-- Thomas Jefferson
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Quote Of The Day
Jan 18th, 2012
"It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God."
-- Thomas Jefferson
-- Thomas Jefferson
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A Nightmare Next Door, cont...
Jan 17th, 2012
Here name was Jackie, dammit. Not, "Jacqueline."
She was a good neighbor and a warm soul. She lived on the other side of my house.
She liked football and animals and Pinot Grigio. She liked the latter quite a lot.
All that separated our lives was a few thin layers of drywall. She was gorgeous, not the frowning face the newspapers have chosen to show.
More than that, she was beautiful in a way that didn't even threaten my girlfriend, Jenni.
Jenni's first reaction, upon seeing the ID photo or mug-shot or whatever bad-shot the gutter-draggers passing themselves off as "journalists" published was to exclaim, "Where's her smile?"
Indeed. Jackie's smile could light up the whole out of doors, not just a room.
She was murdered this weekend. According to a friend of Jenni's privy to local law enforcement, it was grisly. A single shot from a large caliber weapon.
My girlfriend apparently heard it. Not knowing what guns sound like, outside of the fiction of film, she thought it might have been one of our cats engaging in the casual destruction of which they are so very adept.
She was wrong. I was asleep. It didn't even register. Then, this happened.
For the last 2 days, our world has been cops. City cops. County cops. State cops. They all descended upon us. Multiple interviews with cops. Telling them all the same thing; "No. I don't know anything. No, it doesn't make sense. No, I never thought there were any serious problems."
And Vultures. Taking pictures. Plastering my exact address and photos of my home across the internet. Which has brought the gawkers, the rubber-neckers and the sick-fucks. You want a photo? Here's a fucking photo. From inside my house.
Then, there is the obvious suspect. His name is "Doug," although the media, as of this writing, has not yet released it.
I liked him, too. He was nice to me. We often talked while his crazy, dumb dog tried to jump on me and knock me over. I liked that he was such a good neighbor. Whenever he had friends over, he would knock and say, "Hey, buddy. Wanna hang out? Just lettin' you know we might be loud and stuff."
More often than not, I would decline. But, it felt great to have people we thought we could trust.
They were also very beautiful together.
To be honest, I thought of Doug as a very, very lucky man to have so lovely a lady.
Which just serves to make this uglier and harder to deal with.
It was his mother whom I consoled outside in the earliest hours of Monday morning.
She loved Jackie. Everybody loved Jackie.
Jackie was altogether lovable.
And special.
And now, our world is the stuff of bullshit TV-movies and hangers-on and quick-buck artists hawking manipulative crap about "domestic incidents."
And blah, blah, blah. And blah, blah, blah.
I just want her back...
Walking up the driveway in that ridiculous pancho she actually knew how to rock.
Flashing a peace-sign as if it were current. Beaming that smile and asking, "How are you?"
So that I might shoot back, "good... and you?"
As it is with all things that are too hard to fathom and, simultaneously, too ordinarily lurid...
I want a Goddamn explanation.
In spite of the fact that I know there will never, ever be one.
Here name was Jackie, dammit. Not, "Jacqueline."
She liked football and animals and Pinot Grigio. She liked the latter quite a lot.
All that separated our lives was a few thin layers of drywall. She was gorgeous, not the frowning face the newspapers have chosen to show.
More than that, she was beautiful in a way that didn't even threaten my girlfriend, Jenni.
Jenni's first reaction, upon seeing the ID photo or mug-shot or whatever bad-shot the gutter-draggers passing themselves off as "journalists" published was to exclaim, "Where's her smile?"
Indeed. Jackie's smile could light up the whole out of doors, not just a room.
She was murdered this weekend. According to a friend of Jenni's privy to local law enforcement, it was grisly. A single shot from a large caliber weapon.
My girlfriend apparently heard it. Not knowing what guns sound like, outside of the fiction of film, she thought it might have been one of our cats engaging in the casual destruction of which they are so very adept.
She was wrong. I was asleep. It didn't even register. Then, this happened.
