must be gay. He’s a Republican.
Suzanne @ 69
My wife just prepped 80 boo bags, I’m the lucky one designated to dispense…!
Suzanne @ 69
Yeah, I know. I wasn’t going to carve a pumpkin until I saw this poodle howling at the moon.
Pacific northwest Firepup meetup
theotherwash and I will be meeting up on 11/3 at 3pm at:
Blue Moose
4936 N.E. Fremont St
Portland, Oregon
Anyone in the area can join us…
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=5599378138
Suzanne @ 71
When I birthed my only baby, all I had was back labor! So I had the double whammy. The back pain was so overwhelming that I have no idea what “normal” contractions feel like.
ReneND @ 55
Interesting he chose to report the blackmailer to the police, thus outing the story.
hey gnome, why isn’t ours on facebook? we’re so 2005!
i had back labor both times gnome.
SunnyNobility @ 78
Heading off, Mr Flynt?
Gnome de Plume @ 10
Where have you been, gnome?
Suz! Any news on the quake -
TexBetsy @ 79
I thought it was. But then I haven’t visited facebook in a long, long time.
newspaperbrat @ 83
Here ya go, NPB…
http://www.newsday.com/news/na…..2790.story
Loo Hoo. @ 82
I’ve been lurking, doing catch up reading. I don’t like to jump in a thread when the numbers are high.
5.6 npb, not heard of any injuries and just stuff off shelf kinda damages
Why couldn’t state rep. Curtis at least have waited until he got elected to Congress before getting himself outed?
That would have made so much better a story.
Wyoming just had a 4.0 shaker 18 km (12 miles) NE (36 degrees) of Bondurant, WY
Suzanne @ 89
on the Cheney fault
Suzanne @ 89
Uh oh. Does that mean that something is up in Yellowstone?
Thanks for the linky CT – alls well that ends well.
punaise @ 90
It was Cheney’s fault.
punaise @ 90
heh, heh
RickinSF – I don’t remember Rubens being gay. I recall that he got busted for whiping his skippy in a theatre, and then later a vintage porn bust.
neurophius @ 93
shifting of Dick-tonic plates
xargaw @ 37
Had a Mormon group ( one woman and three kids) stop by on Monday to give cleaning supplies for the fire victims. Must have been $100. worth of goodies. They offered to help with any clean-up for free as well. Just interesting. Wonder if the group helped in NOLA?
can i blame the ca one on ah-nold?
Trex, sorry about your back troubles. Mend soon.
TexBetsy, are you there? I’d love to meet you Saturday; can you tell me where the Firepups are meeting?
Take care of your back, and wish Cassie Happy Birthday for me.
Marilyn in San Antonio
newspaperbrat @ 92
You’re welcome! Now, I’m wondering if I’m gonna get one, Wyoming is closer to the epicenter than I am, so anytime now…
Suzanne @ 98
that would be the shifting of the teutonic plates
Suzanne @ 38
Gosh. Wishing you the best.
I almost feel like poor Larry Craig has gotten the shaft from his own party and admire the fact that he gets out of bed and faces his hostile republican colleagues. Then he casts a very republikan vote and I lose sympathy.
Marilyn In Texas @ 99
I am still here, but not going to the campsite until Sunday. Do you have the emails from wengdangdoodle?
I am going to head off to bed… have a good night…
Betsy if you have any questions or need help getting stuff moved through your insurance contact me via FB… worked in the industry for 11 years for most of the big carriers… in the authorization departments
Unlike the Republicans: At least the skeleton in my closet is imaginary.
Thanks katymine. Sleep well.
TREX- I think we have crossed the threshhold. Republicans getting caught in sex scandals of a sordid nature is now so passe’ .
Don’t they simply have mistresses, like in Europe? Or is that too “French”?
Wait a second…that’s the strategy! By having so many of these other scandals it makes Rudy Giuliani’s multiple arrangements and proclivities with cross-dressing look positively blase’. Newt’s attempts at placing he home version of “Trading Spouses”
So the Pugs are simply trying to enure us to the fact that what most of them do is actually quite normal behavior for these hard-driven stressed out 4-day a week, 3-days golfing with Jack-baby politicos.
punaise @ 101
*groan* However, it’s a lot better than your first attempt…
i prefer thinking of it as the shifting of the demonic plates myself
Aloha, Katy!
Very cute Madison Guy.
Nighter katymine – sweet sleep.
cinnamonape @ 108
The Shock Doctrine on Steroids…!
CTuttle @ 81
Bounty-hunter terror, a new epidemic ;-)
Marilyn & TB: I am going to try to get up there Sunday as well. (I’m in New Braunfels, Marilyn) I hope Wangdang puts out some more reminders. If she doesn’t I’ll have to go digging back in my e-mail for the info of where and when.
Texas firepup info:
Here’s the link again, http://www.wilco.org/parks/parks/ , Berry Springs is the third one down.
Map http://www.wilco.org/parks/Docs/Berry_Creek.pdf
Park info and rules http://www.wilco.org/parks/Doc….._rules.htm (Dogs OK on leash, glass no way no how.)
SunnyNobility @ 115
heh…
TRex @ 73
It’s just the eyeliner.
It’s better that the Repubs are out of their closets, though I’d prefer not to have to hear about the weird things they’re doing outside of those closets. At least they can’t be blackmailed while out.
RE: Halloween
We didn’t have even one little spook. I think there may have been an army recon team, an NSA bug and an NRA satellite overhead, but no spooks. I was ready to demonstrate waterboarding, but apparently they had a party to attend elsewhere in town.
And, I’ve got 4 bags of candy to deal with. It’s waaaay too much sugar for a person to ingest.
Wow, that makes three FDL get togethers on the same day: soCal, northwest & central Texas! Any others??
CTuttle @ 114
Shock doctrine on V*agra, I’d say :-P
~~~ModNote: Edited for content to clear filters.~~~
Gnome de Plume @ 86
well nice to see you.
MarkH @ 120
Isn’t Halloween tomorrow night?
