mmm... tastes like chicken...

Bush Administration Allowing Chopped Body Parts

In a 6-part news series called, "The Cruelest Cut," reporters exposed how House of Raeford Farms had failed to keep records of worker injuries to avoid OSHA inspections and fines. Injuries such as loss of fingers, hands, arms, other serious injuries workers suffered, even deaths.

The assumption here is this is not an isolated incident.

like the sign says: "hate is not a family value"...

Journalism and right-wing christianism clearly don't mix:

"Tyson Homosexual easily won his semifinal for the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials," the article read, "and seemed to save something for the final later Sunday." The headline read "Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic events."

Global word-change run amuck at the American Family Association is the bet here. Consider the attitude, and not just from these sanctimonious yabbos, of insisting on calling a group or individual other than what they wish to be called and with a default pejorative. Why, it fondly harkens Muhammad Ali and his fight with Ernie Terrell, who insisted on calling Ali "Cassius Clay," his birth name, after Ali instructed the media and the world his name was legally changed to Ali.

*Whap!* "WHAT'S MY NAME!!?" *Pow!*

DINOs worse than republicans...

Hard to say whether Senate & House DINOs are reptiles dressed as mammals, or are just plain poultry excretia (okay, chickenshit). Probably a lot of both. Either way they need to be fragged, tagged, and bagged... uhm -- *ahem* -- politically speaking, of course!

well, he's qualified...

Jerry Seinfeld pens a thoughtful eulogy in the Times for Carlin:

I know George didn’t believe in heaven or hell. Like death, they were just more comedy premises. And it just makes me even sadder to think that when I reach my own end, whatever tumbling cataclysmic vortex of existence I’m spinning through, in that moment I will still have to think, “Carlin already did it.”

advice from the kos...

Loathe as I am to admit it, I'm envious of Marcos Moulitsas, a.k.a., Kos, he of The Daily Kos. This 30-something little man, born in El Salvador, was in the U.S. Army, is a lawyer, and employs a small rotating army of journo-opinionists who write for a website that generates more readers daily than does the New York Times. Simply if there's such a thing as a blogging empire, his is it. Meanwhile, I think I generate 16-20 peeps in hereabouts per day, but what the hey, I do it for fun anyhow.

Today, I was intrigued by this post, particularly as I've grown so bloodily annoyed with the Democratic leadership in Congress. A sample:

You want to do something? If your local congresscritter is one of the bad apples, start organizing locally. Plug into existing networks or start your own. Begin looking for primary challengers. Do the groundwork. Don't expect help from the local party establishment, they'll close ranks. So tap into alternate infrastructures. Find allies in the progressive movement. If your local shitty Democrat is anti-union, approach the unions. They'd love to send this kind of message. If the Democrat is anti-choice, work with the women's groups. If the Democrat is anti-environment ... you get the idea.

It occurred also I'm due for a hoot-&-a-holler from Naahm de Plume, a.k.a., Commander Ghee, my favorite Republican corporate lawyer-bot, who likes to, well, hoot & holler at my postings (and boy would I feel lonely without him, Madame Spared, or Chaatoes to bust my balls on a semi-regular basis).

But if you think about it -- Repo people, you too -- it is by definition that those of our elected representatives who are more interested in representing business interests are in it for the money; otherwise they'd vote New Deal and not Dirty Deal. And if they're so vested for big business today, they are ipso facto Corrupt! That goes especially for the Democratic leadership in Congress. They, too, are corrupt. (It says so right here!)

Which leaves, say, progressives and christianists, I'm reckoning. Of course, both see the other as whack-jobs, but, Oh Well!

Like, so be it then. Let's rid ourselves of the corrupt "centrists" on both sides and see where the chips fall. I'd bet there are more of us than them. Either way, big business must be reregulated. Let the Canadians send us their low-cost pharmaceuticals and keep the mad cows (and, yes, the reverse is true today); reestablish market-capitalism and destroy crony-capitalism; and bust out the guillotine for the Halliburton board of bastards! Just for laughs.

Yeaaaaah! That's it!

Let America be America again!

george carlin at his best...

This is from his '99 HBO performance You Are All Diseased, referenced in the previous post.  The bit was not carried over to his Warner Theater appearance in January '01 as was half of the material from that show.  Instead, he presented some newer material.  