For the last 2 days, our world has been cops. City cops. County cops. State cops. They all descended upon us. Multiple interviews with cops. Telling them all the same thing; "No. I don't know anything. No, it doesn't make sense. No, I never thought there were any serious problems."
And Vultures. Taking pictures. Plastering my exact address and photos of my home across the internet. Which has brought the gawkers, the rubber-neckers and the sick-fucks. You want a photo? Here's a fucking photo. From inside my house.
Then, there is the obvious suspect. His name is "Doug," although the media, as of this writing, has not yet released it.
I liked him, too. He was nice to me. We often talked while his crazy, dumb dog tried to jump on me and knock me over. I liked that he was such a good neighbor. Whenever he had friends over, he would knock and say, "Hey, buddy. Wanna hang out? Just lettin' you know we might be loud and stuff."
More often than not, I would decline. But, it felt great to have people we thought we could trust.
They were also very beautiful together.
To be honest, I thought of Doug as a very, very lucky man to have so lovely a lady.
Which just serves to make this uglier and harder to deal with.
It was his mother whom I consoled outside in the earliest hours of Monday morning.
She loved Jackie. Everybody loved Jackie.
Jackie was altogether lovable.
And special.
And now, our world is the stuff of bullshit TV-movies and hangers-on and quick-buck artists hawking manipulative crap about "domestic incidents."
And blah, blah, blah. And blah, blah, blah.
I just want her back...
Walking up the driveway in that ridiculous pancho she actually knew how to rock.
Flashing a peace-sign as if it were current. Beaming that smile and asking, "How are you?"
So that I might shoot back, "good... and you?"
As it is with all things that are too hard to fathom and, simultaneously, too ordinarily lurid...
I want a Goddamn explanation.
In spite of the fact that I know there will never, ever be one.
A Nightmare Next Door
Jan 17th, 2012
by F. Grey Parker
I didn't have time to read much over the last day and a half. Unlike last year, I didn't have time to publish anything about MLK Day. I slept through the South Carolina GOP debate. Our world was turned upside down over the last 2 days.
At a little before Midnight on Sunday evening, my doorbell rang. I got out of bed, grumbling mildly, expecting to see a friend who occasionally drops by at that hour. Instead, standing in front of me, there was a policeman.
"When was the last time you saw your next door neighbor?" he asked hurriedly.
by F. Grey Parker
I didn't have time to read much over the last day and a half. Unlike last year, I didn't have time to publish anything about MLK Day. I slept through the South Carolina GOP debate. Our world was turned upside down over the last 2 days.
At a little before Midnight on Sunday evening, my doorbell rang. I got out of bed, grumbling mildly, expecting to see a friend who occasionally drops by at that hour. Instead, standing in front of me, there was a policeman.
"When was the last time you saw your next door neighbor?" he asked hurriedly.
"Taser Nation"
Jan 17th, 2012
Radley Balko explores the rapid increase of Taser use by law enforcement and takes aim at the methodology of those deeming them "safe:"
"Tasers may indeed be safe when used on "healthy, normal, nonstressed, nonintoxicated persons," but it’s unlikely someone who meets all of those criteria would be a legitimate Taser target in the first place. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say the study's real conclusion is that Tasers are only safe when they're used on people who shouldn't be Tasered."
Radley Balko explores the rapid increase of Taser use by law enforcement and takes aim at the methodology of those deeming them "safe:"
"Tasers may indeed be safe when used on "healthy, normal, nonstressed, nonintoxicated persons," but it’s unlikely someone who meets all of those criteria would be a legitimate Taser target in the first place. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say the study's real conclusion is that Tasers are only safe when they're used on people who shouldn't be Tasered."
Quote Of The Day
Jan17th, 2012
"Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor's wall is ablaze."
-- Horace
Monday, January 16, 2012
Quote Of The Day
Jan 16th, 2012
"A word of kindness is seldom spoken in vain, while witty sayings are as easily lost as the pearls slipping from a broken string."
-- George Dennison Prentice
-- George Dennison Prentice
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The First Colbert SuperPAC Ad
Jan 15th, 2012
It's only January... this could get very interesting...
