Pix Of THE Wedding (Chelsea's)

Hysterical Bit On Ellen Show

I don't usually blatantly rip off someone else's riff, but at C&L, blogger bluegal put up this hilarious Ellen YouTube video, and I want to post it here. It will most certainly brighten up your day. It's not often that someone can make funny lady Ellen crack up, but this old lady did.

I'm With Julian Assange - Keep The Light Shining On Our Actions

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Friday that he was disappointed by criticism from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates over the release of about 76,000 pages of U.S. documents related to the war in Afghanistan.

Gates said Thursday that the massive leak will have significant impact on troops and allies, revealing techniques and procedures.

Assange rejected that assessment Friday, saying in a release that Gates "has overseen the killings of thousands of children and adults" in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[snip]

"Secretary Gates could have used his time, as other nations have done, to announce a broad inquiry into these killings," the statement said. "He could have announced specific criminal investigations into the deaths we have exposed. He could have announced a panel to hear the heartfelt dissent of U.S. soldiers, who know this war from the ground. He could have apologized to the Afghani people.

"But he did none of these things. He decided to treat these issues and the countries affected by them with contempt. Instead of explaining how he would address these issues, he decided to announce how he would suppress them.

"This behavior is unacceptable. We will not be suppressed. We will continue to expose abuses by this administration and others."

It is these types of stories, well not really stories, real things is better, that get me pissed off the most about Obama and his presidency. I am pretty fucking sure that most of us that voted for Obama actually thought he would pull down troops, bring out soldiers home, and end these two ridiculous and unwinable wars. Most of us, again I am sure, did not in our wildest imagination figure that he would increase the number of troops in Afghanistan. Either Obama knows he is wrong but the money controllers (those corporate people that dictate what goes on in Washington) really have a hold on his nads, or the dufus believes he's doing "the right thing," which is kind of very hard for me to take.

When Bush was in the White House, I knew he was on drugs. But with Obama, man, I feel like I'm the one on drugs. It's like (said as if Cheech to Chong) -- dude, deja vu.

Who thought Obama and the Democrats would continue the tyrannical war policy of the last eight years?

Who knew?

Rep. Weiner On The 9/11 Health And Compensation Act

This is an amazing video. Rep. Weiner (D-NY) completely coming unglued on the House floor and yelling at the Republican's policy of lying about why procedurally they have to vote "no" on bills, and calling them out for their phoniness and general attempts to cover their tracks.

I love the part when someone (a Republican, I am guessing) tries to interrupt him (out of order) while he's speaking, and first he yells he will not yield to allow the other party to comment, and then tells the guy to SIT DOWN ... "THE GENTLEMAN WILL SIT."



H/T to AMERICAblog.

If You're Going To Talk Immigration, Legal And Illegal, Get Your Facts Straight!

One of my best friends for over 25 years, is in this country illegally. He came over on a visa and over stayed. He is white, and from Europe. Many people here that are "illegal" as they say, as many as 50%, came here legally and became illegal by over staying their visa.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 40 to 50 percent of all people residing illegally in the U.S. actually entered the country legally, according to a report cited in congressional testimony by John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For example, they came as tourists or on a temporary visa, and then overstayed their visit.

A 2005 report published by the Migration Policy Institute estimated that 30 to 40 percent of people with visas stay longer than they are permitted.

That's my first point. My second point is that white people who live here illegally would not be singled out in Arizona and asked for "their papers" pursuant to SB1070. So, the concept that there would be no racial profiling in Arizona is just absurd. The bill targets brown people, whether overtly or covertly. My friend would not be one who would be asked for papers if stopped for a tail light not working. Someone from Canada here illegally would not be asked for their papers should they get stopped for any reason.

It's not that the right wing nut jobs can't tolerate illegal immigrants, it's that they can't tolerate those of a different color. White illegals don't seem to come up much in the conversation. Or Asian. According to Wikipedia:

Since the liberalization of immigration policy in 1965, the number of first- generation immigrants living in the United States has quadrupled, from 9.6 million in 1970 to about 38 million in 2007.

A record 1,046,539 persons were naturalized as U.S. citizens in 2008. The leading countries of birth of the new citizens were Mexico, India and the Philippines.

[snip]

American immigration history can be viewed in four epochs: the colonial period, the mid-nineteenth century, the turn of the twentieth, and post-1965. Each epoch brought distinct national groups - and races and ethnicities - to the United States. During the 17th century, approximately 175,000 Englishmen migrated to Colonial America. Over half of all European immigrants to Colonial America during the 17th and 18th centuries arrived as indentured servants. The mid-nineteenth century saw mainly an influx from northern Europe; the early twentieth-century mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe; post-1965 mostly from Latin America and Asia.

The WWII generation that hit their 40's in the 1960's, and many who are still alive and in congress (some of those suckers are 70 to 80 and over, damn it) are pretty much the group most likely to hate the damn Mexican illegal immigrant. They didn't care about the white people that came to this country, legal or illegal, from Europe, though. What is it with white people, anyway? Are you, en masse, like "Samantha" and just want to "wink" away all the dark skinned people in this country?

Mear One, Finalizing Alphonse Mucha Mural

This might be the final night, and Mear One will complete the piece.

Here are some of Alphonse's work, so you can see the inspiration for the art Mear One did on this piece.

Judge Rules On Certain Provisions In Arizona Immigration Bill, Grants Injunctions To Portions

The court blocked implementation of certain portions of the Arizona controversial immigration bill. Here is part of the ruling:

Applying the proper legal standards based upon well-established precedent, the Court finds that the United Statesis likely to succeed on the merits in showing that the following Sections of S.B. 1070 are preempted by federal law:

Portion of Section 2 of S.B. 1070 A.R.S. § 11-1051(B):
requiring that an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States, and requiring verification of the immigration status of any person arrested prior to releasing that person.

