Suburban Insurgency

Sorry about the delay.....

2011-05-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

2011-04-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

Avatar Review......cynical, funny, true

2010-02-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

2 parts. A bit longish but pretty entertaining

Star Trek vs Star Wars.....

2010-02-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

In case you still weren't sure which one is better.....

Grammy Comments....

2010-02-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

Ok Loved the Green Day rock opera bit. The start up with Lady Gaga and Elton John was great - Lady Gaga - bringing back glam rock, but she can both sing and play instruments! Over the top.

Colbert was a bit of a dud...not sure if he was in character, ironic or just...flat.

WTF was up with the Zac Brown band. Was this a &*$*ing Sarah Palin Tea Bagger rally or something? Get rid of them.

Loved Pink. what an outfit, what a great acrobatic performance - singing upside down, mostly naked (OK a body suit) and dipped in water. Yikes.

Loved Taylor Swift. So cute and so talented. Seems honestly humble.

What's with Beyonce's militaristic performance? And the crotch grabbing? huh? not a song you can hum along to really. Lost me with that one.

And the Michael Jackson thing, with 3D - I guess a tribute was needed, but ...I left the room it was so boring.

Air Penguins! ....

2010-02-01T09:26:00.001-08:00

Dude....I want my flying penguin....uh....car

No Healthcare for You ........

2010-01-19T22:09:00.000-08:00

Suburban Insurgent has been avoiding politics lately...no NPR, avoiding the controversy because she is just tired, but the loss of Ted Kennedy's seat to a fraking republican and the subsequent impact to health reform is sickening.

No Healthcare for You Mr Teabagger.......Because that's what America wants apparently....no healthcare reform, let's keep the status quo because it works so well. Working at the Walmart....heck you can get those $4 prescriptions. Who needs health reform?

Idiots.

Got my first COBRA bill today. Hoping to get a job soon.

And the leaders of the Republican Party are (let's remember shall we?) Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Dick Cheney. Yeah....those are guys I want watching my back.

Klingon Christmas Carol....

2009-11-20T13:37:00.001-08:00

An after-Thanksgiving treat for the whole family...

Scrooge has no honor, nor any courage. Can three ghosts help him to become the true warrior he ought to be in time to save Tiny Tim from a horrible fate? Performed in the Original Klingon with English Supertitles, and narrative analysis from The Vulcan Institute of Cultural Anthropology.

Playing November 27 through December 13 at Minneapolis' Mixed Blood Theater

Makes me *almost wish* I lived in Minneapolis...

Lady GaGa, Cartman and Chrisopher Walken mashup....

2009-11-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Make Me Mighty! ......

2009-11-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

YES! on those days when you need a powerburst to the ego...go to "http://makememighty.ca/" where YOU TOO can get a cool name and title.

Praise be the Tweet.....

2009-11-16T07:48:00.001-08:00

new video of the day.....

2009-11-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

yeah, this one is even better....all those violin lessons pay off....

video of the day....

2009-11-15T13:37:00.001-08:00

Robots Attack! ......Montevideo...

2009-11-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Very very cool movie...well done!

Open a bottle of wine with a shoe......

2009-11-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

Who uses a shoe! - the French...apparently and they certainly might know a thing or two about wine...

The Economy Hits Home......

2009-11-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

Quite personally for me today....got riffed, axed, the sack, you know. *sigh*. Fortunately, lots of supportive friends, family, colleagues and a couple of dogs with wet noses that expect more walkies....and a horse that needs more attention than he's been getting.

Well....dayum...

And...as Sigourney Weaver says in "Galaxy Quest" "This episode was badly written"

White Men Voting for Obama,,,

2009-11-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

Not too surprising really.

best costume....

2009-10-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Stupid Insurance Industry.....

2009-10-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

RALEIGH, N.C. —Even Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina acknowledges that its timing on two recent mailings was unfortunate.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that customers first learned their rates will rise by an average of 11 percent next year.

Then they got a flier urging them to send an enclosed preprinted, postage-paid note to Sen. Kay Hagan denouncing what the company says is unfair competition that would be imposed by a government-backed insurance plan. Congress is likely to consider that public option as it debates the health care overhaul....

Indignant Blue Cross customers, complaining that their premium dollars are funding the campaign, have called Hagan's office to voice support for a public option. They've marked through the Blue Cross message on their postcards and changed it to show they support the public option, then mailed the cards.

I read that some even attached their Blue Cross Pre-paid postage to a brick.....right on .

The Beauty of "Opt -out"

2009-10-27T14:52:00.001-07:00

The political beauty of the public option opt-out, in a nutshell: the red states will throw a tantrum & hold their breath -- until they turn blue.

Chap-Hop...

2009-10-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

Mos Eisley Spaceport.....

2009-10-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

Samuel L. Jackson explains Google Wave

2009-10-17T09:43:00.001-07:00

Ok - so I am still NOT sure I understand Google Wave, but this is very entertaining nonetheless.....

How Useful Are You?