It's only January... this could get very interesting...
Friday, January 13, 2012
Romney Watch - FBI Investigating Bain Capital?
Jan 13th, 2012
Well, yes. But, let's not all start wildly speculating.
historiographic anarchy posted last week:
"About two weeks ago, the FBI evoked FOIA exemption 7(a) and denied access to all Bain Capital records on the grounds that "there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records; and that release of the information contained in these responsive records could reasonably be expected to interfere with the enforcement proceedings."
I can find very little background on this story which has been floating around the margins for a while. That said, something is going on. It is unclear what documents were requested and for what time-frame.
It's important to again remind everyone that any number of recent Bain purchases might have triggered an automatic law enforcement review. The 2010 acquisition of $12 million in Edgar Online stock, for example, raised a number of red flags. We will keep an eye on this one.
The original document can be found HERE
Click on image for better view
Well, yes. But, let's not all start wildly speculating.
historiographic anarchy posted last week:
"About two weeks ago, the FBI evoked FOIA exemption 7(a) and denied access to all Bain Capital records on the grounds that "there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records; and that release of the information contained in these responsive records could reasonably be expected to interfere with the enforcement proceedings."
I can find very little background on this story which has been floating around the margins for a while. That said, something is going on. It is unclear what documents were requested and for what time-frame.
It's important to again remind everyone that any number of recent Bain purchases might have triggered an automatic law enforcement review. The 2010 acquisition of $12 million in Edgar Online stock, for example, raised a number of red flags. We will keep an eye on this one.
The original document can be found HERE
Click on image for better view
Dana Loesch, Artless Fascist, Strikes Again
Jan 13th, 2012
The original title included a pejorative that drew a great deal of blowback. It was not meant to be overtly sexist. I stand by the rest of the piece.
You have likely heard by now that some of our troops were recorded on video urinating on dead bodies in Afghanistan. It is not only shocking and immoral, it is not merely a violation of the uniform military code, it is an act so cravenly stupid that it endangers the safety of their fellow servicemen and women. It invites savage retribution in an already brutal country. The ugliness doesn't end there...
Joe Coscarelli reports for NY Mag:
"Tea party favorite Dana Loesch, the editor-in-chief of Andrew Breitbart's Big Journalism and a CNN political analyst, is a big fan of the Marines who were videotaped urinating on Taliban corpses, and would gladly "drop trou and do it too," she said on her radio showyesterday. "That's me though," she said, incredulous that such an event could be a scandal. "I want a million cool points for these guys. Is that harsh to say? Come on people, this is a war. What do people think this is?" On Twitter today, she can't believe anyone is outraged, at her or the troops."
Indeed. She can't possibly get it. I have had the displeasure of tangling with this disgusting harpy in the past. She is, quite possibly, one of the worst human beings on the face of the Earth. The evidence of corpse desecration which she thinks deserves "a million cool points" is below.
ABC News reports:
"The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has already launched its own independent investigation into potential criminal activity shown in the video. All four Marines featured in the video have been identified and interviewed by investigators with the NCIS, the service said in a statement today. Officials are "still tracking down" whoever created and uploaded the video, the NCIS said.
The results of both the NCIS and the USMC investigations will be presented to Marine Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser who will determine further action, the USMC said in a statement.
If authentic, the video portrays potential violations of both the first Geneva Convention, which calls for the dead to be "honorably interred" and graves to be "respected," as well as the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice for allegedly bringing "discredit upon the armed forces."
Audio of this vulgar, Eva Braun-wannabe's celebration of a war crime follows.
The original title included a pejorative that drew a great deal of blowback. It was not meant to be overtly sexist. I stand by the rest of the piece.
You have likely heard by now that some of our troops were recorded on video urinating on dead bodies in Afghanistan. It is not only shocking and immoral, it is not merely a violation of the uniform military code, it is an act so cravenly stupid that it endangers the safety of their fellow servicemen and women. It invites savage retribution in an already brutal country. The ugliness doesn't end there...