Curiously, he alluded he took a lot of shit for the bit.  Give it a listen and you'll imagine why! I'd always hoped, some way, somehow, I'd get a chance to ask him about it.  No chance of that now, I reckon.

another one bites the dust...

George Carlin: 1937-2008

In a day when telling the truth is a revolutionary act, one less subversive and most incisive voice is a great loss.

Saw him at the Warner Theater in D.C. back in '01. Half of his material was previously offered on his HBO special "You Are All Diseased" back in '99. It still made me laugh.

He will be missed.

study hall for the non-matriculated...

It was apprently during the first inning in Boston, the interrupted line-score online saying so, when it occurred to me the weather was taking a turn: Delay at Fenway, the sky growing darker outside (and, here, some 140 miles north), and an "Emergency Storm Warning" news-graphic, complete with irritating alert buzzer, crawling across the television screen.

I added two and two and came up with 22. Still, I had to get out of the house. The plan was to deal with email and browse the Sunday papers with coffee at the L'il Dog, then go hit another large bucket of golf balls, the 4th time this week. At ten bucks-a-pop, even I can see this is slowly bleeding my checking account. But it's starting to rain out there now, enough where all I can think to do is roll up my passenger window, skip back inside, and pretend I'm working when I'm otherwise fixating on the sexy Polynesian-brown feet of the bespectacled Bowdoin student fussing for a comfortable reading position across the lounge chair over yonder.

Meanwhile, the pool in Freeport closes in an hour, insufficient time for me to drive the 10-12 miles, get changed into my trunks and dive in before being told to get out, shower and go home. Ergo...

Goddamn! It's comin' down pretty good now!

Wonder what the Sox score is.

john mcccain is an angry black woman...

You think I'm kidding?

Reassuring it is then the usual crap the Reptilians excrete isn't being eaten with a spoon.

celtics' historic destruction of those lakers...

Bob Ryan tells it like it is (click the vid).

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Update: Duckboat City!

targetting steny hoyer...

Steny Hoyer's doing his damnedest to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory, which is what happens when you dress up a Republican as a Democrat.

As a result, there is a major new campaign beginning today aimed at Hoyer and a handful of other key members of Congress who enable telecom immunity and warrantless eavesdropping.

Ready. Set. Go get 'em!

black people now dig the celtics...

Who knew?

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Update: Hard to say if Jemele Hill, for example, wasn't holding a grudge from the 80s.

kbr blackmails the pentagon...

War-profiteers and their protection rackets:

In short, KBR can charge the U.S. government anything it wants under the implicit threat that the firm will halt logistical services to troops in Iraq. If the military doesn't pay up in full, KBR has warned, "it would reduce payments to subcontractors, which in turn would cut back on services."

I say draft the board of directors at Halliburton -- extraordinarly render 'em, whatever -- put 'em in BDUs not as officers, stick 'em in the sandbox outside the Green Zone, and say to them, "I'm sorry! What?"

gives a whole different meaning to the word "vet"...

Is McCain hiding anything in his military record?

The Navy may claim that it already released McCain's record to the Associated Press on May 7, 2008 in response to the AP's Freedom of Information Act request. But the McCain file the Navy released contained 19 pages -- a two-page overview and 17 pages detailing Awards and Decorations. Each of these 17 pages is stamped with a number. These numbers range from 0069 to 0636. When arranged in ascending order, they precisely track the chronology of McCain's career. It seems reasonable to ask the Navy whether there are at least 636 pages in McCain's file, of which 617 weren't released to the Associated Press.

Some of the unreleased pages in McCain's Navy file may not reflect well upon his qualifications for the presidency. From day one in the Navy, McCain screwed-up again and again, only to be forgiven because his father and grandfather were four-star admirals. McCain's sense of entitlement to privileged treatment bears an eerie resemblance to George W. Bush's.

Despite graduating in the bottom 1 percent of his Annapolis class, McCain was offered the most sought-after Navy assignment -- to become an aircraft carrier pilot. According to military historian John Karaagac, "'the Airdales,' the air wing of the Navy, acted and still do, as if unrivaled atop the naval pyramid. They acted as if they owned, not only the Navy, but the entire swath of blue water on the earth's surface." The most accomplished midshipmen compete furiously for the few carrier pilot openings. After four abysmal academic years at Annapolis distinguished only by his misdeeds and malfeasance, no one with a record resembling McCain's would have been offered such a prized career path. The justification for this and subsequent plum assignments should be documented in McCain's naval file.

