Morning, SD

Thanks, SD, Gaza uninhabitable; almost funny in view of Israel’s claim that before they reclaimed it, the area was basically wasteland.

“Strengthened levees may have saved New Orleans from catastrophe as hurricane Isaac swept through Louisiana, but residents of outlying areas believe the city’s upgraded defenses contributed to the flooding that wrecked their homes.”

All that water has to go somewhere and let’s face it, you live in a swamp that’s barely above sea level. Water doesn’t flow away as quickly as it would if you lived on the top of a mountain say…

My family upstream has lost power some, but they chose to live outside the worst threat area anyway and are doing well.

Condi and McCain gave me one more reason to hold my nose and vote Obama. They are still fighting the Cold War and want everybody else to fight it too. Not to mention the trumped up bullshit about Iran, in which there is still no evidence that they are building a weapon!

Mornin’, pups

Day off?

Didn’t see “mystery speaker” Clint Eastwood’s speech to the Republican convention last night. The media is trying to spin this as senile ranting. That’s hard to believe given the quality of Eastwood’s latest movies. Wonder if he said some things unacceptable to the PTB.

Yeah, I have family that lives just north of Baton Rouge and I’m sure they’re dry and cozy as well. Decades ago the Army Corps of Engineers “reclaimed” a whole lot of swamp land and created part of the city and surrounding areas from areas that had been submerged. They call NO “The Crescent City” because that was the part that was actually ABOVE sea level where old New Orleans was. An enormous and impressive feat to be sure but not without consequences. Now the corps has to continually work, every day, to keep water from flooding parts of the city and to keep the Mississippi in it’s banks while the river wants to meander away. Not smart.

Material for another “We Built That” sign.

Yep. I’ve been working hard and decided to take today off. BTW: is there an over the counter medicine or supplement I can give to a constipated kitty?

Shooting kills a few at supermaket in NJ.

Unfortunately, there’s one citizen of the state who has prolly never set foot in a supermarket in his life.

Yeah…”We lied about built that, (out of bullshit)”.

There can be only one answer: More Guns!!!

watch it; http://www.youtube.com/gopconvention

Its too soon to talk about that.

Good morning all and thanks for the post and host SoDrag.

Happy Friday off Margaret!

Nope. Enema by vet only solution. Is Neko on dry food only? If so, that’s the end of that. And the change is gonna be messy. Went through this with Maste about 6 months ago.

The speech wasn’t even over and the Rmoney campaign was already distancing itself from Eastwood, saying the speech was “ad libbed”. Hah! As if the RNC would let anybody at all speak at their convention without pre-approving the material

No she eats canned too but I may cut out the dry altogether.

An Israeli attack won’t delay anything by much IMO. Iran has already got everything they need for a bomb except for fissle material. They’re not currently making bomb grade and have no setup in place to do so.

Gaza is unlivable now, people are dying because of the conditions there every day. Israel keeps Gaza at the absolute minimum levels. Every time I see pictures of Gaza, I think of “Escape from New York”.

Boxturtle (I wonder how many of Hezbollah’s rockets will hit Dimona)

instead of politics last night, went to a program by Eboo Patel. The better for it.

Even Ryan is backing off his lie that Obama policies closed that auto plant, you know, the one that closed BEFORE he took office. Though NBC gives him some cover by using modifiers like “appearing to assign the President sole blame”, I’ve been surprised with the msm pointing out at least some of the lies. Is it because they are more egregious. Hey Mr. Ryan and MSM sources, here’s the deal: The plant in question made full sized SUVs and gas prices were around four dollars a gallon and people realized they couldn’t afford a vehicle that only gets 12 or 14 miles per gallon.

In Israel’s defense, it’s been a wasteland simce their state was established.

Of course, any attempts to change that were blocked by those same Israeli’s.

Boxturtle (Cooking oil can be used as rocket fuel, ya know!)

Every time I see pictures of Gaza, I think of “Escape from New York”.