2009-10-15T10:31:00.001-07:00

Take the quiz and find out....

http://theuniverseas.com/how-useful-are-you-take-this-technology-quiz

If you were to travel 2000 years into the past, how useful would you be in jumpstarting technological advancements? This 10 question quiz will help you figure out your technological usefulness. If you do poorly on the quiz, as most people likely will, then just let that inspire you to study up more on how things work and where raw materials come from.

Video of the Day....

2009-10-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

Rush Limbaugh Determined to be Too Mean and Nasty to Buy an NFL Football Team....

2009-10-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Well, Michael Vick aside, I guess those rich guys in the NFL owners association have some sense - if only monetary....El Rushbo won't be able to own a team....been dumped from the group.

oh, boo hoo....those nasty liberals made them do it.

Read about it here: Salon's Joan Walsh

Federal Judge Refuses To Dismiss a Constitutional Challenge to Proposition 8....

2009-10-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, ruling after nearly two hours of argument in San Francisco, rejected arguments by Proposition 8 proponents that precedent and tradition clearly showed last November's ballot measure was permissible under the U.S. Constitution.

All righty then! AND he wants the "Pro Prop 8 folks" to bring evidence as to exactly HOW permitting same sex marriage undermines heterosexual marriage.

Read all about it in the LA Times Article

Among other things....
"During the hearing, Charles Cooper, representing the Proposition 8 campaign, argued that marriage historically has been reserved for unions between a man and a woman because only opposite-sex couples can procreate "naturally."

Judge Walker, however, noted that not all married couples can procreate.

"Just last month," Walker said, "I performed a wedding in which the groom was 95 and the bride was 83. I did not demand that they prove they would engage in procreation."

The judge previously ordered the Proposition 8 campaign to disclose its internal strategy memorandums and communications, an order the campaign is appealing to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on 1st Amendment grounds.

Lets hope that Prop 8 can be overturned and everyone can have the right to marry whomever they want.

It's Class Warfare Stupid.....

2009-10-14T09:33:00.001-07:00

Turns out it's not that the Dems are Spineless Wimps or that the GOP are Shameless Idiots....it's really all about a Class War....between "us" and "them". "Them" being the "Ruling Class" aka "The MAN" and "Us" being the great unwashed masses.

And just because you live in a nice house, drive a nice car and have health insurance....don't fool yourself. Unless you have a few hundred million in the bank, you are nothing but a peasant. Start humming a few bars of Lennon's "Working Class Hero"....

Daily KO's nails it: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/13/792824/-Turns-Out-It-Is-Not-The-Republicans-After-All

More Reasons to Reject Organized Religion....

2009-10-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

Conservative Bible Project Cuts Out Liberal Passages

And....as Andrew Sullivan says.....it's "Not an Onion headline"...

And....here is a picture of how the "Conservatives" see America.....(or wish America was....)

Hey, Jesus is a cool guy - dusty carpenter, son of Man and all that, but He didn't write the US Constitution.

28 days later in .....60 seconds....

2009-09-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

watch the great Zombie film "28 days later" in only 60 seconds.....seriously - the entire plot is summarized for you.....

Be careful out there on the Interweb.....

2009-09-24T11:19:00.001-07:00

Death Panels from Funny or Die

2009-09-23T14:17:00.001-07:00

Toooo Die for......

Death Panels Are Real (Part 2) from Jon Daly

and this one too

Death Panel Advisors - watch more funny videos

Republicans are a Party of the South......

2009-09-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

Just a party of the South....although that doesn't explain all those teabagging rage parties in various parts of the country....oh...wait...Fox News busses those people in.

Protect the Insurance Companies.....!

2009-09-22T07:21:00.001-07:00

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

The Rat Patrol

2009-09-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

I loved this show as a kid.....

Fortune Cookie Wisdom......

2009-09-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Time Lapse Video of SF - ....

2009-09-21T10:54:00.001-07:00

Another Cloud Reel... from Delrious on Vimeo.

thats entertainment....

2009-09-18T14:25:00.001-07:00

Links of the day.....

2009-09-17T08:21:00.000-07:00

Sex Anxiety Replaced by Race Anxiety on Far Right
For the first time in at least a decade, middle class whites have been galvanized by the fear that their taxes are benefiting lazy, shiftless others. The messianic, imperialistic, hubristic side of the right has gone into retreat, and a cramped, mean and paranoid style has come to the fore.

Christian Groups Block Showing of Darwin Movie in U.S
This is the kind of thing that makes it really easy to rant about brainwashed Christians like an angsty high schooler, or snottily proclaim that Americans are stupid and you're moving to another country: a movie about Charles Darwin shown almost all over the world won't play in the U.S. because the film has been turned down by American distributors. Yes, a movie about a 19th century scientist who developed a theory uniformly accepted in the scientific community has been deemed too controversial for distribution in the U.S.

One in Three New Jersey Conservatives Thinks Obama Might Be the Anti-Christ
You Go New Jersey......!

Rush Limbaugh wants Segregated Buses.....

2009-09-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

Go Rush.....Lets go back to the 50's.....thats taking our Country "Back"......

Limbaugh: We Need Segregated Buses
"...the right-wing radio heavyweight declared on his program Wednesday that the United States needed to return to racially segregated buses...."