Section 3 of S.B. 1070 A.R.S. § 13-1509: creating a crime for the failure to apply for or carry alien registration papers.

Portion of Section 5 of S.B. 1070 A.R.S. § 13-2928(C): creating a crime for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply for, or perform work.

Section 6 of S.B. 1070 A.R.S. § 13-3883(A)(5): authorizing the warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes the person removable from the United States

The Court also finds that the United States is likely to suffer irreparable harm if the Court does not preliminarily enjoin enforcement of these Sections of S.B. 1070 and that the balance of equities tips in the United States’ favor considering the public interest. The Court therefore issues a preliminary injunction enjoining the enforcement of the portion of Section 2 creating A.R.S. § 11-1051(B), Section 3 creating A.R.S. § 13-1509, the portion of Section 5 creating A.R.S. § 13-2928(C), and Section 6 creating A.R.S. § 13-3883(A)(5).

Seems Many Aren't Missing Bush, And More DINO Senate Action (Or Inaction)

Seems someone is not missing him!

And now back to our sorry ass government, that still isn't working even after the above dufuss left.

It seems that for what it's worth, the Democratic party's worst enemy in the Senate are the Democrats themselves. Pretty sad, don't you think?

Our government isn't working. That seems obvious to most Americans. And, the big problem is the Senate. The GOP's obstructionist tactics have prevented that body's ability to solve some of our nation's glaring problems. But, instead of trying to fix the filibuster, several Senate Democrats are enabling the obstruction by blocking efforts to change the rules.

People like DINO Feinstein, Akaka, Pryor, Tester and Ben Nelson (all DINOs) have an excuse to "keep things just as they are." First off, things aren't working just as they are. It is supposed to be a "majority" rule in the Senate, and that means 51 votes. But because of the Republican threat to filibuster every fucking bill, the vote threshold was pushed to 60 votes (to override a filibuster) during the Bush years, and now it is the status quo to get ANY FUCKING bill passed. That's not how the Senate is supposed to work, but leave it up to the Democratic party to show the American people what dysfunctional looks like. At least the Party of No sticks together!

And people wonder why I'm not voting anymore? Why vote when the schmucks we do vote for can't tell their assess from their constituents.

War Money, Capaign Finance Reform Bust, "Netroots Schizo," And Art

Months behind schedule and stripped of money for domestic stimulus programs, legislation to fund the troop surge in Afghanistan was sent to President Barack Obama on Tuesday after disgruntled Democrats failed to block it.

Democratic leaders had to rely on Republican support to pass the almost $59 billion measure to fund Obama's additional 30,000 troops in Afghanistan and other programs. The final vote was 308-114. Twelve Republicans and 102 Democrats opposed it.

[snip]

With the new war spending, the total amount of money that Congress has allotted for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan surpasses $1 trillion.

This is just amazingly ridiculous and stupid, I have almost nothing to say about it!

The Senate Republicans, voting as a bloc, just sustained their filibuster of campaign finance reform. The vote was 57 - 41. All the Democrats present, even Ben Nelson, voted to end the filibuster. (Reid voted no for procedural reasons.) Remember when John McCain used to be an advocate for campaign finance reform, before he flipped on that issue like every other? What a fraud. And, Maine has a Clean Elections law, which passed as a citizen initiative back in 1996. So, this should have been an easy vote for Snowe and Collins, but they must show fealty to Mitch McConnell and the GOP funders, not Mainers.

Another score for the corporate people! Down with real people, damn it!

And then, there's "Netroots Schizo."

I had a good time in Vegas, so I didn't spend a huge amount of time at NN, but I did spend enough time to take in the mood, and it was schizophrenic. About half the people there are some combination of angry, disappointed and bitter with Democrats in general and Obama in particular.

This group sees him as not a heck of a lot better than George Bush, and in fact the Democrat who extended some of Bush's worst policies, especially in civil liberties. This includes a lot of feminists (angry at what they see as betrayals on abortion), many Hispanics angry at the continued harsh enforcement of immigration laws, gays who feel Obama has betrayed clear promises on gay rights, anti-war activists saddened by escalation in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and a mishmash of folks who think health care reform was a dog's breakfast and that the general way the economy and financial reform has been handled is a disgrace.

Then there are the folks who would characterize themselves, in general, as hard-nosed pragmatists and "realists". These range from the "Obama is the greatest liberal president since FDR" types, who think that the Obama is just wonderful and those progressives and liberals who don't agree are simply delusional to those who feel that a lot of what he's done has been watered down pap in general but that it's certainly better than nothing and that those who are disappointed are unrealistic idealists who simply don't understand the constraints Obama and Congressional Democrats are working under.

Those that read MY blog regularly, know exactly what camp I am in.

Mear One is still working on his mural, although he doesn't need the machine to push him to the top of the building to work. Now, all he needs is a ladder to finish it up. I'll post some pictures of his progress, as well as pictures of the subject (so you can get a perspective of the work Mear has done) in a day or two.

So ... how is the week going for you?

No Money In BP Escrow Account

Now, why am I not shocked at this either? (huge laugh).

Ken Feinberg said today he hasn't been able to start writing claims checks because BP PLC has not yet deposited any money into the $20 billion escrow fund it promised to create.

Feinberg, who was appointed last month to administer individual and business claims stemming from the oil spill, held an early morning town hall meeting in Bayou La Batre on Saturday before meeting with the Press-Register editorial board in downtown Mobile.

[snip]

"I don't want the checks to bounce," he said.

Calling Out The Hounds

Interesting piece over at Crooks and Liars.

A trio of progressive House members took direct aim at their colleagues in the Senate on Saturday, declaring that the upper chamber "sucks," has a "toxic effect" on the legislative process, and would cost House Democrats seats in the 2010 election.

"They say the senate has a luxury of time, six-year cycles for elections," said Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus. "But these last 18 months have, in memory, have not only been the most frustrating but the inertia created in the Senate is what is jeopardizing Democrats and progressives' opportunities in the midterms. It is not our lack of action. It has been their lack of action."