Joe Coscarelli reports for NY Mag:
"Tea party favorite Dana Loesch, the editor-in-chief of Andrew Breitbart's Big Journalism and a CNN political analyst, is a big fan of the Marines who were videotaped urinating on Taliban corpses, and would gladly "drop trou and do it too," she said on her radio showyesterday. "That's me though," she said, incredulous that such an event could be a scandal. "I want a million cool points for these guys. Is that harsh to say? Come on people, this is a war. What do people think this is?" On Twitter today, she can't believe anyone is outraged, at her or the troops."
Indeed. She can't possibly get it. I have had the displeasure of tangling with this disgusting harpy in the past. She is, quite possibly, one of the worst human beings on the face of the Earth. The evidence of corpse desecration which she thinks deserves "a million cool points" is below.
ABC News reports:
"The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has already launched its own independent investigation into potential criminal activity shown in the video. All four Marines featured in the video have been identified and interviewed by investigators with the NCIS, the service said in a statement today. Officials are "still tracking down" whoever created and uploaded the video, the NCIS said.
The results of both the NCIS and the USMC investigations will be presented to Marine Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser who will determine further action, the USMC said in a statement.
If authentic, the video portrays potential violations of both the first Geneva Convention, which calls for the dead to be "honorably interred" and graves to be "respected," as well as the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice for allegedly bringing "discredit upon the armed forces."
Audio of this vulgar, Eva Braun-wannabe's celebration of a war crime follows.
Mitt Romney's Version Of Capitalism, part 3
Jan 13th, 2012
As attacks on Mitt Romney's years at Bain Capital have picked up steam, a veritable army of apologists has taken up the mantle of "defending capitalism." Except that's not precisely what they are doing.
Ross Kaminsky has a typically defensive piece over at The American Spectator. He begins with a caveat:
"Nobody is going to put Mitt Romney in a category with any of the great inventors of American history. Nevertheless, Romney's function in terms of "creative destruction" is not fundamentally different from that of any other participant in the capitalist system." EMPHASIS OURS
He then proceeds to bloviate that the advances brought to the world by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs led to job losses, too. So there. Kaminsky's missive is a wonder of contradictions with the usual dose of "Austrian" economic voodoo.
As attacks on Mitt Romney's years at Bain Capital have picked up steam, a veritable army of apologists has taken up the mantle of "defending capitalism." Except that's not precisely what they are doing.
Ross Kaminsky has a typically defensive piece over at The American Spectator. He begins with a caveat:
"Nobody is going to put Mitt Romney in a category with any of the great inventors of American history. Nevertheless, Romney's function in terms of "creative destruction" is not fundamentally different from that of any other participant in the capitalist system." EMPHASIS OURS
He then proceeds to bloviate that the advances brought to the world by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs led to job losses, too. So there. Kaminsky's missive is a wonder of contradictions with the usual dose of "Austrian" economic voodoo.
Mitt Romney's Version Of Capitalism, cont...
Jan 13th, 2012
Last week, Jonathan Weisman reported:
"More than three-quarters of Americans say the country’s economic structure is out of balance and "favors a very small proportion of the rich over the rest of the country," taking up the calls of Occupy Wall Street protesters to reduce the power of major banks and end tax breaks for the affluent and for corporations, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows."
People are waking up to the fact that we have an unsustainable system and the fix is in. Not so, says Mitt Romney. He says the problem with all of us little people is "envy."
Last week, Jonathan Weisman reported:
"More than three-quarters of Americans say the country’s economic structure is out of balance and "favors a very small proportion of the rich over the rest of the country," taking up the calls of Occupy Wall Street protesters to reduce the power of major banks and end tax breaks for the affluent and for corporations, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows."
People are waking up to the fact that we have an unsustainable system and the fix is in. Not so, says Mitt Romney. He says the problem with all of us little people is "envy."