And since he is the de facto "Leader" of the GOP - sounds like they are the party of Racists to me.....

You Know You're a Peasant When......

2009-09-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

From Matt Taibbi:
when the excesses of business interests and their political proteges in Washington leave the regular guy broke and screwed, the response is always for the lower and middle classes to split down the middle and find reasons to get pissed off not at their greedy bosses but at each other.

That’s why Glenn Beck’s audience, mostly lower-income people, can’t imagine themselves protesting against the Wall Street barons who in actuality are the ones who fucked them over. . . .

Actual rich people can’t ever be the target.

It’s a classic peasant mentality: going into fits of groveling and bowing whenever the master’s carriage rides by, then fuming against the Turks in Crimea or the Jews in the Pale or whoever after spending fifteen hard hours in the fields.

You know you’re a peasant when you worship the very people who are right now, this minute, conning you and taking your shit.

Whatever the master does, you’re on board.

When you get frisky, he sticks a big cross in the middle of your village, and you spend the rest of your life praying to it with big googly eyes.

Or he puts out newspapers full of innuendo about this or that faraway group and you immediately salute and rush off to join the hate squad.

A good peasant is loyal, simpleminded, and full of misdirected anger.

And that’s what we’ve got now, a lot of misdirected anger searching around for a non-target to mis-punish . . .

Can’t be mad at AIG, can’t be mad at Citi or Goldman Sachs.The real villains have to be the anti-AIG protesters! After all, those people earned those bonuses!

If ever there was a textbook case of peasant thinking, it’s struggling middle-class Americans burned up in defense of taxpayer-funded bonuses to millionaires. It’s really weird stuff.

People Who Died......

2009-09-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

Jim Carroll, the poet and punk rocker who wrote "The Basketball Diaries," died Friday. He was 60.

He died from a heart attack at his home in Manhattan, his ex-wife Rosemary Carroll told the New York Times.

In the 1970s, Carroll was a fixture of the burgeoning downtown New York art scene, where he mixed with artists such as Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, Larry Rivers and Robert Mapplethorpe. His life was shaped by drug use, which he wrote about extensively.

Carroll also published several poetry collections, while his 1980 album, "Catholic Boy," has been hailed as a landmark punk record, and he became known for one of its songs, "People Who Died."

Loved that song........

Handy Numbers -- National Health Crisis Facts

2009-09-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

From Newshoggers

►Americans who are losing their health insurance, due to lost jobs in the economic downturn: 14,000 (per day)

►Average amount families with insurance paid in premiums to cover the cost-shift from the uninsured: $1100 (2009)

►Americans who die this year because they are uninsured, and have untreated illness: 22,000

►Health care spending wasted on paperwork to manage individual market instead of the more efficient group market: $3 billion (2009)

►Americans who were turned away or charged more for health insurance, over the last 3 years largely due to due discrimination to pre-existing conditions: 12.6 million (total, last three years)

►Americans who were imposed with medical debt or who had difficulty paying medical bills: 3 million new (over past year)

What hath Prop 8 wrought.....

2009-09-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Californians....better get your divorces soon....

http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/divorce/divorce.php

Wingnut Joe Marcotte has filed a petition with the Secretary of State of California to file the "2010 California Marriage Protection Act." - It is intended to ban divorce in the state of California.

"No party to a marriage shall be restored to the status of an unmarried person during the lifetime of the other party unless the marriage is voidable".....

" I am trying to extend the good work done with Proposition 8 last year"

$616,000....in <24 hours ....

2009-09-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

Apparently yelling "you lie" in Congress, at President Obama, during an internationally televised speech is a great fundraising technique.....for the Democrats. Rob Miller - Democrat running against Joe Wilson - has raised $616,000 in the last 24 hours.

Cool.

Yell something else Joe.

How Rude! ...

2009-09-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

Have we lost all decorum in this country? Apparently so.....Representative Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted "You Lie" to President Obama yesterday during his speech to Congress.....*sigh*.

And a Southerner no less....aren't they supposed to be more polite than the rest of us? Guess not!

I suppose you only have to be polite to fellow White Republican Southerners...... everyone else doesn't count.

Well.........so far, his Democratic opponent ROB MILLER has gotten (in less than 24 hours) $450,000 in donations . Right on. My $10 is part of that. If you would like to contribute...go here: http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/19079

GOP rebuttal to President Obama's speach

2009-09-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

Shamelessly stolen from DailyKOs (who apparently stole it from someone else.....)

GOP Rebuttal to The President's "Stay In School" Speech to Children

Stolen from the desk of M. Steele, and presented in no particular order, because keeping track of things is hard.

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today?

That's a personal question, children, and you don't have to answer it.

The President: When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years.

HE ADMITS IT! HE ADMITS IT! And Indonesia is RIGHT NEXT TO KENYA. (Teachers, please remove all maps and globes from the classroom at this point.)

The President:Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

Or not. Seriously, who the hell cares?

The President: Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer.

That's not true. Many of you will be good at nothing. Trust us, kids, we've watched you grow. Most of you will drift through life as directionless failures. Then you'll become senators.