Interesting read, illustrating a Navy pilot whose abilities and temperament can fairly be described as half-assed and was throughout his Naval career. All of which begs the question as to not how he got shot down over Vietnam but how could he not.

Anybody other'n an admiral's son would've been scrubbing decks long before then.

obama to visit iraq, afghanistan before election...

Well, if the Neocons ever wanted to take him out -- what's a little lapse in security?

sensing a disturbance in the force...

Help me, Obe Wan!

another one bites the dust...

Tim Russert: 1950-2008

I see NBC is going wall2wall with Russert's passing, he who was, apparently, the Pope; and this, a further illustration of what an inbred industry corporate news television really is.

Yeah, yeah! Russert appealled to middle America, suffering the Buffalo Bills as their highest profile fan. Hell! My mother loved him, the poor dear. He was a giant within and to his cabal of 24-hour news-jabberers -- got all that!

But, please, let us also not forget his complicity in the Bush Wars propaganda; Valerie Plame, etc., or, more simply, his forever giving aid & comfort to vice president Joseph Stal... er, Dick Cheney.

sweet sweet win for the celtics... !

The Green win 97-91 after being down 24!

Boston leads Los Angeles 3 games to 1 in The Finals 2008.

It says here Paul Pierce is the presumptive MVP.

Say g'nite, Koby!

coulter bitch-slaps mccain right proper...

With friends like this:

Rather than defending Sen. McCain in the face of Democratic Party criticism, however, Coulter praises Bush as "a great President," then lashes out at both liberals and Sen. McCain as "lickspittles" not "worthy of kissing Bush's behind."

Wow! Pickin' on us poor libs again t'boot...

four horsemen in dissent again today...

It's one small loss for a Dubya, one giant leap for mankind...

In its third rebuke of the Bush administration's treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the constitutional rights of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The court's liberal justices were in the majority.

Meanwhile, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Pestilence, War, Famine & Death, a.k.a., Alito, Roberts, Thomas & Scalia respectively) have repaired to their lairs and will later issue a joint statement regarding their oath to uphold the Constitution, and for what purpose it does not serve.

byrne taken out...

Leslie Byrne used to appear on my TV show back in the 90s. Like, oh well:

VA-11: Meanwhile, Blue Majority candidate Leslie Byrne lost her bid to recapture the seat she once held in her own primary last night. The nominee will be moderate Democrat Gerry Connolly, who heads into a general election against Republican Keith Fimian, a newcomer to politics but a fairly good fundraiser.

This race should be considered a tossup right now, but I like Connolly's chances quite well, particularly given the relative ease with which he dispatched Byrne in the primary.

all i asked for was the time...

Owen Cargol, a man who fancies himself "a rub-your-belly, grab-your-balls, give-you-a-hug, slap-your-back, pull-your-dick, squeeze-your-hand, cheek-your-face, and pat-your-thigh kind of guy."

well, they're not with us -- they must be agin' us...

Bush Bombs Ally

Obama said he'd do this during primary debates, and took guff from She Who Had To Be Stopped. It's just that Dubya hasn't a lick o'sense that God gave a sack of hair, and whether this is justifiable or not is unknowable and will be for the rest of his unnatural life.

snapshot...

So much for Michigan holding a grudge against Obama!

another one bites the dust... alledgedly...

Hedge-fund fucker, facing a deuce, fakes suicide. Or not...

The bodies of almost all jumpers are found quickly, Mr. Cuccia said. "I will be satisfied in a few days that if the body doesn't come up, he didn't jump," he said.

-----------
Update (6/16): Feds now say he didn't jump.

if the repos help the dems be more ethical, that's good, right... ?

Disagreeing with Sargent's assertion this makes "Obama's attacks on McCain over the subprime mortgage crisis tougher to sustain" because when Obama's people get busted for an ethical lapse, they step down almost immediately. Meanwhile, McCain still wants to make Phil Gramm his Treasury secretary.

repossessing republicans reptilian...

The crocodiles shed tears...

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Update: Adam Cote, the DINO not on the Flintstones, can go back to being a Republican now. Maine Dems nominate Chellie Pingree, a pro-Impeachment candidate.

for want of brevity...