Except there were, (unbelievably), no children in that movie. Gaza has many, many children whose only crime is to have been born to Palestinian parents. It’s strictly non PC to compare the situation there to the holocaust but the parallels between Gaza and Nazi occupied Warsaw are stark and inescapable. The only difference is a matter of degree.

It’s because the doors aren’t big enough.

They should have done the same with Ryan’s pack o’ lies. Also, Rmoney’s for that matter. When you got nothin’ you got nothin’ to lose, seems to be the operating principal (snicker when I say principal wrt the wingnuts).

Works either way you spell it.

the next time some Rethug talks about Hollywood elites support Obama, just look ‘em in the eye, spit, and say: Clint Eastwood.

Obama would be dog meat if the GOP had just run a human being against him.

After I hold my nose and vote, my conservative neighbor and I are going to go have a couple beers, gloat about how we cancelled out each others votes, and bitch that we really don’t want who we had to vote for anyway.

I’ll say this for this election, it’s created a bridge of understanding between the left and the right about the quality of our choices.

Boxturtle (Mr. President, please don’t take my vote ans an endorsment)

Instead of politics, last night I went to a program by Eboo Patel. The better for it.

They hired Dirty Harry but Walt Kowalski showed up.

Me, too. In my view avoiding a major war (an attack on Iran would not fail to involve Russia, and possibly even China) is the only reason to vote for Obama rather than the other one.

Didn’t agree at all with his conservative viewpoint but that was a witty, very well organized ad lib. Entertaining (actually fun to listen to), no hatred (well, a rather nasty dig at Biden–”a smile without a body”), an attempt to convince people of all political stripes to vote for Romney. Why would the media be ridiculing this? Maybe because Eastwood is sane and not a political hater?

You can TRY giving kitty a bowl of cream. Not Milk. If it works, you’ll have the opposite problem in about 8 hours. Clean litterbox before and after.

It’s worked for me once and failed once, so YMMV.

Boxturtle (I don’t know of any OTC that’s safe for cats)

Obama would be dog meat if the GOP had just run a human being against him.

Yep. Though Obama holds an enormous electoral advantage, the popular vote remaining so close is testament to how pissed off Obama’s base is at him.

Well, it rambled a whit more than Reince and Boehner, and they all worked without facts. Guess entertaining is a matter of taste.

Didn’t agree at all with his conservative viewpoint but that was a witty, very well organized ad lib.

I must have watched a different speech…

I think I’m going to follow SD’s advice though Kuroneko isn’t going to like it. Thanks though! :)

Good morning firedogs. Thanks for the post and host SD.

OT, but… –

Hippos hope voters will pass tax hike (KXAN Austin)

Ha! I made the connection with Gran Torino too. Great minds…

No children. I never really thought of that until now.

Those Gaza children have another crime: They throw rocks. Well, some of them do. But they all look alike, so let’s punish them all.

I’ll join you in politically incorrect land: Gaza=Warsaw.

Boxturtle (You can make a fire bomb out of baby formula, ya know)

The PTB do not want anyone as certIfiably crazy as Ryan one step from the White House. They don’t mind his libertarian horseshit, which is free advertising for thei economic interests, but the rest of the package is simply too lethal. As long as Obama can continue to effectively muzzle and suppress the Left, they will keep backing him. Ironically, the most likely cause of a true fascist take-over in America would be the rise of an effective and popular left wing party. There is an historical precedent for this.

I thought the entire speech was pretty awkward. It was very McCain-esque. Had a real ‘Get offa my lawn!!’ feel.

Gaza=Warsaw.

While the situations are strikingly similar, I don’t think I would say that they are equal…..yet.

Cool. What day is the vote at the polls day?

If you think Obama is NOT going to hit Iran, I think you’re dreaming. The only debate seems to be on timing, Obama DESPERATELY wants after the election.

I don’t think the Russians or Chinese will get involved beyond words and resupply. And perhaps asylum for Irans leaders to end whatever is started.

Boxturtle ($6/gal gas before the election would pretty much kill Obama)

Tomorrow.

Vote on Saturday. What a novel idea. Got all my fingers and toes crossed. Big change starts with little steps.