The President: No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work.

Hard work is for suckers. There's two ways to be succeed in this world. One, get your dad to do it for you, then claim the success as your own. Two, win the lottery. In fact, borrow money from your dad to spend on lottery tickets. You're not made of money.

The President: But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.

Given that most of you won't, you can see why we think it's a waste of time and money to give you dedicated teachers and good schools. I mean, no sense pissing money away. Oh, and it's your fault.

The President: Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class.

Don't knock yourself out on it, though, because intellectual endeavor is for liberals and communists. But the three most nonsensical essays will be published by Regnery Publishing. Any of you proving to have exceptional illiteracy will be made Fox News anchors.

The President: You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Are we getting through to you yet? Knowing the "right" answer to something is hard. But if you just believe whatever the hell you want, you're done. Boom, pencils down, recess time. Isn't that just a hell of a lot easier for both you and us?

The President: And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers.

Except military, from now on. Hint-itty-hint-hint, kids.

The President: The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

That's why Sarah Palin is the Best American To Ever Walk The Planet. If you call it "moving on", it ain't quitting.

The President: So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Our bet? "Thanks for not making torture an indictable offense!" Seriously, kids, we can't thank you enough for that.

The President: Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

OK, that's just shameless pandering now. That's like something HitlerStalin would say. (Teachers, please remove all history books from the classroom at this point...)

Reasons NOT to move to Texas....

2009-09-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

The Texas economy *seems* to be better (at first glance) than California's and many people in need of a good job are moving there....but all is not as it seems.

Reasons NOT to move to Texas

1) A new state law requires that Texas public schools incorporate Bible literacy into the curriculum.

2) 4 out of America's 10 fattest cities are in Texas. Take a look at the "glutton" category at this link http://www.wired.com/culture/education/magazine/17-09/st_sinmaps

3) Poorly Educated Workforce: The Kauffman Foundation ranks Texas 41st for the education level of its workforce as well as for the average education level of recent arrivals from elsewhere in America, suggesting that too many of its newcomers are chasing low-end jobs. A committee on education appointed by Mr Perry concluded in January that “Texas is not globally competitive” and gave warning that it “faces a downward spiral in both quality of life and economic competitiveness”.

4) Mediocre Universities - Read the Economist Article:
Embarrassingly, Texas has only three “tier-one” universities (generally defined as meaning that a university undertakes at least $100m-worth of research a year). California has nine tier-one universities and New York state seven.

5) Last place in the nation for High School Graduation rates
http://www.parapundit.com/archives/002225.html

6) Most uninsured in the nation. 26.9% But who needs health care....Jesus will provide.... http://www.gallup.com/poll/122387/uninsured-highest-percentage-texas-lowest-mass.aspx

Don't Fuck with Obama.......

2009-09-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

Senator Edward Kennedy

2009-09-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die." RIP Senator Kennedy, 1932-2009

I wanted to post this last week.....but here it is now.

LA Fires

2009-09-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

Why I really hate organized religion......

2009-08-31T09:28:00.000-07:00

From TPM

Steven Anderson, the Arizona pastor who says he's praying for President Obama's death has now thrown in some helpful specificity. He wants him to get brain cancer like Sen. Kennedy. Also of note, Chris Broughton, Anderson's parishioner, who brought the assault rifle to the Obama event a few weeks ago now says he's praying for Obama's death too and is now hedging on whether he's suggesting that someone take matters into their own hands and end the president's life.

Links for a Monday.......

2009-08-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

Missouri School confuses "Evolution" as a religion:

School band creates a t-shirt depicting evolution (humorous) - is ordered by superintendent to turn them in because "district is required by law to remain neutral on religion"

What would Jesus Do?
Jesus would....apparently and according to the "Evangelicals" -torture more....

Read Andrew Sullivan:

"Indeed, much of the American people, especially evangelical Christians, expect less in terms of human rights from their own government than Iranians do of theirs'. In fact, American evangelicals are much more pro-torture in this respect than many Iranian Muslims."

10 Awesome Things that would happen if Health Care Passes
1: The First Thing That Will Happen Is Absolutely Nothing
If you have a decent health plan through your job, nothing will change for you in terms of your insurance.

2. New Protections for Consumers
No denial for pre-existing conditions
No cancellation of coverage in the middle of say.....cancer treatment...
etc.
3. Medical Bankruptcies Would Plummet
60% of all personal bankruptcies are caused by Medical costs

4. People Who Could Never Get Decent Coverage Will Finally Be Able To

5. (Almost) Everyone Gets Covered

6. Those Who Can't Afford the Premiums Will Get Help Paying

7. No Free Lunch for Businesses
Hello Walmart? Currently, large employers that rely on low-skilled workforces usually offer little or no health coverage, and much of these workers' health care is already subsidized by taxpayers in the form of Medicaid and Medicare payments

8. More Low-Income Workers Eligible for Medicaid

9. Some Things Will Change, but You'll Never Notice

10. Over Time, the System Will Become Healthier

Jesus Told Me.......

2009-08-19T18:53:00.001-07:00

So it Must be True........