I have little to say about a lot of things, but sometimes ya' gotta stretch the ol' tuning fork, y'know? And as ye sound out the consonants of her bosom and travel spiralling out of control, you bite the hand that would otherwise tickle yer bum.

Forecast says Sun & Rain, and thank you for watching, spend it in one place, see if i care... And where do you value the thrill on an intemperate level of discourse, my good fellow's travelling companion? Apparent to a naked eye and, merrily, her toe, the mirth of fixations camouflage the irredescent hypottimi to a libidinal degree of the 8 gone sideways.

because somebody's gotta do it...

Kucinich Presents Bush Impeachment Articles

What I don't get is the Dem leadership not pursuing this all the way to election day, and beyond for that matter. The American people would not look upon this as they did the Republicans impeaching Clinton, which is apparently how these inside-the-beltway dimwits see it -- fearfully.

Ach! My kingdom for a spine.

a pierced knee stoppeths not a championship maketh...

... or something.

Dunno if Paul Pierce was grandstanding his knee boo-boo or not, but that was entertainment!

another one bites the dust...

Jim McKay: 1921 - 2008

"The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat!"

because it's there...

h/t to C&L...

and i thought *i* was self-absorbed...

Oh, please! Let us do salvage her ego!

no, hillary -- NO!

All that quaint chatter about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer, which is, after all, a whimsical notion Mario Puzo put in the mouth of Vito Corleoni -- you cannot run for president if you're constantly having to watch your back.

Let's be clear: the Clintons are vipers and cannot be effectively controlled by hanybody, even by a man who has just been given the reigns of the party. Democrats will come around, see John McCain for what he is -- anathema to everything they hold dear. Meanwhile Independants and DINOs will only respect a man who has the fortitude to give her a stiff-arm, if ever so politely.

I used to like the Clintons but I simply cannot stomach this cult of personality they've constructed for themselves. They are now yesterday's news, and Obama, I trust, sees that.

America is a better place without the Clintons.

proud to be an american...

the god who wasn't there...

No clue as to whether this movie is good, but I like a good buzz.

quote of the century...

Bush on invading Iraq:

"I don't care if it created more enemies."

My God! I've been trying to curb the language here of late while maintaining my penchant for glib repartee, but this guy is purely and simply the foulest asshole in American history.

dueling speeches (cue the theme from *deliverance*)...

Even the Dem's #2 (*cough* Hillary) speech was better than was John McCain's.

Gotta love that Botox smile, my friennnds!

obama's the man... !

Restoring genuine pride in America once again...

jiminy christmas... !

The Blackwater mercs now own a fighter jet. Meanwhile, this privatized GOP army is suing San Diego to be allowed to conduct military exercises inside the U.S.

What the hell -- the Navy can move someplace else, eh?

what happens in vegas...

(Editor's note re: header: C'monnn! You didn't think it really stayed in Vegas, did you?)

It's the little things, but Nevada was already hewwing a bit blue -- BWAHAHAHAHA!!

"This absolutely could depress Republicans who are already depressed," said Chuck Muth, a Republican political consultant and blogger. "This could hurt McCain's ability to hold on to Nevada. It could also affect the chances of (Rep.) Jon Porter (R-Nev.) to get re-elected."

Ayep! Every little bit helps.

why do you think they call him dick... ?

Give or take an indefinite article...

Anyhow, Cheney apologizes to West Virginia... for being Dick Cheney.

No word yet on whether he's apologized to our troops in Iraq... or to the Iraqis themselves.

kettle to pot: yerrrrr black... !!

Bill Clinton: Purdum a "Sleazy" "Slimy" "Scumbag"

Uh, sorry! But when I see a hanging curveball -- in this case Bill Clinton calling anybody sleazy, slimy, or a scumbag -- well Hell! I just gotta swing for the fences.

a maine congressional race up close...

Just shook hands with Adam Cote. He seems likable enough: Iraq vet, emphasis on cleaner environment and lower healthcare costs, and he's endorsed Barack Obama for president -- all plusses in my book. All of which, however, could mean he is merely good at reading the writing on the wall. Moreover, it remains to be seen what his response to this progressive criticism could be:

Adam Cote in Maine's first district is basically a Republican in waiting, and he's using progressive infrastructure to try to get elected in an open seat that should go to a progressive. He's against opposes (sic) raising the minimum wage in Maine, and was endorsed by the hard-right business lobbying group BIPAC, which favors tax cuts for the wealthy, tort reform, subsidies for oil companies, and free trade. Cote is the only Democrat running for Congress endorsed by the group, and it is funded by, among other companies, Halliburton.