Yeah, I couldn’t help but think about Abe Simpson too.

FWIW, I think Obama is one or two tenths of a point increase in the unemployment rate away from being removed. But YMMV

If you think Obama is NOT going to hit Iran, I think you’re dreaming. The only debate seems to be on timing, Obama DESPERATELY wants after the election.

What are you basing that on? His silence in this regard has been all but deafening.

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone… (Dylan from Nashville Skyline iirc ) just a romantic a heart.

Good Morning Pups.

Just heard a half hour live wrap up of Rmoney speech from John Nichols which will be up as a downloadable podcast this afternoon. Links to Nichols’ podcasts from the last couple days here.

I don’t think the Russians or Chinese will get involved beyond words and resupply. And perhaps asylum for Irans leaders to end whatever is started.

Yep. That’s just like I was saying: These people are still determined to fight the Cold War, (and get some plunder to boot).

We’ve got really high hopes. 250 more ballots were cast during early voting than during the entire election last year. We set a single day early voting record with 293 votes, most ever in any election in the history of the County. The only difference between this year and last was our GOTV efforts.

I would say one or two tenths of a billion spent on negative ads/fake documentaries. MMDV (My Mileage Does Vary)

The military may have been all for invading Irak and Afghanistan but they want no part of Iran or Syria. When you’ve got the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs saying “No way” I think Obama will listen. The cost alone should give him pause, before or after the election.

Let’s hope for the best. I still think he’s too sane for that. What’s the up side? They are never going to see a drop of that oil, and the Iranians sacrificed one million soldiers in the war with Saddam. He can’t occupy the country and he can’t bomb it into submission, and the Persians have got this thing all gamed out. I’m assuming the US doesn’t use nukes, in which case all bets are off and God help us because nobody else will.

Gorgeous here last night, gave blue light too.

Already hearing the reviews, that Clint headed them off at the pass.

I fully expect a short diary when the results are in. Or I’ll send Margaret after ya. She’s closer.

Must get back to honest work Good day SD and all the running dogs of anti-capitalism.

Thanks for your good work.

Voter suppression laws are being struck down across the country, except for Pennsylvania where they Republicans have conceded the race. Again, you can’t help but look at the electoral college when discussing a Presidential race. here are some numbers, based on 2008:
The following are states that McCain took in 2008:
West Virginia = 5
South Carolina = 8
Kentucky = 8
Tennessee = 11
Georgia = 15
Mississippi = 6
Alabama = 9
Louisiana = 9
Arkansas = 6
Missouri = 11
North Dakota = 3
South Dakota = 3
Nebraska = 4, (Obama took the fifth elector)
Kansas = 6
Oklahoma = 7
Texas = 34
Wyoming = 3
Montana = 3
Idaho = 4
Utah = 5
Arizona = 10
Alaska = 3
That total is 173
Now let’s add in those mentioned swing states that Obama won but the Republicans think might be in play for them. If Rmoney can somehow win ALL of them the picture would look like this:
Colorado = 9
Virginia = 13
Florida = 27
North Carolina = 15
Wisconsin = 10
That gets Rmoney to 247.
Let’s just say Rmoney can win in a few more blue leaning states:
Nevada = 5
Washington = 11
New Mexico = 5
Now the total is 268, STILL below the 270 required and do you honestly believe Rmoney will actually win that many states? The numbers just don’t add up for him yet and Texas may be in play because the Hispanic population is pissed at the Repugs. Really pissed.

Well, in part, his silence. Normally, when O is silent it means he’s going to do something most folks don’t want him to do.

If, after the election, Israel wants to hit and O refuses to help, Israel will sic congress on him. Obama ALWAYS caves to pressure from the right.

Perhaps not having to run for re-election again will give Obama some spine. It has happened in the past.

My Karnak hat says that a deal has been made that in return for American help, Israel will wait until after the election.

Turned inside out, my karnac hat says that Bibi hit’s before the election to help Mitt. He’s going to hit anyway and he likes Mitt WAY more than Obama.

I don’t think the willpower exists in DC to stand up to Israel.