Oh crap. Mods, I think I finally tripped the filters. Sowwweeeee!
mui @ 103
I don’t think that’s the only place where he’s been getting the shaft. So to speak.
KKK Members To Protest…..Other KKK Members
From waff.com:
CULLMAN, Ala. — Members of one Ku Klux Klan organization say they will assemble at the courthouse Nov. 10 to show their opposition to another Klan group that plans an anti-immigration rally there that day.
Ken Mier, who described himself as an investigator for the Alabama Ku Klux Klan and the national office of the Ku Klux Klan LLC, said in an e-mail to The Cullman Times that his group is against the tactics of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which held an anti-immigration protest last month in Athens. ”We are opposed to the ignorance and stupidity as displayed by the individuals that thumbed their nose at the area churches by continuing to use racial slurs, threats and avoided Christian deportment,” he said. The newspaper’s story Monday quoted Mier as saying his group was part of a silent protest at the Indiana-based National Knights’ rally held in Athens in September. He said his organization also was disgusted that the National Knights would interfere with the Trail of Tears ride.
At the Athens protest, held several hours after thousands of motorcyclists traveled through the city on the annual Trail of Tears ride, several Klan members gave anti-immigration speeches, while several hundred people, some from area churches, protested the Klan activity. More>
TexBetsy @ 117
Thanks. Went off to look at email and got the message. Sunday it is for me. Marilyn
peanutbutter @ 125
A hard-refresh will reveal your comment.
I’ve been following John Cole since he changed his registration from R to I. He’s got some great commenters
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=8960
Hmmm. @ 119
Hey guys, I’m just popping in after the shaker and my Internet coming back up. Great posts, TRex! whoohoo. I went and read the whole thing on MM.
Re: Boehner. Jeez…I caught the first story on KO re w’s latest temper tantrum. Really, the look on Boehner’s face was all like, “they’re picking on me again, George, go beat ‘em up for me” Did anyone else catch that? It was so pouty little brother. I wanted to smack all of them, three stooges style.
Dick Cheney spotted spotted in Berkeley
More Jokes
from Idiocrasies Of The English Language – That are fun and funny by Bubbles
Here are more jokes that makes use of puns. My favourite is the one about the frog and the cat. Which is your favourite?
What did the chimpanzee say when his sister had a baby? Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.
What did the coach say to his losing team of snakes? You can’t venom all.
What did the mother say to her kids when she came home to find the sink piled high? Dishes a real mess!
What did the religious owner of a pest control company tell his workers he sent them off to their assignments each day? “Brothers and sisters, let us spray.”
What did the toy store sign say? Don’t feed the animals. They are already stuffed.
What Disney movie is about a gal who couldn’t rise above a housecleaning position? The Little Mere Maid
What Disney movie is about a stupid boyfriend? Dumb Beau
What Disney movie is about the tall-tale-telling champ? The Lyin’ King
What do you call a baby monkey? A chimp off the old block
What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.
What do you get if you cross a bullet and a tree with no leaves? A cartridge in a bare tree.
What happened to the woman with ten children? She went stork raving mad.
katymine @ 76
Hi katymine,
Do you know of any others who might care to meet in Bend, OR? It’s just a tad far to travel to meet up in Portland, thought I’d love to make your acquaintance in person.
Ciao!
I am afraid it is beddy bye time for this gnome. I gotta be rested to get my poodle pumpkin carved.
night gnome
Suzanne @ 89
Not to belittle anyone’s concerns nor experience, but after browsing the USGS sites I would note that it could be worse. Kind of a harsh evening, seismically speaking.
Please, let’s not confuse monkeys with apes!
What happened when the cow tried to jump over a barbed wire fence? Udder destruction.
What is a mouse’s favorite game? Hide and Squeak
What is the breed of canine that easily forgets his place on the trail? Wherewolf
What is the difference between a crazy rabbit and a counterfeit coin? One is bad money, and the other is a mad bunny.
What is the difference between a frog and a cat? A frog croaks all the time, a cat only nine times.
What is the difference between a knight and Santa’s reindeer? One slays the dragon and the other is draggin’ the sleigh.
What is the difference between a miser and a canary? One’s a little cheap and the other is a little cheeper.
What is the difference between a unicorn and lettuce? One is a funny beast and the other is a bunny feast.
What is the difference between a well dressed man and a dog? The man wears a suit, the dog just pants.
What is the difference between an ornithologist and a stutterer? One is a bird watcher, and the other is a word botcher.
CTuttle @ 54
Things have gone sour at that event for the last couple of years. It’s actually dangerous for people who just want to have a little fun and people watch. Sad.
And things are a little tense in the city on other fronts as well. Heard they caught Paul Addis, the guy who burned down the “Burning Man” early was caught on the steps of Grace Cathedral with ammunition belt full of “explosives”. Some people apparently heard that he was gonna “take that Church down” and called the cops who met him on the steps with a bomb squad. Addis is viewed as an “attention whore” by some who have had encounters with him, “mentally unstable” by others, and “a brilliant performance artist” by a small subset.
Grace Cathedral is noted as being a very progressive church assisting the poor, homeless, HIV positive and willing to take strong stands on political issues that relate to human rights.
my sympathies to all back pain sufferers. I had a bout of sciatica years ago. acupuncture finally helped (despite my skepticism).
Hey TexBetsy,
I think maybe you just had a really bad side effect to the KKK story…or your keyboard is going off all crazy like.
;)
Softail @ 130
***
“Riverdance in the bathrooms”…excellent. Also this tidbit from the same thread:
punaise @ 141
Me too. I slipped my disco in my twenties and thought it was all rare and stuff. Until I got married and everyone at my wedding came up and told me their stories and what drugs to use, haha.
OK, I guess everyone is watching TDS?
mui @ 103
Hey! Things actually got better for Larry as a result of all this publicity. After all, he’s now Colbert’s Vice-Presidential running-(ahem) mate. Plus he can have all the Doritos he can eat, and have an excuse for picking up that piece of toilet paper ff the stall floor. “Officer, my hands were covered in Cheese!”