Cote is also an Iraq veteran, and is backed by VoteVets. So here we have someone who is basically a Republican - opposing the minimum wage is pretty bad stuff - running in an open seat backed by Wall Street and defense contractor money. Conservatives like Cote should be understood as ideological warriors for the right-wing and the business community who are enwombing themselves in the Democratic Party because that is where power is going to flow.

This should be a seat going to a real Democrat. Cote isn't even that, he was apparently a registered Republican until 2006. I'm sure if he got into Congress, Cote would be a mediocre member of the Democratic caucus. He would vote for the GI Bill, and he would follow along and vote for timelines when it was safe to do so. He would be a Blue Dog, or a New Democrat.

In the meantime, if you're a Mainer, watch out for Adam Cote.

I asked Cote if he was associated with the DLC, Hillary's Republican infiltrators. He chuckled and shook his head no. But after reading Open Left's assessment, I gotta think membership isn't a requisite for getting ahead with that lot. I'll need to find out more from Mr. Cote before I'd kick him to the curb -- his service duty affords him that much in my book.

Meanwhile, the Boston Globe says Ethan Strimling is the Progressives' choice.

it is what it is... unless it isn't...

I'd vote for Obama even if he were Muslim.

Hell! I might even be more enthusiastic about it.

ahh, the beach... !

Trekked to Reid State Park today. Alas, my cellphone battery and, hence, cam crapped out just as I started snapping the pics. Still, I liked this shot of the few I did get, and find the contrast to the shots I took of The Big Sur back in '06 interesting.

another one bites the dust...

William E. Odom, LTG, US Army (ret.): 1932 - 2008

This one hurts a little because Odom was a "forceful critic of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq." Anybody in uniform, or recently so, and who can point out what a goddamn fool we have as president, makes this a better place.

another one bites the dust...

Yves St. Laurent: 1936 - 2008

Bonus points if you can pronounce his name like he did.

mccain's youtube problem just became a nightmare...

Unbelievable to think this crispy critter has any chance at the Oval Office...

And as the sign says: "It's up to you to get the word out. Send this to 10 people, and tell them to pass it on."

great name for the world's fastest man...

Usain Bolt:

The Jamaican sprinter, who doesn't even consider the 100 meters his best race, set the world record Saturday night with a time of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix, .02 seconds faster than the old mark held by his countryman, Asafa Powell.

rabid squirrels for hillary...

Get a load of this bushy-tail!

Or: Is what happens when you eat sour grapes.

h/t to Firedoglake...

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Update: Wow! Merlot doesn't pull any punches.

headline of the day...

... or of the week:

The Comeback Id

With the subheader of the day/week:

Bubba Trouble

beat l.a....

Proof positive as to why Boston sports fans are the best in the world:

The intensity of the rivalry was encapsulated in the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals. The winners were to face the Lakers, and after it became clear the Celtics were going to lose to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Garden crowd erupted into chants of, "Beat L.A.!"

I was in my sophomore year at UMass at the time, on my way to flunking out. I moved to Boston for the next five years, spending one year as sports coordinator for WMBR - Community Radio at MIT; obtained Garden press passes for the '83-84 season, including the playoffs, although not for The Finals as the demand from the national media was too great. But the Boston bar scene was teeming with crazies in any event fersherr. Good times indeed! So the upcoming series comes with it for me that little extra buzz.

P.S., Went back to UMass in '87 and graduated in '90, in case you were worried.

pre-dynastic... ?

Nick Cafardo says the Tampa Bay Rays are for real.

Also, this tidbit (as Aparicio was the favored SS of my youth):

"This past Sunday, Omar Vizquel set the record for most games played at shortstop, breaking the mark held by Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio [2,583 games]. One record of Aparicio's that Vizquel can't break is Aparicio remaining the only nonpitcher in the Hall of Fame to play all of his games at one position. Vizquel played one game at second base for Seattle in 1991 and one game in right for the Indians in 1999. At 39, Little Looie ended his career playing both ends of a Fenway doubleheader for the Red Sox on Sept. 28, 1973, going 2 for 6."