Boycott Whole Foods! And Glenn Beck! And Walmart! and ...well lots of people.....

2009-08-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Fortunately - there ARE no Whole Foods near me and I am too cheap to shop there - so Boycott 'em......

Why? Because their CEO is spouting nonsense about healthcare plans http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html and he is clearly an idiot......(I've stopped being nice....)

I worry if Trader Joe's CEO says something stupid - because then I really would be up a tree.

OK - Glenn Beck is an ASS who claims that Obama hates whitey....or some such nonsense....so boycott him and anyone who advertises on his show http://colorofchange.org/

Walmart is just stupid...boycott them because they want you to buy really cheap shit from China so that you can afford to live at minimum wage in East Jesus Alabama and have no health care and no education and watch Fucking Fox News all day.....boycott them.....damn.....

And Boycott Fricking Miley Cyrus because she is a slut - POLE dancing on the Teen Choice awards. So what DOES the religious right say about his? Not a GOD DAMNED thing because they are too busy worrying that two gay men might get married. OR that Obama is *gasp* "African".....

Oh yeah....and WTF is with old white people who are ON Medicare for fucks sake who then have the temerity to accuse Obama of being "socialist" (code for the "n-word" ) and screaming that they don't want death panels. WTF?

As if private insurance doesn't ration care? hell0? stupid people? out there in Red State Jesus Land? Are you really that stupid? yes....you are......you are so stupid.

Am I ranting? Hell yes I am ranting. Armed people showing up at rallies where Obama is? Signs that say "go back to Kenya"? Hello? Racist much? Racist a LOT?! This is HATE CRIME stuff people.....wake up.....the hate and fear is absolutely out of control.

This country is better than that.

Fewer Than Half of Republicans think Obama is a Citizen.....

2009-08-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

Fewer Than Half of Republicans Think Obama is a Citizen

A forthcoming DailyKos/Research 2000 poll found 77% of Americans believe President Obama was born in the United States, 11% do not, and 12% are not sure.

Among Republicans only, 42% think he's an American citizen, 28% do not, and 30% are not sure.

Here's a complete breakdown of the numbers:

(Yes/No/Not Sure)

Dem: 93, 4, 3
Rep: 42, 28, 30
Ind: 83, 8, 9

Northeast: 93, 4, 3
South: 47, 23, 30
Midwest: 90, 6, 4
West: 87, 7, 6

18-29: 88, 4, 8
30-44: 72,14,14
45-59: 82, 8, 10
60 +: 69,17,14

Boycott Fox News Advertizers......

2009-08-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Could be a bit harder than you think as I am writing this on my Mac....and I read the WSJ every day.

60Plus.org
AARP Insurance
Accu Chek Aviva
ADT Security
Ally Bank (allybank.com)
Apple
Avodart
Brita Filter
Broadbive Security
Conservatives for Patients Rights
Ditech (ditech.com)
Forex.com
Golden Corral
Healthy Choice
HSBC Life Insurance
Mens Warehouse
Mercedes-Benz
Metastock
Nexium
Pepboys
Radio Shack
Rapid Wash
Red Lobster
Sargento Cheese
Super8 motels (super8.com)
Superior Gold Group
United Healthcare Insurance
United States Postal Service
Wallstreet Journal
Weitz&Luxemburg

The GOP's Health Care Plan.....finally....!

2009-08-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

The Hugo Winners.....

2009-08-10T08:13:00.001-07:00

http://www.thehugoawards.org/2009/08/2009-hugo-award-winners/

Among other things......

Best Novel: The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins; Bloomsbury UK)

and

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)

Sarah Palin Resigns?......

2009-07-03T19:58:00.001-07:00

Uh.....no, isn't that supposed to be Mark Sanford resigning? Or did I miss something. Did Sarah have an affair with an Argentinian? In Appalachia? I just went out for 2 hours and all this sh*t hits the fan....honestly.

She is ...uh clearing her plate for a 2012 run? In 2009? uh.....is that the way you should do it? Quit your current (supposedly successful ) day job for this? Go be a pundit with Bill OReilly somewhere? I don't get it....

Even a Blind Monkey Gets it Right Once in a While......

2009-06-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Consolidated Grieving......

2009-06-26T09:34:00.001-07:00

With thanks to Laughing Squid....

Star Wars Humor......

2009-06-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

A tragic day......so lets have some fun!

Collapse of Nose........

2009-06-25T16:21:00.001-07:00

Michael Jackson Stopped Breathing.......and has died. Tragic and sad.....but preventable. I knew the scotch tape on his nose wasn't enough to keep him going....he should have used duct tape.

"Hikin' the Appalachian Trail"......the new Euphemism.....

2009-06-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

"Hikin' the Appalachian Trial" -as in "he's out hikin' the Appalachian Trail " (if you know what I mean *wink*) (see Mark Sanford )

and Zombies.....

2009-06-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Currently listening (via Audible on my iPod) to "Pride, Prejudice and Zombies".....Love it!

Brilliant. Two thumbs up.

Would read/listen to more from these authors....

Freecycle.org.......