Good night and good luck, pups. I’m out.
i am do-si-do
The Lurking Mod @ 129
Tsk, tsk, give the mods a rise, eh? ;-)
do-si-do @ 147
sleep well
do-si-do @ 147
Aloha! Yum, Valerie!
Yeah, I’m out too. Past my bedtime…
Here’s a new article about “The Lobby”:
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11837
Pretty soon these folks may get paranoid.
peanutbutter @ 152
Nite, PB!
punaise @ 132
Spotted Dick is not a venerable disease!
Had a Mormon group ( one woman and three kids) stop by on Monday to give cleaning supplies for the fire victims. Must have been $100. worth of goodies. They offered to help with any clean-up for free as well. Just interesting. Wonder if the group helped in NOLA?
Having been raised in the tribe of the green jello eaters, I will say they do like to help. I mean, if anyone in the ward ever had a problem, health or otherwise, their porch would be covered with tuna casseroles. Which could really come in handy if you happened to keep chickens.
cinnamonape @ 154
Heh, It certainly ain’t healthy, tho…! ;-)
night pb. sleep well.
*waving to the leaving sleepy pups*
Suzanne @ 160
That includes me. Good night.
Nite, Neuro!
Colbert seems to be a little too wrapped up in his campaign…! ;-)
Toddling off to bed now… quakes kinda take it outta me these days. Sweet dreams to all — get good rest for your Trick-or-Treating! I thank you all for an excellent evening.
major major idiot alert:
Man’s gun discharges in cubicle at work, injures him
from Star-Telegram
By ALEX BRANCH
http://www.star-telegram.com/n…..86176.html
An employee of a Lake Worth insurance company was shot in both legs Tuesday morning when a handgun he brought to work discharged as he sat in his cubicle, Police Chief Brett McGuire said.
There is no evidence that the 47-year-old man had intended to harm anyone with the weapon but rather “just felt the need to carry it,” McGuire said.
“He wasn’t having problems with his bosses or co-workers that we know of,” McGuire said.
The incident occurred about 9:15 a.m. at Al Boenker Insurance, 6030 Lake Worth Blvd. After arriving at work, the man draped his jacket over the back of his chair, McGuire said. The .45-caliber automatic was in the left jacket pocket.
As the man got settled in his chair, the gun discharged, McGuire said.
The man was likely doing something to the weapon when it fired because “that particular weapon doesn’t just sit there and go off,” McGuire said.
Tex, and remember, that guy probably votes.
TexBetsy @ 164
Some pocket.
well i am going to get some rest. see y’all tomorrow.
pain free sleep wishes tex
TexBetsy @ 166
Sleep well, Ma’am!
Best Halloween Pumpkin Carving homage EVER!
((((((((((punaise !))))))))))
newtonusr @ 165
Hmmm, don’t cock it, ensure the safety is on, or, don’t mess with it, any of the above woulda circumvented it…
time for me to head off to soak in a hot bath for a while… g’nite all
Suzanne @ 171
Bonne nuit, Ma Cheri!
Sweet dreams Suz and all sleepy ones – I’m outta here too. Have fun all you fine latelate firedoglakers.
punaise dear – if you’re still here I left you a fan mash note at 168.
newspaperbrat @ 175
Nite, NPB!
here’s a local news take on the ‘outing’…
http://www.katu.com/news/10896951.html
Well, I shall join the exodus! I bid thee all a fond adieu! Aloha Oe!!!
nite tuttle!
whew! back from driving 100 miles to cover court, teach class, rehearse and rehearse, and start writing a speech. Have we won yet?
Food for thought! *poof*
I should pay more tax, says US billionaire Warren Buffett
Andrew Clark in New York
Wednesday October 31, 2007
The Guardian
The United States’ second-richest man has delivered a blunt message to the Bush administration: he wants to pay more tax.
Warren Buffett, the famous investor known as the “Sage of Omaha”, has complained that he pays a lower rate of tax than any of his staff – including his receptionist. Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52bn (£25bn), said: “The taxation system has tilted towards the rich and away from the middle class in the last 10 years. It’s dramatic; I don’t think it’s appreciated and I think it should be addressed.”
Article continues
During an interview with NBC television, Mr Buffett brandished an informal survey of 15 of his 18 office staff at his Berkshire Hathaway empire. The billionaire said he was paying 17.7% payroll and income tax, compared with an average in the office of 32.9%.
“There wasn’t anyone in the office, from the receptionist up, who paid as low a tax rate and I have no tax planning; I don’t have an accountant or use tax shelters. I just follow what the US Congress tells me to do,” he said.
ET!
Heading over to your place after 1 pdt. Is the gov’t faring any better?
newtonusr @ 182
Maybe. I went back through a lot of the testimony and most of it is clutter. The bottom line in the earlier two trials were the audio and video tapes. These are less dramatic, but they prove the government’s case. Just barely.
Got the Halloweenie linky- many thanks CT !
Ed*ard Teller @ 183
I’m sure your friend Fred James is a wonderful individual. But jeez, ET:
Vic Kohring is obviously Jesus Christ.
Ray Duray @ 154
Wow! Raimondo doesn’t mince words. For a long time, I’ve noticed that Libertarians are much more comfortable attacking The Lobby that are DFH progressives. I wonder why?
Hayden on CIA Torture
“Our programs are as lawful as they are valuable,” Hayden said to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Yeah, which means…just AS valuable. So unless EVERY “program” is INVALUABLE and PERFECT, then some of the programs are UNNECESSARY and NOT LEGAL.
If we know that torture is unreliable…that means that the value of such a program is also so-so. Which means some of the interrogation techniques are NOT lawful.
“The best sources of information on terrorists and their plans are the terrorists themselves.”
Hmm! So when Osama states that the reason they attack the US are because we are based in the region, and is our support of Israel…then we believe them? How many Terror Alerts have we had based on chatter or false interpretations of surveillance.
Hayden said “the irreplaceable nature of that intelligence is the sole reason we have rendition, detention and interrogation programs.”