"I think [we] feel a frustration because my constituents don't necessarily distinguish between the House and the Senate," said Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "And so when they see something not getting done they are not really tolerant of my argument which is, 'Well it passed the House.' That doesn't really wash. They hold us all accountable for the failure of these issues moving forward. I personally think the 60-vote requirement in the United States Senate is a bastardization of the United States constitution."

"It sucks," said Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.), "and I mean it literally. It sucks the energy out of the room and it sucks the urgency out of what we do... The lack of urgency from the Senate on these jobs bill is soul-crushing."

There's really nothing more for me to add. I feel their pain. Our government is not governing. They are playing keep away like children do at recess and they don't give a fuck what the consequences are to the American people. They truly do not care.

Nuke 'Em Or Duke 'Em

Now why is this not news to me?

Dramatic increases in infant mortality, cancer and leukaemia in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, which was bombarded by US Marines in 2004, exceed those reported by survivors of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a new study.

Hmmm. No wonder there's a supp0sed ban on the use of white phosphorous. But the U.S. felt no compulsion not to use it.

Powerful new evidence emerged yesterday that the United States dropped massive quantities of white phosphorus on the Iraqi city of Fallujah during the attack on the city in November 2004, killing insurgents and civilians with the appalling burns that are the signature of this weapon.

August 6 is just around the corner, 65 years after first atomic bomb dropped in Japan. My piece, here.

And for what it looked like in Fallujah, here are some graphic pictures to remind one of what war is really like.

Mets And Dodgers STILL Tied Going Into The 13th

If DJ Rix is listening on his Sears radio, I bet he breathed a sigh of relief as his team made it out of the bottom of the 12th!

UPDATE: Dodgers win in the 13th.

Hope Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Only Anger

The funny thing is, our government, in toto, is actually very much uninterested in what Americans want. It is as if politicians have allowed politics to actually be a job, a job unfortunately, one has to lobby to keep either every two years, every four years or every six years. So, the job of a politician is to lobby, and from the first day after they are elected, they lobby their entire term to stay where they are. This, sadly, has become quite known to many Americans (although that 24% of the stupid people don't even have a clue about this).

It has become maddeningly magnified by how waste, bad governing, and inattention to the constituency is just part of the daily job. And since lobbying is the job, in and of itself, any duty that, say, our congressional leaders owe to perform on the platform they ran, or govern in the manner in which they told those that elected them they would, once on the job, all that goes out the window as the politician has begun his actual job, lobbying.

Waste is an interesting topic. One of the reasons the government can never trim the waste is because those that cause the waste pay the politicians the most money to be able to continue to waste. So when The Washington Post does a three piece spread (here) concerning the "secret government" that virtually controls American lives (by "spying" illegally and legally), no politician jumped on it. The point of the piece was that this vast "secret government" which started out to be of national security importance, has turned into an unmanageable and poor functioning apparatus of the government such that hundreds of billions of dollars are being wasted.

Now, in this time of recession bordering on depression, and the mantra of the entire Republican party centering on "balance" with regards to budgetary ideology, you would think that someone would address this form of waste. Unfortunately, for Americans, our politicians figure that "waste" is helping those out of work, those unfortunate "teachers" who educate the majority of American children (because none of the politicians whose job is lobbying actually have children in public schools, so they don't care that teachers just don't make enough to live on), or in any jobs bill, or further stimulus package, or proper health care (remember, many of our elected lobbyists are actively lobbying funds to repeal the help to average Americans for affordable health care).

No, and that is because the people affected by those choices are American people, not the corporate people, a class we now have thanks to the Citizen's United decision. Even though actual American people are the only ones that can line up outside a voting booth, and put a mark down for a candidate, the corporate people have control over which politician will be elected, and what that politician's agenda will be. And so, as for the Washington Post expose, the very people involved in the "secret government," like AT&T and other surveillance giants, pay far too much money in kickbacks and in seeing that the lobby job of our politicians is carried out, such that the elected lobbyist would not actually try to cut this source off, regardless of how much American tax payer money is used to funnel the money to them. Nary a peep from our representatives in Washington except how irresponsible the Post was for actually doing the piece. No waste here. Move along. Nothing to see.

The sad part of this is that it is not exclusive of the Republican party. Democrats, Independents, and yes, some Progressives, once they get the "job," they realize that it is not to do the bidding of the real people that elected them, but to do the work of the corporate people who will see that they are still in their job and who will fund them quite handsomely to stay there.

The corporate people running the war that is destroying the lives of the real people in America will never give up their free line at the soup kitchen of the American government's tax monies. No sireee. And, thanks to all the tax breaks many of these corporates get from that same soup kitchen, the relationship is so symbiotic that neither side really is able to cut the other side off, for risk of dying.

It has come to that. We had that one moment of light that "a change is gonna come" feeling, in 2008,


when led by a grassroots coalition made up mainly of American people networked through the Internet, elected the first African American president, and overwhelmingly placed the Democratic party in charge. But after 18 months, and an upcoming "two year" job election by our elected lobbyists on the horizon, the focus from day one of Obama and the rest of the Democrats, Independents and Progressives the real people put in charge, things have not only not changed, some of stayed the same, and many have become worse. There are a small cadre of real people and corporate people that have something on the line in trying to highlight what the 2008 elected lobbyist actually did for the real people, but most of us already know what was done to us, because our collective asses really hurt.

And many of us with sore asses just won't get up come this November to stand in a line and punch a hole, when we already know we are screwed. Hell, the gas money alone to get to the polling place could probably feed a family of four at McDonalds.

At some point, this recession will turn into the depression, as the haves continue to hoard, and the have nots continue to be mislead, mistreated, maligned and ignored.

Hope doesn't seem to live in America anymore. But, anger, certainly is on the rise.