Mitt Romney's Version Of Capitalism
Jan 13th, 2012
by F. Grey Parker
The GOP 's internal war over Mitt Romney's years at Bain Capital has gotten very interesting during the last few weeks. It is not merely because of the vendetta against the frontrunner being waged by, as David Corn put it, "Newt The Destroyer." The discussion has now gone much deeper than whether or not Romney ran the company properly. For the first time in recent memory, an intra-Republican Party debate has broken out over the moral responsibilities of the management and ownership class within the capitalist system.
The Newt Gingrich-allied SuperPAC, Winning The Future, is basically using the common sense language at the core of both the Occupy Movement and their Tea Party opposites to attack the Romney mythology of what constitutes good business.
The complete video is available HERE
by F. Grey Parker
The GOP 's internal war over Mitt Romney's years at Bain Capital has gotten very interesting during the last few weeks. It is not merely because of the vendetta against the frontrunner being waged by, as David Corn put it, "Newt The Destroyer." The discussion has now gone much deeper than whether or not Romney ran the company properly. For the first time in recent memory, an intra-Republican Party debate has broken out over the moral responsibilities of the management and ownership class within the capitalist system.
The Newt Gingrich-allied SuperPAC, Winning The Future, is basically using the common sense language at the core of both the Occupy Movement and their Tea Party opposites to attack the Romney mythology of what constitutes good business.
The complete video is available HERE
Charting The Big Fix
Jan 13th, 2012
The chart below from Reuters adds to the picture of a tax system that is more corrupt than it is broken.
The chart below from Reuters adds to the picture of a tax system that is more corrupt than it is broken.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Quote Of The Day - Things Sure Have Changed Edition
Jan 12th, 2012
"I'm proud of having been one of the first to recognize that states and the federal government have a duty to protect our natural resources from the damaging effects of pollution that can accompany industrial development."
-- Ronald Reagan, July 14, 1984, atoning for his notorious Redwood tree remark from some years earlier.
-- Ronald Reagan, July 14, 1984, atoning for his notorious Redwood tree remark from some years earlier.
Sally Kohn Takes Fox News To School
Jan 12th, 2012
by F. Grey Parker
Our home base is here in North West Indiana. As such, we have been fighting against Gov. Mitch Daniels' "right-to-work" plot since last June.
Just after the New Year, Daniels renewed this odious assault on, well, the advances of the post-Feudal economy that once defined our nation's progress. It is a bitter engagement. For more on this you can click HERE, HERE or HERE. Last night, Sally Kohn kicked some serious ass, in short order, on Fox News.
by F. Grey Parker
Our home base is here in North West Indiana. As such, we have been fighting against Gov. Mitch Daniels' "right-to-work" plot since last June.
Just after the New Year, Daniels renewed this odious assault on, well, the advances of the post-Feudal economy that once defined our nation's progress. It is a bitter engagement. For more on this you can click HERE, HERE or HERE. Last night, Sally Kohn kicked some serious ass, in short order, on Fox News.
Newt Watch - Not EVERY Location Is A "Photo-Op"
Jan 12th, 2012
Beating all previous entries for a potential "Holy Shit, What The Fuck Was Newt Gingrich Thinking," award, comes this stunner via Vanity Fair. This is a professional photograph, posed and shot intentionally and provided to the magazine via Gingrich Productions. I am not trying to use this as bait on any supposed grounds of anti-Semitism.
I don't believe that is what is at play, here.
However, I am wondering if this might not be evidence of a purer sociopathology than I had previously suspected given his obvious narcissism. Think about it... would you smile for your official photographer in front of the gates of World War Two's most notorious DEATH CAMP?!
Beating all previous entries for a potential "Holy Shit, What The Fuck Was Newt Gingrich Thinking," award, comes this stunner via Vanity Fair. This is a professional photograph, posed and shot intentionally and provided to the magazine via Gingrich Productions. I am not trying to use this as bait on any supposed grounds of anti-Semitism.
I don't believe that is what is at play, here.
However, I am wondering if this might not be evidence of a purer sociopathology than I had previously suspected given his obvious narcissism. Think about it... would you smile for your official photographer in front of the gates of World War Two's most notorious DEATH CAMP?!
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