Rendition removes the subject from US control…do we expect the Pakistanis, Egyptians, Saudis, or SYRIANS to freely give up any information that they obtain through torture? That means the intelligence services of THOSE countries decides what to give to us…and what to tell us about how the information was obtained. These countries can tell us that the subject revealed that “so-and-so” (perhaps a meddling political reformer) was linked to Al Qaida, or that a group of exiles were planning an attack. Essentially they can use this program to get their own enemies and opposition, and obtain money from the US.
And we all know how effective “detention and interrogation” has been. Hundreds of folks in detention at Gitmo…and most of them released for having no information, many for having no viable relationship with Al Qaida.
Michael Mukasey, unless he stated unequivocally that the practice of “waterboarding” is torture. That would render the practice illegal. The U.S. military already forbids it.
But the CIA doesn’t. And that is why Mike Mucus refuses to state it’s illegal.
In September ABC News reported that Hayden had banned waterboarding in CIA interrogations in 2006. Agency officials have neither confirmed nor denied waterboarding prisoners in the past, and they would not confirm the reported ban.
Which means they were DOING IT…and intend to use it again when the heat levels drops a bit.
After his remarks in Chicago, an audience member asked Hayden: “Is waterboarding torture and will you continue to waterboard? Yes or no.” In his answer, Hayden briefly discussed constitutional law, the United Nations Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Convention before ending…
Utter prevarication! Creating smoke until he can dissemble with this…
“Judge Mukasey cannot nor can I answer your question in the abstract. I need to understand the totality of the circumstances in which this question is being posed before I can give you an answer.”
Huh! Read that nonsense carefully! Here’s a guy that knows what waterboarding is…he knows its reality. There is no abstraction involved. “Totality of circumstances”? Can there be any condition that would make it legal? Can’t he name a single one? Is he saying that he needs to know if the torturer is hooded or the victim blindfolded. If the guy has a cold? If someone needs to know the TOTALITY of circumstances then one can never, before the event, decide what is LEGAL. There is thus no law to GUIDE.
And what is this “in which the question is posed”? How does the context of the questioning situation affect his response? Does it mean that he’ll tell Congres one thing, the President something else, and Cheney a third thing?
Waterboarding simulates drowning by immobilizing a prisoner with his head lower than his feet and pouring water over his face. Hayden said harsher interrogation techniques are used in “small, carefully run operations” that have been applied to fewer than 35 prisoners since 2002.
Harsher than waterboarding??? What are these? Electric shocks? Temperature extremes? Long-term sleep deprivation? Exposure to high-decibel sounds for days?
We don’t leave scars? That would be “evidence”.
The operations are “small”…just a few individuals know…to prevent anyone from revealing that they are doing these abominable acts. Wouldn’t want the Courts and International Community to raise a stink. And the smaller the group involved the easier to keep everyone on the manufactured story.
Oh, and they are so…so careful…they don’t want the guys to actually die on the torturers table, do they now. That would ruin all the fun of the repeated torment that they subject on the individuals who are pleading to be put to death.
These guys are all insane, pathological sadists!
neurophius @ 139
Simple rule…monkeys have tails, even if it’s a little stump. Apes are tailless. Apes have great upper limb flexibility, can extend the elbow fully, broad chests, short spines, longer arms (compared to torso), and really flexible wrists which allows them to turn them when swinging in trees. Monkeys are built more like dogs and cats, since they are quadrupeds. They have less limb flexibility, narrow chests, shorter, stouter arms and digits. Their wrists allow simple back-forth motions. They can do hundreds of “one-armed” pushups every day since they have huge triceps muscles. The attachment point on the arm for this is so large that they can’t extend their elbow fully. Monkeys tend to stay on top of branches to get food, apes use suspension to get at the “low-hanging fruit” under the branches.
Chimps, bonobos, gibbons, gorillas…and some say one more critter…are apes.
TexBetsy @ 165
I wonder if his insurance covers being an idiot. I wonder if his company (the insurance one) covers injuries to others from people who are idiots coming into the office?
wigwam @ 186
Libertarians are isolationists, generally. “No entangling foreign treaties” and all that. Many libertarians came out of the non-internationalist wing of Republicans just before WW2. The wanted to let Europeans sort out their own problems. I’ve always wondered why Pat Buchanan wasn’t a libertarian…maybe the social freedom issue, and lack of restraint on big capitalists inhibited him from making the jump. Paul also has a bit of a problem in this regard. He is a libertarian, as long as you don’t have a womb.
Good morning!
Ray Duray @ 135
ray,
you’re probably not still on but if you are, my son lives in Bend. i’ll be visiting him next july. would be glad to meet up with you then.
i would imagine there are some ‘pups around Eugene ….
Cinnamonape, are you an anthropologist? We have one in the family who specializes in higher primates.
hi e.g., dobre utro
egregious @ 193
In college at Emory U. I rented a room just down the street from Yerkes Primate center..
good morning, 38 and clear in Fabulous Blue Ridge GA. Leaf color continues to be excellent.
News the US press won’t publish, via Kos, from The UK Telegraph:
‘Afghanistan is lost, says Lord Ashdown
By Tom Coghlan
Last Updated: 1:08am GMT 29/10/2007
Nato has “lost in Afghanistan” and its failure to bring stability there could provoke a regional sectarian war “on a grand scale”, according to Lord Ashdown.
# Frontline: Reports from our correspondents in the war zones
The former United Nations High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina delivered his dire prediction after being proposed as a new “super envoy” role in Afghanistan.
Lord Ashdown said: “We have lost, I think, and success is now unlikely.”
The assessment will be considered extreme by some diplomats but timely by those pressing for more resources for Nato operations.
Lord Ashdown added: “I believe losing in Afghanistan is worse than losing in Iraq. It will mean that Pakistan will fall and it will have serious implications internally for the security of our own countries and will instigate a wider Shiite [Shia], Sunni regional war on a grand scale.
“Some people refer to the First and Second World Wars as European civil wars and I think a similar regional civil war could be initiated by this [failure] to match this magnitude.”