Boxturtle (And I sure hope I’m wrong)

Changing the subject, I wonder; as sea levels rise and Gulf hurricanes get larger and larger; just how many times the country and the people of New Orleans will continue to cheerfully rebuild? Hell! This warming is proving to be such a show I hope I can live long enough to see how Mitt Romney’s sea level joke and Exxon’s CEO “simple engineering problem” turn out. The whole Petrochemical industry and the Republican Party need to be committed and loaded with Risperdol.

The military may have been all for invading Irak and Afghanistan but they want no part of Iran or Syria.

hell no they don’t! Despite Bolton’s bluster, actual military people know that if they couldn’t win in Iraq, there is no way to win in Iran without carpet bombing with nukes. Three times the area, three times the population and the Iran-Iraq war ended about 22 years ago. That ensures there is a very deep pool of young, patriotic men to fight an invasion. Israel hasn’t attacked because there are still some sane people who recognize that it would mean the end of their tiny country.

I don’t think the Russians or Chinese will get involved beyond words and resupply.

Didn’t the Nazis “think the US wouldn’t get involved beyond words and resupply ?

Like you could feel the Iraq war train leaving the station without brakes Iran is next and i don’t think there is a pretty ending we can look forward to.

OT been employed for twelve weeks now after being employed by the 1%ers for 28 years. The work place sure did change most notable being on camera 24/7 inside the building. Everyone is on guard and the kids point out the blind spots not knowing if they’re missing on camera the boss knows where they’re at. I figure my $ 10 an hour is worth less then the 95 cents an hour, adjusted for inflation, I was paid when I started working 47 years ago

I agree with you

Iran is not Iraq

Every USA military has said this over, and over.

There is no up-side to attacking Iran at all.

Bush and the neo-cons, made a huge mistake giving Iran, Iraq, most USA citizens have no idea about the relationship between Sunni and Shia

Well, in part, his silence. Normally, when O is silent it means he’s going to do something most folks don’t want him to do.

Though I agree that he should speak more clearly on the issue, a lack of evidence isn’t evidence. And it certainly isn’t enough to persuade me one way or the other.

Those Gaza children have another crime: They throw rocks. Well, some of them do. But they all look alike, so let’s punish them all.

Funny, I was putting together my thoughts for how best to be approaching our new school superintendent about doing away with the zero tolerance policies at our further cash strapped schools. ZT for childish behavior, ZT for creative thought, ZT for non-conformity, ZT for children in general. How about ZT for wasted limited teaching time with local police initiatives for teaching third graders about fascinating drugs? How about ZT for letting any child not earn their diploma? How about ZT for athletics programs with high likely-hood of guaranteeing serious head trauma to participants?

I sure hope you’re right. I see absolutely no upside to a US hit on Iran. But I have no confidence that Obama will listen to any common sense over politics. Perhaps that will change when he has no re-election to worry about.

Boxturtle (Or he could turn into a teahadist and just laugh at the progressives)

We haven’t witnessed a war where the losing side has nukes yet……..

ps. Losing we did nuke Iraq with depleted uranium no fireworks but the same end, death and destruction for ages to come.

Crap! I spent 28 months being unemployed. I hope it doesn’t last as long for you!

When the Poles disappear the wingers will think that means ‘polls’ and claim they never watched them anyway.

corn off the cobb

Hi Margaret,

Had the Recall not put 1 more Democratic Senator in our statehouse, Walker’s minions would be passing legislation to split our electoral votes proportionally. Not sure if that would have required a state constitutional amendment. Just getting to my coffee here.

Wishing everyone a nice weekend before you start drifting on from the Diner for the day.

I think they will rebuild up until the Mississippi bursts through it’s artificial banks and reclaims it’s meandering paths. Flooding in it’s watershed and a simultaneous hurricane would probably do the trick.

Off to swim in the great capitalist cesspool.

US KIA Afghanistan: 2,107

Afghan, Iraki, Yemni and Pakistani casualties: estimates vary to over 2M

US MBS 2012: 30,132 and counting

No war but class war

Biggest Thing Man Has Ever Done

Be good to yourselves, and all other living things

Namaste

Never. Give. Up.