2009-06-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

Get rid of your stuff, get free stuff - its an online local swap ....

http://www.freecycle.org/search

type in your town/state as keywords and look for a local group.

already got rid of an old TV and found someone to give me pots (beats buying them! )

Bummer in Iran.....

2009-06-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

I really had hope that they would have a free election....guess I am naive....

Damn.....it's like Florida in 2000......

Andrew Sullivan reports

"Via my contacts at the Farsi-speaking BBC, a telephone plea:"

I AM UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE TO ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE SHAM ELECTION. THEY HAVE CUT ME OFF FROM ANY COMMUNICATION WITH PEOPLE AND AM UNDER SURVEILLANCE. I ASK THE PEOPLE TO STAY IN THE STREETS BUT AVOID VIOLENCE"

So Effing Racist its not funny......

2009-06-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

And this is why I hate Republicans:

"South Carolina GOP activist and former chairman of the state elections commission Rusty DePass has apologized for saying a gorilla that escaped from a zoo was an "ancestor" of Michelle Obama."

Look at this guy

Can you say Angry Old White Racist Guy? Where is his white sheet and hood? F*ck! This is why I hate the Republicans......

Don't get me started on the Mormons....

Best Selling Car in America......

2009-06-11T17:15:00.001-07:00

These things are ubiquitous.... I got my kids third hand from a friends junk heap. Passed it on to a nursery school.

Impossible to break, classic design, fuel efficient and easy to park.

The price of a Smart Phone.....

2009-06-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

good comparison but the price certainly adds up....click on the pic for a bigger image.

Obamas Blackberry......

2009-06-09T14:59:00.001-07:00

Hilarious.....http://www.firstblackberry.com/
Its an iphone app.....reason right there to buy an iPhone....

So True....

2009-06-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

Ecological Intelligence.....

2009-05-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Just because something says its "green" doesn't mean it is.

for example - organic cotton requires more than 2,640 gal. (10,000 L) of water to grow enough fiber for one T shirt

The problem is, our products all have complex supply chains - multiple components from multiple locations all around the world - it's very difficult to assess if something is really "'green" . Requires a detailed analysis -or a life-cycle assessment (LCA) to break down that web of connection.

Read the book: Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything

Read the Article in Time:"Ecological Intelligence "

Go to the Good Guide to determine how "green" your next purchase really is.

Links for a May Day......

2009-05-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

Shatnerquake: bizarro novel about every Shatner character sucked into reality to hunt down William Shatner
All of the characters ever played by William Shatner are suddenly sucked into our world. Their mission: hunt down and destroy the real William Shatner.

Mormon leader of NOM appears to advocate overthrow of US government "by whatever means necessary," and criminalization of homosexuality
Orson Scott Card (!) , a distinguished Sci Fi novelist, (remind me to burn his books now thanks) a professor of writing and literature at Southern Virginia University, and a columnist, recently joined the board of directors of the National Organization of Marriage (NOM).

He has labeled the US government "our mortal enemy," talked about the "insane Constitution" dying, and then appeared to advocate the overthrow of the US government "by whatever means is made possible or necessary.".....Nice.

Churchgoers more likely to back torture Who would Jesus waterboard? And big surprise here - evangelicals are the most pro-torture of any Christians.....Sadly enough - this doesn't surprise me a bit - "eye for an eye" and all that.

Republicans increasingly admit Franken has won Senate race in Minnesota First the media admitted it, and now GOP politicians. It's over Norm. And another major blow to the Republican brand.

Tea Bagging......what's all the fuss?

2009-04-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

Guess I haven't been paying attention - all this fuss about "tea baggers" and "tea bagging". I looked it up in Wikipedia and the first definition of "tea bagging" refers to a sexual technique (you can go look it up yourself) - which makes sense when you think about the GOP.........hmmmmm

The second definition refers to the current "populist" trend for "tea bag" parties to complain about taxes, creeping socialism, Obama, etc.

It's interesting to wonder about the origin of this trend......Fox News and Rush Limbaugh would be my guess. An optimist would consider that these "tea bag" parties are a form of civil disobedience - originating from the grass roots outrage over AIG - and that it's real and true and sincere.

The conspiracy theorist would assume that Rush and Fox News have taken this reasonable outrage - and twisted it to their own ends.

Recent polls show that ~48% of the American people think that their taxes are fair - that they pay their fair share.

I would like refer to the motto I adopted from Oliver Wendell Holmes ..."I like to pay taxes," said Oliver Wendell Holmes. "With them I buy civilization."

I wonder what Rush would buy? Well, he's not very civilized...is he - I wonder if he is housebroken? Seems unlikely somehow - I am sure it violates some freedom of his....or is creeping socialism.

Links of the day.....

2009-04-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

Sun's Six Biggest MistakesThe company's high-end, high-margin business wasn't run by stupid people. They just acted that way.

Fear Potato Day....

2009-04-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

What's with the wingnuts.....Apparently when the GOP wiretaps us, tortures, enters a war under false pretenses - it's fine, but when Obama wants health care - it's "tyranny"......Stewart has it right again. Fox News is ridiculous....