Lord Ashdown, 66, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, was speaking in advance of a Nato summit in the Dutch town of Noordwijk yesterday.’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new…..afg125.xml
MR. Bill @ 195
In addition to the anthro faculty member, we also have egrDau who spent a summer doing research with the WA state chimpanzees that know sign language. She thought they had the capability to use the language symbolically and that they had a great sense of humor.
Mornin’, all -
Isn’t it Orange Co. that’s the Cal. bastion for rethuglicans, if iirc from fire pup reporters in that neck of the woods?
Well…….
http://myembarq.com/news/read……2_UNEWSp
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Orange County’s sheriff has been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for political favors and pressing a witness to lie as authorities investigated whether he used his office to enrich himself.
[snip]
Carona gained national attention during an investigation into the 2002 kidnapping and killing of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, and a year later had been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.
[snip]
CNN’s Larry King called him “America’s Sheriff,” a nickname that still appears on Carona’s official biography.
[snip]
…yes, now that you mention it; there *is* a mistress involved, as well. ;-)
Larry King – [supply your own descriptor]
I just heard D. Kucinich on NPR confirming he had seen a UFO. (and that the rest of Shirly McClain’s story is not true, sorta).
He’s toast.
MR. Bill @ 200
Well, callin’ shrub crazy would fire up the grill for the fundies; even tho’ he is spot-on with that analysis. *g*
egregious @ 193
Yep! I study fossil primates…my dissertation was on orangutan evolution.
Waccamaw @ 199
Here is the scariest Larry King photo ever, not for the weak of heart…
http://shakespearessister.blog…..to_24.html
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
cinnamonape @ 202
Bingo! I got to hold a baby orangutan in Russia once, they gave a backstage tour because we had provided them with veterinary textbooks.
Aren’t they supposed to be mostly silent? Because this once giggled for me :)
egregious @ 204
It is said that the people of Indonesia have a legend that the Orangutan can speak, but won’t because men would enslave them and put them to work…
DAng It’s halloween!
MR. Bill -
Took a while for it to load but, as someone at the Lake is wont to say, “Jeebus”!
Hope someone used that as a prototype for a Halloween mask.
MR. Bill @ 206
Boo!
Waccamaw @ 207
And I’m pretty sure it’s real…
If our foreign policy didn’t convince you, this proves that the Men in Black premise, aliens among us, must be true…
What’s everybody having for breakfast this morning?
This is EPU’d from the Glenn Greenwald post a few back. From the post it’s obvious Col. Boylan…who clearly has gone off the deep end (or was a pathological liar as a teenager).
But a lot of the context that led to that exchange with relates to someone in the military giving documents and private information about “whistleblowers” to the right-wing attack machine (Malkin, O’Reilly, Limbaugh). When Greenwald asked for supportive materials (allowing them to check up on it) the military stonewalled him. In addition they ordered the “whistleblowers” into silence, not allowing them to defend themselves.
Greenwald pointed out this fuckery after many efforts to speak with one whistleblower named Beauchamp, who had written an anonymous report about what he had seen on patrols in Iraq. Initially Malkin and others said that this anonymous reporter wasn’t a “real soldier”. Evidence was provided that indeed he was, by a major media source in Iraq.
Then someone in the military blew Beauchamp’s cover and revealed his identity.[Presumably by accessing his internet account…wait…that would require going through thousands of accounts to identify him, wouldn’t it. Nawww! They wouldn’t do THAT to the troops!]
Then the military “sources” issued select aspects of his unit to Malkin/O’Reilly et al, and reportedly sicced the dogs on him for leaking “classified information” (as if a patrol months old would have required keeping secret). Then the right-wing bloggers asserted that Beauchamp had never actually had gone on those patrols and that his accounts were full of lies (which makes the whole “He was releasing secrets” argument fall apart…secrets about events that didn’t happen?)
Then these Swiftboat bloggers claimed, using again “an unnamed source in the military” that statements from his fellow members on that patrol were taken (Hey! What about Beauchamp never going on patrol?) and they totally contradicted his report.
Well, Greenwald was slightly upset with being unable to get “on the record” statements from the military. He constantly hit the wall with Col. Boylan, who appears to be the Gen. Petraeus’ “point man” on this issue for the media. So Greenwald made the veiled and nuanced statement that someone close to the issue was providing the right-wing hit machine with private personnel material in order to attack Beauchamp. Pretty obvious from the right-wing press hits themselves, but not explicitly stated in any coverage to that point.
That shit apparently hit the target like a piece of chimp scat aimed at the zookeeper. Boylan flipped out. He sent off Greenwald a nasty letter asserting that the material wasn’t “classified” and, anyways, that suggesting that he had something to do with it was “unfounded”. Hmm! Thee protesteth too much, methinks…Herr Kolonel!”
Greenwald then started publishing and commenting on the emails that he got from Col. Boylan, which led to Boylan telling him that the email was personal and that he didn’t want it published! “Tough titty” Greenwald said ~ he doesn’t deal with “anonymous sources” particularly when the terms weren’t agreed to in advance. Hmm! Boylan seems to write emails to the media that he intends to be “not for publication” or at least, “under his name”. Interesting…the exact “modus operandi” the right-wing bloggers were obtaining info. And Boylan assumed that Greenwald would follow this procedure as well.
Seems we have a PR man a bit too comfortable with giving “off-the-record” and “not for attribution” statements.
That’s when Boylan started writing the invective…and then denying that he had. Greenwald had cornered him in a series of dissembling statements that suggested it was Boylan himself who was feeding Malkin, Limbaugh, O’Reilly and others with this personal information.
And here comes the coup-de-grace.the piece de resistance of the whole absurd interchange!
Boylan actually had the audacity to deny that he was the one that was actually writing these emails! Despite the fact that the internet machine protocol and routing numbers were completely congruent with Boylans! And that the formatting within the emails sent, and the style were the same. And that whomever wrote the later email was completely aware of the contents of the EARLIER emails.
Yep! Greenwald points out that all this evidence suggests strongly that Boylan was the author ofb the emails to him…ALL OF THEM!
But then Boylan suggests that he has been a victim…a VICTIM…of IDENTITY THEFT.