Morning. Poor Clint. ” A man has got to know his limitations. ” Last night we saw Clint’s. There are times when Clint has shown his true colors, politically, and his true persona is full of (bullet) holes. All his really bad improvisation skills showed he needs to be writing his memoirs. Films are make believe, and as staged as things are at conventions, we are reminded why we should remember Charlton Heston as Moses. Someone should tell that to Clint before he drifts off to the happy hunting grounds. He’s fallen off his horse and dropped his his gun. ” I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. ” No props this time, Clint. Happy trails, maybe. Please sit down in that chair before you make a bigger ass of yourself.

I was out of work for a year and a half before I took the hint. I had worked 26 and a half years for myself and figured I ‘d die at the workbench at about 70.

There was no unemployment or any other support the day the work stopped. Was a hard hit for sure.

The $ 10 an hour job gives me 23 hours a week with mandatory weekends.

LOL. And then recommend throwing some virgins into a volcano.

Belives he’s already President Mitt going to N’awlins today.

Yeah….I had an offer for a 17 dollar an hour job that wanted me to sign an agreement to not work over 19 hours a week and another 10.50 an hour job that was nearly a 100 mile round trip, not to mention not paying me enough to even maintain my car with all that wear and tear. The second one would have precluded me from searching for a better job while the first wouldn’t have paid enough to stop my UI benefits but would not have paid me enough to live on, (I would have had about 5 dollars left after paying my bills for gasoline, groceries and incidentals), under a best case scenario. I wouldn’t have even been able to turn more than one or two lights on in the summer and no heat at all in the winter. The 1% sucks ass….

Well, the republicans are achieving their assigned duty in this election, by being so stupid, dishonest, and batshit crazy, that they’re making Barack Obama look like Abraham Lincoln…and not coincidentally, seemingly ensuring that we’ll get another 4 years of a “progressive” democrat protecting the corporate status quo.

Thanks for doing your part, Clint.

Clint’s on his way out. He won’t see 2016, methinks.

Geez, TS, don’t give ‘em any ideas that they will take seriously. They’re likely already fighting for the positions for checking on who might be eligible to be sacrificed. New job for NSA or TSA? Ha!

But, but Ann Rmoney lurvs her some wimmen folk. Do virgins not count? And how about Virginians?

Kristen had an interview yesterday where they offered here $8.25 an hour 30 hours a week. All that schooling and $21,000+ in student loan debt to not even make a grand a month.

If she gets the job (she thinks she will get a call today) and takes it, she’ll be taking a pay cut from her UI benefits and commuting 42 miles round trip to do it.

Yep. “Right to work” actually means right to pay you less than what you’re worth.

The question to me is why the media are picking on THIS speech when the rest of the convention was so ghastly and hateful. Whatever you thought of Eastwood’s address (and I seem to have enjoyed it more than others here, though totally disagreeing with its content) it was not “party line”, either Democrat or Republican, and for that reason deemed unacceptable.

To brighten everyone’s day, I present to you….

A Horse Playing With a Ball!

Sounds like a great choice! If it’s far enough away, you don’t have to take it, but this looks like she’s required by unemployment benefits’ acceptance to take the job. Ugh.

The WHY is b/c the performance was so shocking and painful. Not sure how you missed that.

Her UI runs out in 2 weeks anyway, so she’ll have to take it if offered.

The cool part is she’ll only be working from 12-6p, so she’ll still have time to keep looking for something better.

Hopefully for some very bare minimum needs for me, I just found an attorney with 5 years experience who quoted me only $200 an hour. I don’t know if I can shop for more experience. Retainer is only 2 hours worth, there though. Classified ad is only three bucks. Considering an advertisement for bids, but I’d need an attorney to check the scope and specifications for the work I want done.

And the rest of the convention was not shocking and painful? Not sure how you missed that! What disturbed the mass media was not that Eastwood’s address was “shocking and painful” (granting your point of view) but that he broke the Republican rhythm. And however demented he may have seemed to some, good for him!