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Baracknophobia - Obey

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Tuesday Links......

2009-04-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

Investors to Sun: We’ve Got Another Place for You to Put the Dot You Put in Dot-com: IBM threw Sun a rope and the company used it to make a noose. Shares of Sun–which fell nearly 27 percent Monday following the collapse this weekend of merger talks with IBM–are slipping again today on fears that the company has bollixed up what may have been its only chance at salvation.

Certainly, there are no other offers on the horizon. Nor are there likely to be.

Sun could be left facing some unpleasant options. “Sun will have to take alternatives by either splitting up or downsizing"......

Without IBM: Sun's plan B With a potential merger deal with IBM on the ropes, Sun Microsystems may have to face an unpleasant plan B: selling off pieces of itself to attract a suitor.

The leak of the disrupted negotiations between IBM and Sun, as well as talk that Sun went to as many as 20 different possible suitors, has already severely damaged the morale of investors, who sent the stock plummeting 24% on Monday.

Valley Buzz: Sun Blows the IBM Deal: There’s speculation that Scott McNealy, the firebrand founder of Sun who opposed the deal, may be retaking the CEO slot as a result. Having watched Jerry Yang, Michael Dell and other returning founders flounder, I can’t imagine that mollifies upset Sun shareholders. eWeek put things well when it wrote that Sun better have “a solid backup plan.”

Sun Stratergery.........

2009-04-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

On the Arrogance of Fools.......

2009-04-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

"Sun is now sort of damaged goods," says Falvey. "If IBM got under the covers and didn't like what they saw, what does that mean for other potential buyers?": Sun Pulls a Yahoo

'Splain it to me Lucy!...
IBM Talks Teeter as Sun Board Splits ... the Sun "board is going to have a lot of explaining to do if they turned down an offer of $9.40 a share,"..."In Silicon Valley, rivals poked fun at IBM for pursuing the fading company"

Sex at IBM and Sun

Looks as though Greed is behind it all: ......"IBM, meanwhile, had concerns about the size of payments that would be received by senior Sun executives and engineers under Sun's "change of control" agreements......"

Family Values........

2009-04-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

Palin Family Values: Todd Palin’s half-sister was arrested Thursday after police say she broke into a Wasilla home for the second time this week to steal money.

Palin is the husband of Gov. Sarah Palin. He declined comment.

Diana Palin, 35, entered a home near Wasilla’s Multi-Use Sports Complex and attempted to steal cash from the owner’s bedroom, police said.

She also broke into the same house on Tuesday and stole $400, they said.

Friday Links......

2009-04-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Solaris The fate of Sun's top 5 technologies

Awaiting the Big Bang As IBM Nears Sun, Tech Awaits Big Bang

Blood in the Water When titans collide, blood runs.

Uh...calling Cyberdyne Systems - the future is here: Computer Program Self-Discovers Laws of Physics

Walking School Bus Get the kids out of the car!

Sunday thoughts....

2009-03-29T09:54:00.001-07:00

South Park Explains the Bailout.....

2009-03-26T16:54:00.001-07:00

Deja Vu....all over again.....

2009-03-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

From the NYTimes 1999 :

CONGRESS PASSES WIDE-RANGING BILL EASING BANK LAWS

"The decision to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 provoked dire warnings from a handful of dissenters that the deregulation of Wall Street would someday wreak havoc on the nation's financial system." ......uh-oh......

"The original idea behind Glass-Steagall was that separation between bankers and brokers would reduce the potential conflicts of interest that were thought to have contributed to the speculative stock frenzy before the Depression. "....ooops.....

And we can blame Senator (R, Texas) Phil Gramm
''The world changes, and we have to change with it,'' said Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, who wrote the law that will bear his name along with the two other main Republican sponsors, Representative Jim Leach of Iowa and Representative Thomas J. Bliley Jr. of Virginia. ''We have a new century coming, and we have an opportunity to dominate that century the same way we dominated this century. Glass-Steagall, in the midst of the Great Depression, came at a time when the thinking was that the government was the answer. In this era of economic prosperity, we have decided that freedom is the answer.''

IBM buys Sun links.......

2009-03-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

Sun was shopped Around -says Intel exec:
"Sun was shopped around the valley and around the world in the last few months. A lot of companies got calls or visits on buying some or all the assets of the company. It looks like IBM is in the hunt now. And at a hundred and some odd percent premium, I suspect they'll get it."

What IBMSun could mean for you

"Whats Taking So Long"?

Cartoon:

The Big Takeover......

2009-03-24T10:44:00.000-07:00

An excellent article by Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone on how Wall Street is....as he puts it "the group of psychopaths on Wall Street whom we allowed to gang-rape the American Dream"

The Big Takeover

Choice Quotes:

Bonuses: " The bonuses are a nice comic touch highlighting one of the more outrageous tangents of the bailout age, namely the fact that, even with the planet in flames, some members of the Wall Street class can't even get used to the tragedy of having to fly coach. "These people need their trips to Baja, their spa treatments, their hand jobs," says an official involved in the AIG bailout, a serious look on his face, apparently not even half-kidding. "They don't function well without them."