Well, I really shouldn’t put that in CAPS..
Because, in fact, Col. Boylan seems to be completely non-plussed about the fact that someone has hacked into the Defense Departments Military Communication system, into his personal account and read secure “private” emails and sent others out on his OWN computer. He doesn’t seem very concerned that a “mole” has infiltrated his Department, read his communications, and started communicating in an unprofessional manner with the public. And he also seems unconcerned that this person may have communicated “information” (possibly false) to the “citizen journalists” out there, under the authority of his office. Not to worry, he’s on top if it.
Greenwald has his macademias nailed to a cactus!
cinnamonape @ 202
cinnamon apes
Good morning, pups. MoDo and Friedman this morning in the NYT. MoDo says the French first lady acts American while Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, acts French. Mr. Friedman says a breakthrough in energy technology could drive the information technology revolution into all corners of the world, creating jobs.
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
Coffee and tea are ready, and I’ve got waffles this morning. Oh, and take one of those “trick or treat” bags too. (They’re magic bags and have whatever you want in them…) Happy Halloween!
egregious @ 210
oatmeal, with cranberries.
And we start late today, and my boyfriend is coming over for a rare midweek visit (as the kids will be out at the Halloween madness in Fabulous downtown Blue Ridge, 5000 kids parents and live band and costume contest and the candy give away by the merchants..) and I’ll about to bake an apple pie, with a turkey breast in the crockpot..
morning! happy halloween!
CApe, I’ve been following the Greenwald/Boylan dustup, and have found in my own life that actually confronting a rightwing bully puzzles and hurts them…
Boylan spouts the same scripted lines as Malkin, et. al., that criticism is ‘hating America’.
Howie Kurtz in his Media Discussion at WaPo Monday just parroted the same sort of line.
Good morning selise, sleep ok?
and hey marion!
Washington Journal schedule for today:
7:30am – Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Finance Committee, Ranking Member
8:30am – Nancy Nord, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Acting Chair
9am – Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Chairman
9:30am – Peter Gaytan, American Legion Veterans Affairs Division, Director
Hmmmmm…wonder if Grassley will opin on S-CHIP?
Glad Rush *follows* nord. Every time I’ve seen her testify in hearings, her snot-nose attitude makes me want to do things one is not allowed to mention at the Lake.
Marion -
Ooooo, “magic bags”… what a wizard idea! ;-)
MR. Bill -
Just bought several bags of cranberries at the store earlier this morning…I’ll start freezing several packs each week to have stocked up for a year. Remind me to give you a wonderful recipe for cranberry bread if Christy ever does another PUAC that involves food.
egregious @ 204
They are pretty quiet, though babies will whimper and coo and laugh. Adults do a number of quiet grunts, lip-smacks, smooching noises and large males have a really spectacular threat call…a bit like a lions roar. Probably they are less vocally communicative because they are generally asocial (mothers w/ babes, solitary males). However, in North Sumatra about two years ago I saw seen several males, accompanied by two or three females and babes and adolescents who all converged to a mass fruiting covering a few acres. Lots of spectacular aggressive displays by one male towards the others, some strange interactions between males and females, and females as well. I was very lucky as such social interactions aren’t seen very often.
Sad to think that such magnificent arboreal mammals are likely to be extinct in the wild in another decade or two. Judging from what I’ve seen of the deforestation going on that seems quite probable. Hopefully we can get these carbon credits going – or something that will allow us to “spike” the forest to prevent illegal logging. All the wood is going to China.
And I gotta get mobile here…Y’all have a good day..
You have a wonderful and fascinating career cinnamonape!
MR. Bill @ 217
thats nice of you to ask… middling – a little more than 5hrs. getting there. this has been the best week since before july.
how are you doing this morning?
Thanks cinnamonape, I didn’t realize they were losing their habitat at such a rapid rate.
Waccamaw @ 219
ohh. thanks for the reminder. i used to get some from a friend who’s family has a cranberry bog… now i have to remember to get them from the grocery store.
i have a cranberry orange quick bread recipe that i’ve made many times, but i’m looking for a whole grain version (doesn’t have to be with orange). any suggestions?
Elliott @ 222
no kidding – and travel to North Sumatra!
very sad what we are doing to the planet and the living things we share it with.
i’ve been purchasing carbon credits through terra pass. does anyone know if that is an ok one, or should i change?
Good Morning all and a very spooktacular Halloween to everyone.
selise -
Sorry, I don’t think I have anything that includes both cranberries and whole grain but will check when I head east at the end of the week.
Wrt your offer yesterday to “rip” audio hearings – from the ‘puter guru:
1. Yes – my computer can download an mp3; low “bitrate” for smaller size is better.
2. Bandwidth is the problem w/video reception; am dial-up only in two different geographic locations.
3. FYI – Mac OS X / V. 10.4.10 / 1.33 GHz PowerPC G4 / 1 GB
Obama campaign texting Mika that Frank Luntz says his Democratic focus group said Obama won the debate.
Frank Luntz?
just updated the week’s hearings list with 7 more hearings for today…. including one on the peru “free trade” agreement.
today’s a big day with the sjc hearing on fisa in the morning and the house foreign affairs committee hearing with david walker – i think this one will be on the krongard investigation.
oh, and yesterday i uploaded the audio from the hjc hearing with tanner on voting rights in the doj.
Oh, Happy trick or treat day, everyone.
Private security firms to lose Iraq immunity
via Informed Comment
Terra pass sounds like guilt payments for clean energy projects. It’s the wrong approach because it does not encourage people to change their energy use, but allows them to assuage their guilt an fund in proportion to their carbon footprint some good energy / environmental project.
I suppose it’s better than doing noting, because these projects are reducing coal emissions.
It’s mad ave and it’s for profit too. That strikes me in the wrong way. I pass on terra pass.
Ok Pie in oven. I’m headed out to stain a ‘cabin’ (3 stories, cathedral ceiling, mountaintop view, 5 bedrooms).
I feel better today than I have in days…
No reason, maybe just beautiful fall weather, and the color is still great..