Addendum: Funny, after I put up this piece, AMERICAblog links to this article by Judy Woodruff, who addresses the same sentiments in my post, but takes the "change" part and gives it more "umph" as well as links and actual "changes" that have not come about, or just barely made a dent.

When "it" is in the air, "it" is in the air everywhere.

Bell Officials Resign, Finally

Three officials in a Los Angeles suburb whose high salaries sparked statewide outrage will step down from their jobs, the city's mayor said Friday.

That was quick. At first, the three vowed to fight the city's anger, and even went so far as to say they could not be fired, and that they had unique severance packages should they be forced to resign.

I am not sure who, outside of Southern Californians, were actually following this story. Bell is a really small community/city. But how these three were able to do what they do, is explained here:

The highly paid members of the Bell City Council were able to exempt themselves from state salary limits through a little-noticed city ballot measure during a special election that attracted fewer than 400 voters.

Council members in Bell earn nearly $100,000 – a salary that has prompted an inquiry by the Los Angeles County district attorney. A state law enacted in 2005 limits the pay of council members in "general law" cities, a reform prompted by the high salaries that leaders in the neighboring city of South Gate bestowed on themselves.

But the year the law passed, the Bell City Council held a special election with only one item on the ballot. It asked voters to approve a measure calling for Bell to convert to a "charter" city.

By doing this, it allowed the city council to circumvent the law that controls salaries for its members, and this was done on the sly and away from the knowledge of the actually people of Bell. In fact, only one city council member was unaware of the salary increases, and he appears to be the one that blew the whistle on it. I think the moral here is one needs to vote, and one needs to read the laws upon which you are voting for or against. This is what happens when there is apathy in voter turnout.

At least the scumbags are out of jobs. Hopefully, unless they are required to pay back their salaries, they invested well! Just a joke, son, just a joke!

Boehner's Stupid Plan

I can't tell if Boehner is just this stupid or counting on Americans to be this stupid. Either way, it doesn't reflect well on the Orange One.

Hey, that's MY meme, damn it!

Ok, click on the link to see the real story, but the blogger's tag line is just a tad to right on with my Stupid People rant this month!

Here, An Oil Lobbyist, There, An Oil Lobbyist, Everywhere, Oil Lobbyists

Three out of every four lobbyists who represent oil and gas companies previously worked in the federal government, a proportion that far exceeds the usual revolving-door standards on Capitol Hill, a Washington Post analysis shows.

What the fuck?

Why don't we just pour the damn oil on our bodies and light ourselves on fire.

The Post analysis found that BP and other companies involved in the gulf disaster employ as lobbyists more than three dozen former lawmakers, congressional staffers and bureaucrats. BP alone has hired at least 31 internal and external lobbyists with government experience, records show.

The American Petroleum Institute, the industry's leading trade group, employs 48 lobbyists with previous federal experience, the analysis shows. They include former senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.), who helped deregulate the natural gas industry, and former congressmen Jim McCrery (R-La.) and Charlie Stenholm (D-Tex.), both of whom strongly backed oil interests while in Congress.

"If you want somebody to work on energy issues, you don't hire health-care workers," said Jack N. Gerard, the group's president and chief executive.

With our government constantly talking about getting off of the addiction to foreign oil, no wonder they are salaciously looking to "drill, baby, drill" here on our own soil. Obviously, no one is talking seriously about ridding ourselves of the addiction to oil, period. Just "foreign" sources.

Banging. Head. On. Keyboard.

Live Art, Gotta Love It! Mear One Still At It

Sorry I missed my "daily" reporting of Mear One's piece last night. I was kind of seriously drunk last night (laughing). Hey, I had the grandkid for a week, with no life, so sue me!

Anyway, here's some stuff from yesterday.



The cut-away is me giving shit to some people that parked in my apartment building parking spot ... to see Mear One, but they lied to me telling me they were parking to visit someone in the building, and I was like, yeah, who? Ha ha.



Wednesday's footage:

A Little Night Dancing

Debbie Allen representing 1980's dance, and Gwen Verdon, representing, well, Bob Fosse! Ah ... sitting back and enjoying.



Ok, since it's late (midnight by now) time for some hard shit dancing.



If you look closely, you'll see Janet (Jones) Gretzky among the dancers.

I'm new to Mear One's work. I am not new to grafitti in Los Angeles. I just didn't connect the dots here.

What I find fascinating about Mear's work, is not the art in and of itself, but the speed in which he produces his art. Even though a lot of his stuff is on canvas, he still paints as if he has to do under the cover of night, like the grafitti artist.

On my train trip to Seattle from L.A., I was amazed at some of the grafitti painted in lumber yards, train yards, storage areas, etc. that were real pieces of art.

Courtesy of ganguskan8.

If It's Monday Night, It Must Be Day Four Of Mear One!

They left a tad early last night, around 10:30 p.m. I am not sure how long they will be staying tonight.




At about 10:30 p.m., and I think they are going to call it quits soon.

More On Stupid People

With all due respect, I don't want the average American running my government. As Jon Stewart once said (and I paraphrase): I want my president to be smarter than me. I remember one poll, a few months back, showing that only 6% or so of the American people believed that the stimulus created any jobs. As CBO showed, the 94% were wrong. So I'm sure that those of us who believed the stimulus created jobs were out of step with the mainstream of American opinion. We were also right.

I want DC populated with people who are smarter than the rest of the country. Only in America do we worship at the altar of dumb (e.g., Sarah Palin), and look with distrust on those who are smarter than us.

Posted by John at AMERICAblog.

Hey, John, it's the stupid people's world right now! No matter what we do, we just can't get any smart people to run this government of ours. Hell, we all thought the guy currently in the White House was sure darn smart. But, his policies are equally as stupid as his predecessor's were.

Go figure.

"Seat Hogs"

Brooke Timmons grasped a bar in the middle of a crowded Red Line rail car and held on, looking exasperated as she tried to keep her balance while the train jerked and accelerated down the track.