Anger: "People are pissed off about this financial crisis, and about this bailout, but they're not pissed off enough. The reality is that the worldwide economic meltdown and the bailout that followed were together a kind of revolution, a coup d'état. They cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations."

"AIG is what happens when short, bald managers of otherwise boring financial bureaucracies start seeing Brad Pitt in the mirror. This is a company that built a giant fortune across more than a century by betting on safety-conscious policyholders — people who wear seat belts and build houses on high ground — and then blew it all in a year or two by turning their entire balance sheet over to a guy who acted like making huge bets with other people's money would make his dick bigger."

Congress: "Cassano's outrageous gamble wouldn't have been possible had he not had the good fortune to take over AIGFP just as Sen. Phil Gramm — a grinning, laissez-faire ideologue from Texas — had finished engineering the most dramatic deregulation of the financial industry since Emperor Hien Tsung invented paper money in 806 A.D."

When Zombies Attack........

2009-03-23T09:31:00.001-07:00

Too Big to Fail.....oops.....

2009-03-20T16:39:00.001-07:00

IBM to Buy Sun.....

2009-03-18T14:49:00.001-07:00

Heck, maybe the stock price will go up....

CNET:Why it Makes Sense

What the Register says about it: IBM in Talks to Buy Sun

CNET also asks: "Is it a Good Idea?"

Sun's future is offering an open-source stack of software led by MySQL at its core. IBM is all about open source. The two together make a lot of sense and IBM could pull MySQL, Lotus, OpenSolaris, and other parts together in a nice stack. In addition, Sun's open-source software needs distribution--it recently did a deal with HP. IBM has distribution galore.

Sarah Palin 2012

2009-03-17T21:34:00.001-07:00

Senator Suggests Sepuku for AIG Execs.....

2009-03-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley suggested that AIG executives should take a Japanese approach toward accepting responsibility for the collapse of the insurance giant by resigning or killing themselves.

Yeah baby! And sell the live feed on cable to raise the funds to pay off the losses people incurred in their 401 Ks

Damn right!

Rage at AIG......

2009-03-17T10:45:00.002-07:00

Full disclosure here - a family member has an account with AIG - so we really do not want to lose that.... but ....the behaviour that put AIG into the current situation is truly infuriating.

WaPo reports "Rage at AIG"

"Hired guards stood watch outside the suburban Connecticut offices of AIG Financial Products, the division whose exotic derivatives brought the insurance giant to the brink of collapse last year. "

"Inside, death threats and angry letters flooded e-mail inboxes. Irate callers lit up the phone lines. Senior managers submitted their resignations. Some employees didn't show up at all. "

"New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo threatened to issue subpoenas if the company failed to provide details about recipients of the retention payments"

"But company officials contend that the uproar is scaring away the very employees who understand AIG Financial Products' complex trades and who are trying to dismantle the division before it further endangers the world's economy.

"It's going to blow up," said a senior Financial Products manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the company. "I have a horrible, horrible, horrible feeling that this is going to end badly."

"Fed officials also hope to keep current employees with the company. The senior executives whose decisions caused the company's collapse are long gone. Most of those left behind are trying to unwind complicated derivative contracts. Completing that process correctly is essential to preserving as much value as possible for taxpayers, officials at both the government and AIG have argued. If it is mishandled, it could expose taxpayers to billions of dollars in additional losses."

""What's good for AIG is definitely not good for the country," Macey said. "But now that the government is invested, it may have to do what's good for AIG.""

Tax the Bastards!......

2009-03-17T10:40:00.001-07:00

Now HERE's a Congressional Bill I can get behind - "New bill would tax AIG bonuses at 100 percent".

Damn Right!

The Republicans Really ARE Idiots......

2009-03-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah, news to no one......

In the face of the collapsing economy - what kind of Legislative Bill does the GOP put forward to address our problems?

The "Presidential Birth Certificate Bill" - which requires presidential candidates to present proof of U.S. citizenship before running for office.

Read about it here: "Presdential Birth Certificate Bill" - because ...hey....that's the best the GOP can come up with other than saying "NO" and pushing Rush Limbaugh as their spokesmodel....

The Great Disruption......

2009-03-10T09:25:00.001-07:00

Friedman nails it.....its all been one Giant Ponzi scheme.

I agree - ever since I was a little kid, it seemed to me that our growth model was unsustainable in the long term....unless we expanded off-world.

The housing bubble was a Ponzi scheme, the Social Security and Medicare is a Ponzi scheme....the World Economy is a Ponzi scheme.

read it here:
Friedman's Great Disruption

Funky Printer-Fu.......

2009-03-06T16:14:00.000-08:00

Mistabishi - Printer Jam from Hospital Records on Vimeo.

Jon Stewart Sticks it to CNBC.......

2009-03-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

Jon Stewart is BRUTAL to CNBC and deservedly so.....
watch it all here.....very funny and very depressing.

SquawkBox and Jim Cramer are shown to be idiots......

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Don't Take No for an Answer.....

2009-02-27T10:18:00.000-08:00