Also the Schwarzenegger partially got elected on the denial of driver’s licenses but has changes his mind because it is crazy not to. And yet nbc would rather hate monger this issue. They suck
Last week, however, Schwarzenegger hinted he might be willing to compromise on this issue, perhaps by designating immigrant licenses with a different color.
“It has to be a different color driver’s license,” he said. “So it’s very clear – that says on it, ‘foreigner’ or whatever, or ‘immigrant’ or whatever, on it. It doesn’t have to say, ‘illegal immigrant.’ I’m not into that.”
the nbc whores all love arnold but they all fail to point out he is popular because he has adopted progressive programs but they would rather lie and mislead
Waccamaw @ 228 -
ah well, just thought i’d ask. thanks!
this is good news. you have more computer than i do (1.0 GHz g4 ibook)… it’s just the bandwidth we have to cope with.
for downloading….
do you by any chance have a program called transmit? it an “ftp” program that let’s you transfer files with some added features. it might be of help to you, because if your connection craps out halfway through downloading a file, it lets you resume downloading from where you left off – you don’t have to restart the whole darn thing.
i’ll check to make sure you don’t need a password to ftp from my site.
for streaming….
have you tried streaming just the audio? on the c-span webpage, there is an option of streaming audio only via realplayer (it is the “listen” link). i think they do this for dial up users and it may work for you.
likewise there is c-span streaming audio only for c-span radio.
SanderO @ 233
SanderO – with all due respect (and i hope you know i have a lot for you!). i think you are missing the point. it’s not an either/or proposition.
it just that people can’t lower their usage to zero. i’ve already spent hours and $$ adding insulation and plugging every leaky area i could find (this made a big difference), for years i’ve used low wattage light bulbs and paid 2.4 cents/kwh extra on my electric bill for wind and small hydro. i drive very little and try to keep the temp of the house low. i don’t have airconditioning in my car and this summer i didn’t use any airconditioning in my house. i bought my summer veggies from a local organic farm.
but that is not enough!
i just don’t think it’s possible to make the draconian changes necessary to save the planet – at least not yet in our culture and in our economy. among other things it would mean never taking a plane flight.
there are just somethings that can’t (yet) be done in a non-damaging way. credits are a way to try, in some small way, to compensate for that… and to work towards a time when there are alternatives.
otoh, that’s not to say that any particular credit company might be completely useless. what i’m arguing is that the idea of carbon credits is not one of doing nothing else… it’s for doing something for the stuff we don’t yet know how to change.
selise @ 226
Hmm! I wasn’t even aware that there was a system yet in place to do this. Lots of debate about how much a hectare of tropical forest remediates in terms of carbon storage. To me the benefits of saving the forest is much more immediate. Lots of areas in Indonesia are subject to flash floods that are the direct result of the stripping of rainforest in the cachement areas. There have been villages where 300 people have died from illegal logging. Major cities often look like Bangladesh in the monsoon…Jakarta had major floods that covered 70% of the city. Water quality and availability diminishes. Silts and mud fills the rivers, causing hydro dams to silt-up, sediment to kill the river fish, and the coral reefs and the fisheries off-shore to die out.
The military (and many in government) are in cahoots with these illegal loggers and they threaten and bribe local officials and rangers to go along with them. That’s why I think spiking, which requires little active enforcement, provides local people with jobs, and pretty much stops the use of chainsaws and illegal mills in their tracks is my preferred strategy. And that would be legal spiking…in Conservation areas…not so-called eco-terrorism. Plus it’s relatively inexpensive per acre (little overhead) and still gives local folks to still use forests in a traditional manner (using hand held axes).
I’m a bit of a Jeremiah (or Cassandra) shouting in the rainforest about this. I get a lot of grief from some people who can’t accept that illegal loggers might get killed or injured from this.Others enjoy lots of foreign funds to protect their little bit of forest…spiking would likely make their programs obsolete. However, when these folks leave their “project” for a year…they come back to badly ravaged forest.
But I never get any answers to what WILL effectively slow the destruction. Usually platitudes like “pay the illegal loggers not to cut” (and they will still do it AND pocket the $$$), or “educate them”. Hire more armed guards. It’s all been tried. Moratorium on logging exports. All Failed. The logging is escalating. The forests are become more and more fragmented, which reduces viable population sizes for species like tiger, orangutan, gibbon, tapir, Sumatran rhinos, and elephants.
Mornin’ all
breaking news banner at msnbc.com says: “Judge finds first 4 of 28 suspects in Madrid bombings guilty of murder. At least one accused mastermind of the Madrid bombings is acquitted.”
selise -
for downloading….
do you by any chance have a program called transmit? it an “ftp” program that let’s you transfer files with some added features. it might be of help to you, because if your connection craps out halfway through downloading a file, it lets you resume downloading from where you left off – you don’t have to restart the whole darn thing.
i’ll check to make sure you don’t need a password to ftp from my site.
for streaming….
have you tried streaming just the audio? on the c-span webpage, there is an option of streaming audio only via realplayer (it is the “listen” link). i think they do this for dial up users and it may work for you.
likewise there is c-span streaming audio only for c-span radio.
Will have to ask David about the transmit thingy. I think he tried the business with going to C-Span last night and it got awfully convoluted. Will follow your instructions to see if I can get it to work. The good piece of news is that he “taught” me how to access RSS stuff.
Do you post the hearings you “rip” on your web site; is that how I would get to them? If my computer ignorance hits a wall, will have more time after Christmas to get together with him for training.
Thanks so much for all your help!
katherine Graham Cracker @ 235
Here’s an idea. ISSUE THEM WITH INTERNATIONAL DRIVERS LICENSES!
These would be good in Mexico (or whever) and the United States. The licenses would not construe US citizenship, but also would not signal “undocumented” status. I would think that since tourists using these can get rental cars that insurance can be issued using them. If not then THAT would be the area in which to get working.
Scarecrow upstairs
Here’s an idea. ISSUE THEM WITH INTERNATIONAL DRIVERS LICENSES!