On both sides of Timmons sat riders referred to on commuter Web sites as "seat hogs." A man and woman occupied aisle seats with empty spots beside them but made no move to slide over and offer Timmons a seat.

Reading this piece from the Washington Post, and I realize that "seat hogging" is apparently universal. I ride the Metro here in Los Angeles, and my pet peeve are those riders that refuse to sit in the back of the bus, but, stand in the doorway. There could be as many as eight empty seats, but three or four people will crowd the standing room in front of the exit door such that you have to shove people out of the way just to get off the bus! I don't find too many seat hoggers on the buses, but on the subways and trains, I do see them more, especially during crowded rush hour riding. I take the subway every other Friday after work to North Hollywood to pick up my grandson, and by the time the subway gets to my stop on its way to NoHo, I have to stand because there are generally no seats. The trip itself is not long, approximately 20 minutes, so I don't get too bothered. But it bothers me for other people, the mommies with their babies and strollers, the elderly (ok, so I am considered on the elderly side LOL), and others, that (1) men don't relinquish their seats for the women and (2) the younger kids take up two seats with their bags and stuff.

Since I ride regularly, there are a few "riders" on my bus to work that generally sit in the aisle seat and refuse to let anyone get "inside" to sit. I've seen one elderly black lady go bonkers on a guy that tried to sit there. The poor man actually started arguing with the woman, and she was like "oh no you ain't gonna sit next to me." He finally moved on, and a bit later, the old woman let some younger woman sit in the seat

Then we have the crazy woman who jumps up and down in her seat, hitting her back with an empty water bottle, and shouting profanity, in between moments of sanity where she might say something to someone near her like she said to me one day ... "hey, I like you pants, where did you buy them?" Every now and then, a bus driver will tell her she has to calm down or he'll have to ask her to get off the bus, and she is like, "ok, sorry," and sits quiet for a moment, but then starts jumping up and down in her seat, and hitting herself again. I've seen this woman on my bus for probably the past three years. She's obviously homeless because she pulls up onto the bus her homemade carry all, which can, at times, block the aisle. I don't begrudge the homeless from taking the bus or train, and carrying their "home" with them ... it's the only form of transportation actually available. It's not like they have a car. Hell, I don't have a car!

There are all kinds of interesting and/or weird people who ride the bus, though. Yeah, there are the regular commuters using the system to get to and from work, many of whom have cars but use the bus to save on gas and parking fees. I ride it because I live centrally to just about any route N/S/E/W that, aside from the occasional longer than usual wait, I can hop a bus or a train or a subway and be at a destination without much hassle and almost equally as fast as if I was driving in a car. But the weird ones go from cracking me up to down right scary.

I've been on the metro a handful of times when fights have broken out and weapons drawn, and everyone runs to the front of the bus to get off (why is it always at the back of the bus that this shit happens anyway?). Then there was the time this guy got on, sat in the back (I have a habit of sitting in the last row, and next to the window if I can), and boy he stunk to high heaven of SHIT. Not just smelly like some of the homeless men and women smell, but of pure doo doo in his pants. One by one, we all moved to the front of the bus, and then again, one by one, we all started yelling at the man to get off the fucking bus and at least go to a gas station and hose off his damn feces. Finally, the bus driver made him get off the bus. We were all spraying our perfumes and other "smelling" devices on the bus just to get rid of the "poop aroma." The driver finally said he was taking his bus in and exchanging it for a new one for that day!

One time, this young black kid gets on the bus, and he goes for the back row. This time, I am not sitting in the back, but two rows from the back door, and a young Hispanic lady is sitting next to me (a student, not high school, older), and in front of me in the two seats, one is occupied by a young Hispanic man with a green "Subway" sandwich store shirt on, and the seat next to him empty. Then this black dude gets up from his seat in the back and sits down next to the guy in front of me, and spreads his legs out in an expansive position such that, of course, he touches the guy next to him. I hate it when guys sit down and do that. Anyway, he starts calling the guy next to him (in the Subway shirt) a "fag," "homo" and other derogatory terms, and acts all like the guy tried to touch him. The woman next to me was like, chill dude, and the bus driver I can see is looking through his mirror to see if there is a problem. The black guy moves again to another seat, this time across the aisle from me. He continues with his shouting obscenities and then starts in on the woman next to me. By this time, I start to chime in with some profanities of my own telling him to shut the fuck up. Then he starts in on me with his "I'm packing and I'm gonna fuck you up old lady." I swear, I stood up, stared straight at him, did the hands on the chest pump and said "bring it on, fucking asshole, bring it ... show me your big ass gun dipshit." That's when the bus driver starts shouting, "do we have a problem back there" to which I am shouting back "yes" and pointing to the dude, and the dude is yelling back at the driver "no, we don't have a problem" all the while continuing to yell at me at how he's such a big gangster and he's going to fuck me up, to which I am replying ooooh, I'm scared of the punk on the bus, take me on, you little shit. This lasted for about three stops then the kid gets off the bus (unfortunately so does the Hispanic girl that was next to me, and so he continued to mouth off at her as we pulled away). The guy in front of me turned around and thanked me, saying he was too afraid to say anything! I started laughing, telling him I'm way too old to have to take the punk's shit, and that I'm generally not afraid of guys like that on the bus. If a guy is really packing a weapon, he doesn't shout it out loud for all to hear. Usually, guys like that couldn't connect on a punch, and I've had my share of fights that I know where to connect, be it with my fist, my foot, or a simple head butt! I may be little but I swing a mean right!