Rambling on to an empty chair seems to have been exactly what went on throughout the convention. The audience was absent in droves, whatever those empty chairs were supposed to hold.

I missed it b/c I was neither listening nor watching…not a way to waste my time. I really do not agree that it can be good to be “demented”, but never mind.

The big fail of Romney’s acceptance night is not Eastwood’s performance. Rather, it is that a man, who has been running for the office of President for 5 years, has to use the night to convince people that his humanity is of sufficinet depth that it allows him to love his family. Pathetic.

Virginia Pro Choice people should be aware: (sent from Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health)

“The fight over unnecessary regulations for women’s health centers in Virginia is headed back to the drawing board. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is using intimidation tactics and legal fiction to force the Virginia Board of Health to reconsider its June 15th vote to “grandfather in” first trimester abortion providers rather than subjecting them to onerous and unnecessary forced building requirements.”

They have an action on September 14th in Richmond.

Facebook page: Oppose TRAP

I found his presentation pretty interesting, too, caleb36. Always makes me terribly uncomfortable to watch people implode or humiliate themselves, though, even people I dislike. There did seem to be a spark of a human being in there, as opposed to Christie or Ryan or Rubio. I liked the discomfort that his ‘asking the Russians about how well that Afghan jaunt worked out for them’ appeared to cause, and the ‘go Cheney yourself’ comments put people back on their heels a bit, too, I imagine.

Exactly, there was the spark of a human being in there,even if you didn’t like him or his views! That was what was different about his presentation.

I read David Dayen’s piece and was prepared to laugh AT Clint, but when I went to the video he provided (thank you David) I realized I had read his piece all wrong. That was a subtle, masterful performance by Clint Eastwood, and he did upstage Romney. I had to wish he’d been stumping for Jill Stein instead – most of what he said was perfect for her unmentioned campaign. Thank you, Clint, though you’ve probably elected Romney. The points you made were well made, even if the audience was the wrong one.

Of course, the corporate big guys might take his point as well. They will be ‘pulling’ for the devil they know rather than the one they don’t know. This is gonna be very interesting.

I enjoyed also, caleb. And I’m not a big fan of Clint Eastwood, was prepared to say ‘He’s lost it.’ Nope, not true. I really loved his subtle dig there hunting for another ‘conservative’ actor – then, that the only conservative actor he could think of was Jon whatsisname Voigt – that cracked me up! (You can’t see that as a straight line, folks, you really can’t! He had that all prepared and good for him.)

Go watch that video again, people. It’s really worth it.

I’m of two minds about the slippage. I think there is some of that, but I can see a lot of what you are saying.

“EASTWOOD: I was even crying. And then finally — and I haven’t cried that hard since I found out that there is 23 million unemployed people in this country.

(APPLAUSE)

Now that is something to cry for because that is a disgrace, a national disgrace, and we haven’t done enough, obviously — this administration hasn’t done enough to cure that. Whenever interest they have is not strong enough, and I think possibly now it may be time for somebody else to come along and solve the problem.”

I found that kind of fascinating, because he didn’t at all seem to be implying that Rmoney was the one interested in coming along to solve it.

But, but, if she doesn’t take it, then she’s just lazy and greedy and holding her hand to take from the “productive.=!” You gotta take ANY job or else, else, well, you’re just a moocher! Right?

Never any reason for those people. Never mind if it costs you money to take a certain job. Unemployment should obviously never pay you more than a wage-earnin’ job!/s

(put in the snark tag just in case)

Sorry, Kris, I hope she finds something better. I understand that rock/hard place dilemma all too well.

Haymarket Books mailed my copy of Richard Wolff’s new book, Democracy At Work today.

So all you anti-capitalists run right out and buy a copy. *g* Haymarket takes quite a chunk for shipping so ya might want to order it from your fave indy bookseller.

I didn’t catch that subtlety about Voight! The more I think about Eastwood’s presentation, the more wowed I am. The man is a genius! Shakespearean!