“These would be good in Mexico (or whever) and the United States. The licenses would not construe US citizenship, but also would not signal “undocumented” status. I would think that since tourists using these can get rental cars that insurance can be issued using them. If not then THAT would be the area in which to get working.”
it has to be a license that is recognizable for insurance purposes if the international license will do that – sure why not.
o
cinnamonape @ 238
re: carbon credits – yeah, al gore was talking about this a couple of years ago. i didn’t do much research to pick this company (there are several)… i just picked it because it’s the one the chris mooney uses (science writer and author of storm world and the republican war on science) and he has no affiliation with it.
i’d be happy to donate to something to protect the forests instead… and i don’t mind legal spiking – so long as there is a well marked warning (i don’t consider illegal logging a capital offense). maybe spiking as the stick combined with some (real) development carrots?
it’s not a lot of money (that i pay for carbon credits), it just seems that i have an obligation to do something about my hydrocarbon usage…. although i admit it does irk me that while i have less income than anyone in my family, i’m probably the only person doing it (as well as paying the surcharge on my electric bills)… but then i look at what is happening to the planet – and well, i think i’m letting myself off easy.
Selise,
I don’t think it’s an either or situation. And we should all attempt to lower our carbon footprint.. or leave a clean wake as we sailors say.
But tradeoffs sounds a bit weird to me. I’d rather support an energy program with a direct “investment” as opposed to have this middle man make a buck or my conscience to help out a bit. I see it as just another middle man and who needs so many of these “leeches” which just consume more resources… don’t they?
SanderO @ 246
well, it sounded (to me) like an either/or argument when you wrote:
glad to know that’s not the case.
the problem with your idea of a “direct” investment is that there is usually a high minimum purchase – putting it out of reach for many people who just want to do something small. the companies allow many peoples’ resources to be pooled to buy the big contracts – something i couldn’t participate in on my own. i think they are (in theory – i’m not defending any particular company) providing a useful service and i don’t call that leeching and i don’t mind that people doing that good work earn a decent living at it.
here’s a bit from terra pass (again – i’m not defending them, just the idea):
Waccamaw @ 241
sounds great! no rush, just let me know what i can do to help.
all the committee hearing audio files i’ve posted are here (i record more than i post, lots of times i won’t post unless someone expresses an interest).
More on the Orange County Sheriff, and erstwhile rising Republican star, that Larry King once called “America’s Sheriff” who has been indicted for corruption.
Reminds of that Knack tune “Who’s my little naughty one, haughty one…Sheriff Mike Carona”
And as we’ll see he’s suspected of manipulating campaign finances, money laundering, placing campaign cronies into positions of power, accepting bribes which were then given to his mistress…oh the list goes in and on…
Looks like an ideal candudate for a Presidential pardon.
OOOOH! A “blanket pardon”…a menege a trois pardon!
Maybe she’ll defend herself. But maybe she’s already hired to do the defense of Carona.
Some call it TREASON!
Wait! Hoffman and the Ass’t Sheriff had a law firm together! I didn’t know that cops and lawyers mixed like that. I thought they only had affaires!
Let’s be play cops! And “get out of jail free” cards! No wonder Bush and their Republican cronies LUV the OC as a campaign stop. Bet there’s tons of pictures of Bush, Cheney, Issa, Rohrabacher etc. with these corrupt thugs.
I read the site and The prof drives his big truck back and forth to Vermont. Ha?
There are green funds which probably take small investments. I any case I see the middle man as just another polluter here. Perhaps I am wrong.
It’s like giving a meal to a hungry person or sending money to the red cross.
Just did a little research on this Carona character and he is nasty. He actually used these “deputies” (the Haidl gang noted above) to form a task force to arrest undocumented immigrants around the county. Makes one wonder if this was all a gambit to get the “Minutemen” inside the OC Sheriffs Department to become an armed paramilitary with the access to heavy weaponry.
Carona specifically trumpets his Sicilian background, and became a lodge member of the Order of the Sons of Italy in 1999.
Carona became Marshal in 1987 and was elected as Sheriff of Orange County in 1998, ran unopposed in 2002. In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Carona to the Federal Emergency Response Senior Advisory Committee on Homeland Security, where he advises the Director of Homeland Security.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made Carona a commissioner in the California State Athletic Commission in 2004, citing his 3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo. On June 6, 2006, Carona was elected to a third term as Sheriff. But he demonstrated a vindictiveness to his opponent, Bill Hunt. Hunt, the only opponent employed by the Sheriffs Department was placed on administrative leave a few days after the election. Then six months later, Carona demoted Hunt to a rank just above entry-level. Hunt chose to retire instead of dropping to this grade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Carona
And if you think the indictments by the Feds are exagerated…take a look at what lies a tad deeper in this artcle from the Orange County Register! The guy is apparently a serial adulter, mob associate, and all-around scumbag.
He makes the corrupt Sheriff, Hank Quinlan, in Orson Welle’s “Touch of Evil” look like Mother Theresa.
http://www.ocweekly.com/news/n…..ike/25218/
SanderO @ 250
well then, tell me which green fund takes small investments.
and show me any american who is not a polluter. that’s just the point – we all are. we’ve got to get past pointing fingers at other people and address our own pollution. i see someone who is trying to do that – and giving other people a way to do that too.
i don’t get why you are so judgemental. have you been able to decrease the pollution you are responsible for to zero? and if not, why are condemning someone else – someone who’s done more than most of us are willing to do (commuting on his bike).
i don’t get it.
[and do you think it’s wrong to contribute to oxfam instead of finding a hungry person, in a country i don’t know, to give food to?]
I act locally.
Those are very fine cats! As Renes Descaghght once observed, “Dormit ergo cattus” or “I kip therefore I cat.”
Don’t you get it.
He is not gay because he is MARRIED.
That is why he voted against GAY MARRIAGE, because then it would mean he is gay. So long as he is married, and gay marriage is illegal he cannot be gay. Q.E.D.
That is how Republican “tortured” logic works.
“I’m starting to like this guy.”
T; that is a HELL of rip. :o)
SanderO @ 253
What role(s) do you play?