But, most of the time, the riding on the Metro is uneventful, even fun, like the time I was with Zaire who had just played that machine that you put money in and then try to grab something with the tongs. Mostly you loose your money cuz it never picks anything up. But Zaire actually got this bear with a UCLA shirt on it. Now, I'm a USC fan, so I was all ugh, get that bear away from me. So, we get on the bus, and go to the back, and there was an unusual number of elderly men all in the back going to the Veterans Hospital for something. They see Zaire and his UCLA bear, and then starts the smack talking back and forth between the USC and the UCLA fans! It was fun, especially for Zaire, to be interacting like that. The guys were cool and we had the whole half of the bus picking sides! Now, that's something that one would not experience driving alone in your car from point A to point B!

Live Blogging, Day Three, Mear One, 6th & La Brea

I am out again, this evening, watching "live art" develop.

I'll keep "live blogging" the event (grins). Here we are before sunset (no, not the boulevard, the damn sun setting stupid!) (the butt shot belongs to Roger L. Griffith.

McCain Thinks Teacher Pay Is Pork, But Raytheon Makes Wonderful Missles And They Need A Tax Break!

Arizona's first debate for the Republican primary race had a few memorable moments but none summed up the Republican Party's view on what is "pork" and what they consider their priorities on spending than than this bit by John McCain. Spending for teachers, it's pork, but we need to keep that military industrial complex going and make sure that the people "making those wonderful missiles"... the "job creators", have their taxes cut.

"Wonderful missiles"... I can't believe he said that, but he did. I can't think of a single reason to call missiles "wonderful" unless you think dropping bombs on people's heads is a "wonderful" thing. There's an argument to be made for "necessary" for civil defense which I'm not going to get into the weeds on here since IMO we're over-armed to a ridiculous extent for what's actually necessary for civil defense and have been for some time now, but "wonderful"?

Crooks and Liars covered the Arizona Republican Senate Primary debate. The above came from our dear stupid Senator McCain, you know, the one that used to be a maverick and ran for president once upon a time with that twit Palin.

What is up with these guys? On one show, the Stupid Republicans say they "stand with the rest of America," but over here on another channel, the Stupid Republicans call salaries for teachers ... TEACHERS, "pork" and equate the big war profiteering corporations that make those "wonderful" bombs worthy of TAX CUTS? What happened to balancing the budget or paying for tax cuts? What, are you STUPID?

Here We Go Round In Circles

The heads of the Republican congressional campaign committees — Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Pete Sessions (R-TX) — appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press today to discuss their party’s strategy for the November elections. Sessions began by saying that everyone knows exactly “what Republicans stand for,” but he quickly proved that even he doesn’t really know. Host David Gregory, visibly frustrated, repeatedly pressed the two campaign chiefs for substance, saying, “these are not specifics, voters get tired of that.” But all he got in return was vapid talking points, like how Republican candidates are “standing with the American people back home.”

Gregory correctly dismissed what he was hearing from Sessions as “gauzy,” and turned to Cornyn, saying, “I’m not hearing an answer here, what are the painful choices” that Republicans are prepared to make to cut the deficit? Instead of offering any ideas of own, and in direct contrast to the sense of urgency with which conservatives paint the deficit, Cornyn responded that he would wait for President Obama’s debt commission’s report, which will conveniently come after the election. Gregory replied, “wait a minute, conservatives need a Democratic president’s debt commission to figure out what it is they need to cut?”

Go to the site and read the actual back-and-forth discussion between Gregory, Sessions and Cornyn. It will make your head spin.

Stupid people in government, on television, saying stupid things to their stupid audience. At least the host is trying to get the stupid Republicans to put forth some agenda, but alas, as with all stupid people, you are only going to get stupid stuff.

Welcome to the world of the Stupid Republicans. They stand with the rest of Stupid America, so they say.

CSI Must Have Aired Repeat Episode Chateau Rouge

East coast must be seeing the old CSI episode regarding the Chateau Rouge because I most certainly got a spike load of hits about an hour ago. At first I thought perhaps is was due to the Mear One pieces I have recently put up. But, the links go to my December 2008 post Moulin Rouge Las Vegas.

UPDATE: Now I'm getting hits from Nevadans. The show must be on repeat tonight across the board!

A Little Stop Motion Mash Up - Mear One At 6th And La Brea

This is a cool stop motion of Mear One doing the artwork on the building right were I live, courtesy of Roger L. Griffith (YouTube ganguskan8).

More Mear One . . .

Mear One is finishing (I think) the piece tonight. I will be updating this fabulous work in progress throughout the night.



At about 9:30 p.m.



11:00 p.m.




And around midnight, when he broke for the night.

Alphonse Mucha/Mear One

Only in Hollywood. Pouring my usual Rum and Coke, I saw this actually happening and went out with my cheap ass video camera. Mear One, an artist, is painting this mural on a commercial building wall (that houses an art gallery) of Alphonse Mucha. I took these shots, and I have Mear's permission to post this video and pictures.

Come on, imagine going into your kitchen, and this is the view outside of your window! I love my life!

Media Lost When It Comes To Obama

John pretty much sums it up.

I just don't understand when I read stories like this from good reporters in the NYT:

If passage of the financial regulatory overhaul on Thursday proves anything about President Obama, it is this: He knows how to push big bills through a balky Congress.

President Obama has said that he believes the agenda he has pursued is “the right thing to do for America.” But Mr. Obama’s legislative success poses a paradox: while he may be winning on Capitol Hill, he is losing with voters at a time of economic distress, and soon may be forced to scale back his ambitions.

He knows how to push big bills through Congress?

Mr. Obama has done what he promised when he ran for office in 2008: he has used government as an instrument to try to narrow the gaps between the haves and the have-nots. He has injected $787 billion in tax dollars into the economy, provided health coverage to 32 million uninsured and now, reordered the relationship among Washington, Wall Street, investors and consumers.

But as he has done so, the political context has changed around him. Today, with unemployment remaining persistently near double digits despite the scale of the stimulus program and the BP oil spill having raised questions about his administration’s competence, Mr. Obama’s signature legislation is providing ammunition to conservatives who argue that government is the problem, not the solution.

He's done what he promised during the campaign?

[snip]

Take the stimulus. The reporter notes that Obama "has injected $787 billion in tax dollars into the economy." Yes he has. And it wasn't enough, he knew it wasn't enough, and now we have nearly 10% unemployment as a result, hurting Democrats' chances for re-election in the fall, and dooming the country to a listless recovery for years to come. How is that something to laud? Is it better than nothing? Yes. But so is the doctor who gives the patient only half of his needed cancer meds. It's certainly better than nothing. It's also malpractice.

When the economy is on death's door, you don't push for half of what you know is needed. The President did just that. It's what he does on most legislation, and most of his promises. He pushes for half, or at least something far less than what he promised. He pushes for half from the outset. Not at the end when you might have to compromise, but from the beginning. And that's his problem, and the reason, at least one of the reasons, so many Democrats and Independents are unhappy with him. He comes off weak.

Either the media is truly stupid, or they think the rest of us are. Or both. The problem with the left and progressive liberals who supported Obama and his "agenda" prior to his election is that we have soured on him these first two years. He's a half-assed president, that doesn't have the cajones to push for what he promised. It's an old song we've been singing for about a year now. But, like John states in his post, to have the NYT try to equate Obama's actions as accomplishments, when in fact, they are sell-outs, especially when the Democrats have the majority, is irresponsible. Well, except when your audience is the stupid people. And in this case, the targeted audience are the stupid people that actually believe Obama has accomplished something, when what he's accomplished is one compromise after another.

Birthday Party!!!

Had a blast at office party this afternoon, despite the heat. All last week it was 60ish and cloudy, this week it was 90+. No air conditioning in the place where the party was, coupled with a few glasses of wine, and I was bleeding hot!

Theme ... Koreans (duh), Mariachi music, and a pinata! (sorry for the bad quality of my pictures, but they were taken from my phone and you all know I suck at picture taking!)









To get into the mood!

Juan Gabriel- Se Me Olvido Otra Vez

RIP, Speed Racer (Peter Fernandez)

William Winckler has informed ANN that Peter Fernandez, the actor and voice director best known as the title character in the animated Speed Racer series, passed away this morning due to lung cancer. He was 83.

Fernandez not only voiced Speed himself, but also his brother Racer X and several other characters in the English-dubbed adaptation of Tatsunoko's Mach Go Go Go anime series. He also directed the voice cast and even wrote the lyrics to the signature theme song. He later played Lupin III, Daisuke Jigen, and President Jimmy Carter in the JAL dubbing of the Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo film. His voice can be heard in such dubbed anime titles as Astro Boy, Gigantor, Marine Boy, Star Blazers: The Bolar Wars, and Superbook. He made a cameo appearance as an announcer in the 2008 live-action Speed Racer film.

RIP

More Holds By Republicans In Retaliation For Recess Appointment

Let me get this straight. In "retaliation" to Obama's recess appointment recently, the Republican Party of Stupid has decided to willy nilly hold up the future progress of running the American government by putting needless holds on new appointees. And the stupid party has absolutely no problem admitting that the only reason for the holds are because Obama recess appointed someone!

Ironically, the Republicans are now showcasing their desire for a fair and transparent nomination process by delaying two other nominations in retaliation for Berwick’s appointment. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has “blocked a Democratic request Wednesday evening to advance two of President Obama’s nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,” the Hill reports. “Democrats didn’t schedule so much as a committee hearing for Donald Berwick,” McConnell said. “So given that the President has been so dismissive of the Senate’s right to provide advice and consent under the Constitution, I am not inclined at this point to consent to the agreement proposed by my friend from North Carolina,” he added.

What, are we back in fifth grade? Is this REALLY what the Republican Party thinks is acceptable? Well, outside of their stupid people followers, I mean. And, the stupid people media, of course! We can't count on anyone to actually call the Stupid Party out on its stupid antics because, you know, that would not be fair! The media would have to come up with a similar example of stupid done by the Democratic party - or, in other words, lie and make up something allegedly done by a Democrat or the party or liberals or progressives!

Nanner, nanner.

Another Day, Another Stupid Congressman

As we are all acutely aware, the Republicans in Congress have repeatedly voted "No" as a unit to just about everything that has been put before them to vote on. Hence, they've been tagged with the name, "the party of No." Even when asked what they would offer up instead to the issues that they vote no on, one gets either ideological platitudes or blank stares, or stupid stuff.

Like today's stupid stuff from Rep. Peter King, who thinks that now is not the time for the Republican party to come up with any substantial ideas because they could then become "campaign" issues, and goodness knows, the Republicans care only about campaigning and winning. They don't care about America or the constituents who supposedly they represent (notice I didn't say "who elected them" because at this stage of our American voting process, we all know corporations buy and sell our congresscritters - we simply rubber stamp them.)

BENNETT: Is it enough for Republicans to say we are opposed to what [Obama's] doing — stimulus, health care, we don’t like what he’s doing with the government, and look at the job situation — or do we need to have meat on the bones? And say, this is what we are for? Do we have to have positive proposals? [...]

KING: So, It’s a combination of being against what Obama is for, and also giving certain specifics of what we are for. Having said that, I don’t think we have to lay out a complete agenda, from top to bottom, because then we would have the national mainstream media jumping on every point trying to make that a campaign issue.

So, now the Republican party is officially qualifying that they should not have any agenda lest it be "scrutinized" by the voters! How completely stupid is that? But hey, if you are the party of stupid, I guess it's only normal to have a stupid agenda. Or, rather, a non-agenda, because that would resonate perfectly with stupid people. Then there's no thinking on the part of stupid people and the stupid people don't have to answer questions about what their party brings to the table. They can simply concentrate on the buzzwords about Obama, Democrats, the evil liberals and those damn progressives, and the damage they are doing to their stupid country!

Right On! Let's hear it for the Stupid Party!

H/T to Think Progress.

Senator Tom Coburn Is A LIAR

Here we go again with more lying by a Senator on television! Can't someone make it stop, please? It's not right to keep feeding the stupid people with these lies.

Apparently, while on C-Span, Senator Tom Coburn, while dissing the unemployed and the gosh darn not paid for extension of unemployment benefits he's helping block, stated that his "good friend and roommate" Congressman Shuler held a jobs fair in his state that offered "500 jobs" and claimed that only "3 people" showed up. That, to me, sounds odd, since most of the jobs fairs that have been cropping up (like many of the one day free clinics that offer services to the uninsured) bring out thousands of people!

Well, the good people over at Crooks and Liars (and some others) did a little digging, and this is what they found out. There was no "jobs fair" at all. What the event actually held was a seminar aimed at small businesses, and that there were no jobs up for grabs.

Finally, I visited Rep. Shuler's official website where I did find a Google map with events listed on it. Since Rep Coburn mentioned "yesterday" on a July 14th show, I used July 13th as the date for this scheduled jobs fair with 500 companies representing.

Here's what I found:

What's New for Small Businesses in 2010
Tuesday, July 13, from 9 am to 11 am
Haywood Community College
Clyde Campus
Building 1500 Auditorium

Participating agencies include the Small Business Centers at Blue Ridge and Haywood Community Colleges, the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), SCORE, and Mountain BizWorks.

That doesn't look like a job fair to me. Here's what job fairs look like: Hundreds come out for a handful of jobs. It certainly doesn't seem to be inviting jobless citizens to come out and meet up with folks offering FIVE HUNDRED JOBS, does it?

It looks like a small business seminar. And it would appear to be aimed at existing small business owners who would be taking two hours out of their work day running their small business to attend. I can see where it might get light attendance, particularly since I don't find any ads in the local paper for it.

The guy just blatantly told a lie on television, misrepresented an event so that he could stir up the pot and keep the stupid people seething over the free ride these unemployed people are supposedly getting.

What is it with these Republicans that feel compelled to constantly lie about things? There was no jobs fair, damn it! There were no jobs offered at this seminar, let alone 500! What the fuck is wrong with these people? And why are those in the media not yelling LIAR every time this happens?

R. Carlos Nakai

You know, I probably really don't have any American Indian in me, despite the fact that my family always claims I'm from the Blackfoot tribe because my feet are always dirty!



A fan of his for years.

Angle's Got An Angle For Using Fox News

Oh God, please save me from the stupid people!

BRODY: When you’re on Fox News or talking to more conservative outlets but maybe not going on “Meet the Press” or a “This Week”, those type of news shows, then the perception and the narrative starts to be like you are avoiding those mainstream media outlets.

ANGLE: Well, in that audience will they let me say I need $25 dollars from a million people go to Sharron Angle.com send money? Will they let me say that? Will I get a bump on my website and you can watch whenever I go on to a show like that we get an immediate bump. You can see the little spinners. People say ‘Oh, I heard that. I am going and I’m going to help Sharron out because they realize this is a national effort and that I need people from all around the nation. They may not be able to vote for me but they can certainly help.”

Interesting. But not working so well for you, is it, honey?

U.S. Soccer Team Wins ESPY For Best Moment

And, yes, I voted! I follow Landon's tweets (grins). Aside from that, I have to say watching that game live and seeing that goal scored, trumped all the other competitors in this category!

And Now For A Bit Of Fashion, I Bring You The Material Girl Line

Muslim Suicide Bombers Go On Strike

From MyJokeMail:

Muslim suicide bombers in Britain are set to begin a three-day strike on Monday in a dispute over the number of virgins they are entitled to in the afterlife. Emergency talks with Al Qaeda management have so far failed to produce an agreement.

The unrest began last Tuesday when Al Qaeda announced that the number of virgins a suicide bomber would receive after his death will be cut by 25% next January from 72 to only 60. The rationale for the cut was the increase in recent years of the number of suicide bombings and a subsequent shortage of virgins in the afterlife.

The suicide bombers’ union, the British Organisation of Occupational Martyrs (or B.O.O.M.) responded with a statement that this was unacceptable to its members and immediately balloted for strike action. General Secretary Abdullah Amir told the press, “Our members are literally working themselves to death in the cause of jihad. We don’t ask for much in return, but to be treated like this by management is a kick in the teeth.”

Mr. Amir accepted the limited availability of virgins but pointed out that the cutbacks were expected to be borne entirely by the workforce and not by management. “Last Christmas Abu Hamza alone was awarded an annual bonus of 250,000 virgins,” complains Amir. “And you can be sure they’ll all be pretty ones, too. How can Al Qaeda afford that for members of the management but not 72 for the people who do the real work?”

Speaking from the shed in the West Midlands where he currently resides, Al Qaeda chief executive Osama bin Laden explained:

“We sympathise with our workers’ concerns but Al Qaeda is simply not in a position to meet their demands. They are simply not accepting the realities of modern-day jihad, in a competitive marketplace. Thanks to Western depravity, there is now a chronic shortage of virgins in the afterlife. It’s a straight choice between reducing expenditure and laying people off. I don’t like cutting wages but I’d hate to have to tell 3,000 of my staff that they won’t be able to blow themselves up.” He defended management bonuses by claiming these were necessary to attract good fanatical clerics. “How am I supposed to attract the best people if I can’t compete with the private sector?” asked Mr. Bin-Laden.

Talks broke down this morning after management’s last-ditch proposal of a virgin-sharing scheme was rejected outright after a failure to agree on orifice allocation quotas. One virgin, who refused to be named, was quoted as saying “I’ll be buggered if I’m agreeing to anything like that……..it’s too much of a mouthful to swallow.”

Unless some sort of agreement is reached over the weekend, suicide bombers will abandon their explosives at midday on Monday. Most branches are supporting the strike. Only the North London branch, which has a different union, is likely to continue working. However, some members of that branch will only be using waist-down explosives in order to express solidarity with their striking brethren.